Research on meaning-making and health in secular society: Secular, spiritual and religious existential orientations

Cour, Peter la; Hvidt, Niels Christian

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.06.024

Cited by 175 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This is evident by simple searches on Medline using the search words Religion (understood as the communal convictions and practices believers engage in as they search for the sacred) and especially Spirituality (mostly referring to the interior life individuals experience in their search for the sacred, not ruling out fellowship with other believers), and a number of journals have been dedicated to the study of the relationship between Spirituality and Health. Various articles have been dedicated to the conceptualization of religion, spirituality and faith (abbreviated R/S in this article) [29][30][31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The NERSH International Collaboration on Values, Spirituality and Religion in Medicine: Development of Questionnaire, Description of Data Pool, and Overview of Pool Publications

et al. 2016

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Abstract:Modern healthcare research has only in recent years investigated the impact of health care workers' religious and other moral values on medical practice, interaction with patients, and ethically complex decision-making. Thus far, no international data exist on the way such values vary across representatives of several national research groups came together and worked at optimizing the survey instrument for future use on the basis of the existing datasets. Research groups were identified through personal contacts with researchers requesting to use the instrument, as well as through two literature searches. Data were assembled in Stata and synchronized for their comparability using a matched intersection design based on the items in the original questionnaire. With a few optimizations and added modules appropriate for cultures more secular than that of the United States, the survey instrument holds promise as a tool for future comparative analyses. The pool at this stage consists of data from eleven studies conducted by research teams in nine different countries over six continents with responses from more than 6000 health professionals. Inspection of data between groups suggests large differences in religious and other moral values across nations and cultures, and that these values account for differences in health professional's clinical practices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The NERSH International Collaboration on Values, Spirituality and Religion in Medicine: Development of Questionnaire, Description of Data Pool, and Overview of Pool Publications

et al. 2016

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“…However, the existing terminology in research of religiousness might not be applicable to a Danish population, and Danish researchers in this field have made comprehensive efforts to make meaningful religious constructs in a secular society (la Cour & Hvidt, 2010). On the basis of a literature review, they propose the application of three conceptual dimensions: cognition, practice, and importance, dimensions with theoretical and practical support in the literature.…”

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confidence: 99%

Familial Resemblance in Religiousness in a Secular Society: A Twin Study

et al. 2013

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It is well known that human behavior and individual psychological traits are moderately to substantially heritable. Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have explored the genetic and environmental influence on religiousness. These studies originate predominantly from countries generally considered more religious than the very secular northern European countries. Comparisons of the results are complicated by diverse definitions of religiousness, but several studies indicate that the influence of the family environment is most predominant in early life, whereas genetic influences increase with age. We performed a population-based twin study of religiousness in a secular society using data from a Web-based survey sent to 6,707 Danish twins born 1970-1989, who were identified in the Danish Twin Registry. We applied Fishman's three conceptual dimensions of religiousness: cognition, practice, and importance. In all polygenic models and biometric analyses, we controlled for gender and age. The study sample comprised 2,237 same sex twins, a response rate of 45%. We found high correlations within both monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in most items of religiousness, indicating a large influence from shared environmental factors. Personal religiousness such as praying to God, believing in God, and finding strength and comfort in religion were more influenced by genetic factors than were social forms of religiousness such as church attendance. We found a small tendency for increasing genetic influence with increasing age for some religious items, but not for all. Keywords: religiousness, secular societyThere are many elements in our lives that form the lives we end up living and the values (beliefs, existential concerns, atheism) that are important to us. But where do these choices and fundamental values come from? And how are they formed and how do they gradually transform our lives? It is well known that human behavior and individual psychological traits are moderately to substantially heritable (Bouchard & McGue, 2003). In other words, to some degree we are as we are in our behavior and personality because we have inherited genes that make us that way. Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have explored the genetic and environmental influences on a rather new and perhaps provocative realm: religiousness, often using the twin study design to facilitate assessment of the impact of genetic, shared environmental and unique environmental factors (Kendler et al., 1997;Kendler & Myers, 2009;Kirk et al., 1999aKirk et al., , 1999bKoenig et al., 2005Koenig et al., , 2008Tsuang et al., 2002;Vance et al., 2010). The twin study design takes advantage of the fact that twins are reared in the same environment, but while monozygotic (MZ) twins share all of their genes, dizygotic (DZ) twins share on average half of their genes and hence differences in intrapair similarity between the two may indicate the presence of a positive heritability. Accordingly, in twin studies we can assess how alike twin cou...

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“…In keeping with contemporary understandings of spirituality, these papers generally refer to spirituality as a sense of connecting with others, transcendence and finding meaning and purpose in life (Velosa et al 2017;Weathers et al 2015;La Cour and Hvidt 2010). Transcendence in this sense refers to the concept of a higher or greater purpose in life; a sense of what it is important to do and what constitutes a good or a right way to live.…”

Section: Embracing Spirituality Across International Healthcare Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Issue “International Conference of Spirituality in Healthcare. Nurturing the Spirit”—Trinity College Dublin 2016

et al. 2017

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Research on meaning-making and health in secular society: Secular, spiritual and religious existential orientations

Cited by 175 publications

References 21 publications

The NERSH International Collaboration on Values, Spirituality and Religion in Medicine: Development of Questionnaire, Description of Data Pool, and Overview of Pool Publications

The NERSH International Collaboration on Values, Spirituality and Religion in Medicine: Development of Questionnaire, Description of Data Pool, and Overview of Pool Publications

Familial Resemblance in Religiousness in a Secular Society: A Twin Study

Special Issue “International Conference of Spirituality in Healthcare. Nurturing the Spirit”—Trinity College Dublin 2016

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