The Effect of Religious Involvement on Life Satisfaction among Korean Christians: Focused on the Mediating Effect of Spiritual Well-Being and Self-Esteem

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between two categories of religious involvement, namely religious belief and religious behavior, and life satisfaction among Korean Christians (N = 278) with spiritual well-being and self-esteem as potential mediators in this relationship by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results supported the full mediated structural model and indicated that religious belief had a significant indirect effect on life satisfaction through the mediators, spiritual well-being and self-esteem. Religious behavior did not have an indirect or direct effect on life satisfaction among Korean Christians. The significance, implications, and limitations of the study were discussed.

The Influence of Spiritual Well-Being on Depression among Protestant College Seminarians in Korea With a Focus on the Mediating Effect of Self-Esteem

“…According to Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) Transactional Model, high levels of spiritual well-being may improve the appraisal of the self, based on being loved by the Divine, thereby leading to higher self-esteem. A positive link between positive attitude toward Christianity and selfesteem (King, 2015;Yoo, 2017b), and spiritual well-being and self-esteem among Christians (M.-H. Park, 2013;Yoo, 2017b), has been confirmed.…”

“…Kang et al, 2009) and 215 high-school students in Korea (E. Kang, 2003). Other Korean studies showed a significant correlation between spiritual well-being and selfesteem in adults (Suh et al, 2005;Yoo, 2017b;You & Yoo, 2016). EWB-a sub-factor of spiritual well-being-was associated with higher self-esteem and lower depression (Genia, 2001;You & Yoo, 2016).…”

“…Whereas people seek economic, physical, and mental well-being (Diener & Seligman, 2018;Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006), spiritual well-being is essential for religious people and seminarians who will become church leaders and spiritual gurus. Over the past decades, interest in the relationship between spirituality and mental health has increased (Baetz et al, 2004;Liaquat et al, 2013;Unterrainer et al, 2011Unterrainer et al, , 2013Yoo, 2017b;You & Yoo, 2016). However, few studies have explored the relationship between spirituality and depression among seminarians (Dudley & Dudley, 1994;Ridgley, 2011), especially with respect to the relationship between spiritual well-being and depression.…”

“…Some studies on the relationship between spiritual well-being and self-esteem revealed their high correlation in the Korean population (E. Kang, 2003;K. A. Kang et al, 2009;Yoo, 2017b). Although the negative association between self-esteem and depression, and the positive correlation between spiritual well-being and self-esteem have been examined, the structural association among spiritual well-being, self-esteem, and depression has been scarcely studied in Korea.…”

The Effects of Religiosity and Socioeconomic Status on Social Distance towards Refugees and the Serial Mediating Role of Satisfaction with Life and Perceived Threat

“…In a study conducted by Headey et al (2010) which was based on this theory, a significant positive relationship was found between long-term changes in religious practices and changes in life satisfaction with data from the German Socioeconomic Panel Questionnaire. Likewise, positive associations were determined between religiosity and satisfaction with life in other studies (Chumbler 1996;Ngamaba and Soni 2017;Rakrachakarn et al 2015;Yoo 2017). This study started with a research question: How is the relationship realized between religiosity, SES, and social distance towards refugees?…”