Religion and Life Satisfaction: A Correlational Study of Undergraduate Students in Trinidad

Abstract

Religious behaviour tends to correlate positively with life satisfaction. The predictive power of this relationship is associated with various socio-demographic factors such as age, gender and religious affiliation. We investigated the relationship between religious involvement and life satisfaction in a multi-religious population of undergraduate medical students of the University of the West Indies. We used a cross-sectional design to assess 228 undergraduates (50 males and 178 females) on religiosity, religious well-being and life satisfaction using the Religious Orientation Test, Religious Well-Being subscale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, respectively. Respondents also provided socio-demographic information such as age, gender and religious affiliation. "How religious one considers oneself" was the religiosity construct most significantly associated with life satisfaction while "frequency of prayer" was the least. Christians registered higher religiosity and religious well-being but non-Christians reported significantly higher life satisfaction. Muslim and Hindu scores on religiosity, religious well-being and life satisfaction were not statistically different. Females scored higher than males on religiosity (borderline significant, p = .054) and significantly higher on religious well-being (p < .01); however, there was no significant difference between males and females on life satisfaction. The "religious affiliation" group scored significantly higher on religiosity and religious well-being compared with the "no religious affiliation" group but there was no difference between these two groups on life satisfaction. Religiosity and religious well-being were overall significantly and positively associated with life satisfaction. However, in demographic groups where there was higher religiosity, for example females, Christians, people affiliated with a religion and older people, it was not associated with greater life satisfaction.

College students’ satisfaction and sense of belonging: differences between underrepresented groups and the majority groups

“…Regarding students' sense of belonging, males, females, and the minority gender groups did not differ significantly in their sense of belonging. Our findings are consistent with those by Habib (2018) who indicated that female and male college students did not have statistically significant differences in life satisfaction. However, our findings revealed that minority gender groups had significantly less satisfaction than males and females, and this might be due to the campus climate and the global climate that they have experienced.…”

“…Seniors reported significantly less satisfaction than freshmen or sophomores. Habib (2018) found that students from 19 to 21 reported significantly higher life satisfaction than those who were more than 28 years old. This is probably due to students' experience on campus.…”

“…Page 5 of 22 22 belief, political view, and student rank. Habib (2018) showed that female and male college students do not have statistically significantly difference on life satisfaction, students between 19 to 21 years of age reported significantly higher life satisfaction than those who were more than 28 years old, and non-Christian undergraduates reported significantly higher life satisfaction than Christians. Morris and Lent (2019) examined sexual minority college students' academic satisfaction and persistence intentions and suggested that the discrimination that these students experience due to their identity might contribute to decreased academic satisfaction and persistence intentions.…”

Life satisfaction for gifted adults: Its relation to gender, age, religiosity, and income

“…In his study, Faisal (2016) highlighted that faith, an essential dimension of religion, contributes to developing "resilience" in adulthood. The results of our study differed with many studies that found a positive relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction, including the study Patel, Ramgoon & Paruk (2009) as well the study of Habib, Donald & Hutchinson (2018), which both found that women are more religious than men, religiosity is positively and significantly related to life satisfaction. As well, the study Okulicz-Kozaryn (2010) indicated that religious people tend to be extremists, meaning that they are either very satisfied with life or dissatisfied with life.…”

Big Five Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Religiosity

“…However, as Chukwuorji et al (2018) pointed out, religiosity, which is viewed as motivational in nature, cannot be omitted from mediators of well-being. Religious beliefs affect subjective well-being, with religious people mostly being happier than non-religious people, regardless of their faith (Berthold and Ruch 2014;Dolan et al 2008;Habib et al 2018). Moreover, results in a sample of UK adults demonstrated that intrinsic orientation and positive religious coping were significantly associated with higher psychological well-being that reflects human growth, positive functioning and existential life challenges (Lewis et al 2005).…”