Religion and Happiness: A Study Among University Students in Turkey

Abstract

This study tests the hypothesis that higher levels of positive religious affect are associated with higher levels of personal happiness among a sample of 348 students studying at a state university in Turkey who completed the Ok Religious Attitude Scale (Islam), the Oxford Happiness Inventory, and the short-form Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised. The data reported a small but statistically significant association between religiosity and happiness after taking sex and individual differences in personality into account.

Religious affect and personal happiness: A replication among Sunni students in Malaysia

“…This study conducted among 348 students studying at a state university also found a significant positive association between religion and happiness (Francis, Ok, & Robbins, 2017). The positive correlation between religion and happiness in an Islamic context demonstrated by the Ok Religious Attitude Scale (Islam) and the Oxford Happiness Inventory is consistent with the findings of Abdel-Khalek (2007, 2010 in Kuwait.…”

“…This study differs from the first Islamic study reported by Francis, Ok, and Robbins (2017) in three ways that make an original contribution to knowledge: The first study was conducted in Turkey; this study is conducted in Malaysia. The first study employed the Ok Religious Attitude Scale (Islam); this study employs the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Islam.…”

“…The first extension of the research was within a Jewish context in Israel using the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism alongside the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Between 2002 and 2014, three studies reported a significant positive association between religion and happiness among students in Israel: 298 Hebrew-speaking female undergraduate students (Francis & Katz, 2002); 203 Hebrew-speaking male undergraduate students (Francis, Katz, Yablon, & Robbins, 2004); and 348 Hebrew-speaking female undergraduate students (Francis, Yablon, & Robbins, 2014). Further replications are currently under way in Israel.…”

“…Robbins and Francis (1996) made three specific recommendations for a research strategy involving a series of coordinated studies: the measurement of religion, the measurement of happiness, and the inclusion of a key set of control variables. Several studies within Christian and Jewish contexts have responded to the invitation to work with these recommendations, and just one recent study has done so within an Islamic context (Francis, Ok, & Robbins, 2017). The aim of the present study is to extend the reach of this research program within a second Islamic context.…”

Prayer and personal happiness: a study among secondary school students in Australia

“…The connection between a positive attitude toward Christianity and happiness was reported by Robbins and Francis (1996) among undergraduate students in Wales, by Francis and Lester (1997) among undergraduate students in the USA, by Francis and Robbins (2000) among individuals ranging in age from late teens to late seventies in England and Wales, by Francis, Jones, and Wilcox (2000) among three samples of adolescents, young adults and seniors in England, and by Francis, Robbins, and White (2003) among students in Wales. The connection between a positive attitude toward Judaism and happiness was reported among Hebrew-speaking undergraduate students in Israel by Francis and Katz (2002), by Francis, Katz, Yablon, and Robbins (2004) and by Francis, Yablon, and Robbins (2014).…”