Religion and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Positive Virtues

Abstract

Researchers have consistently advocated positive associations between religion and well-being. The present research takes a step forward and explores potential mechanisms behind the same. The mediating role of a surprisingly neglected mechanism, positive virtues, specifically gratitude, forgiveness and altruism, is studied through a quantitative study on a sample of 220 adult respondents residing in Delhi NCR. The participants adhered to one of the six major religions present in India. Mediational analysis revealed that gratitude mediated the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and well-being via two pathways of forgiveness and altruism. The implications for researchers and practitioners working in the field of mental health are discussed.

A study on the relationship between perceptions of successful aging and life satisfaction of Turkish elderly people

“…In the literature, it is reported that spirituality, belief and trust in God are important for successful aging and life satisfaction . Studies have shown that religion enables people to have an optimistic worldview and that people who are more religious are happier and more satisfied with life . The participants of the present study were Muslims and had a strong feeling of gratefulness to God, which encouraged them to display positive attitudes towards distressful and difficult situations and diseases; thus, they obtained high SAS and SWLS scores.…”

Spirituality and Job Satisfaction. Mediating Role of Stress, Gratitude Towards Organization and Trust in Supervisor. Moderating Role of Religious Practices

“…Religious people are more likely to use religious coping 25 , and positive references to God improve well-being, while blaming God is connected with reduced quality of life 26 . Relation with God can help employees reduce everyday stress at work by appealing to God in difficult moments, seeking support and consolation on his part or finding meaning and purpose at work.…”

Religiosity and Meditation Practice: Exploring Their Explanatory Power on Psychological Adjustment

“…There is insufficient knowledge regarding the mechanisms that mediate the effect of religion on mental health and well-being, although it has been proposed that some spiritual practices could facilitate awareness states that help to identify values such as patience, perseverance, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, altruism, equanimity and wisdom, which could play an important role in this regard (Chaudhry, 2008; Baetz and Toews, 2009; Sharma and Singh, 2018). In the present study, the practice of meditation was related to psychological adjustment.…”