The Relation Between Intrinsic Religious Faith and Psychological Well-Being

Religion, Spirituality, and Positive Psychology in Adulthood: A Developmental View

“…Religious and spiritual involvement are, in turn, on the whole, in studies across cultures, associated with self-esteem and well-being (Francis and Kaldor 2002), both mental and physical (McIntosh and Spilka 1990), especially, when religious involvement is a matter of intrinsic motivation (Laurencelle et al 2002;McIntosh and Spilka 1990;Ryan et al 1993), and where images of God are benevolent, rather than harsh and controlling (Culbertson 1996;Pargament et al 1990). In multifactorial assessments across thousands of subjects and a broad array of cultural settings, religious beliefs and commitments, and belonging to a religious community, are also predictors, perhaps the best predictors, of life satisfaction and sense of well-being in adulthood, as well as with a sense of personal efficacy and control, and successful coping with life difficulties (Baumeister 1991;Delbridge et al 1994;Doehring et al 2009;Geyer and Baumeister 2005;Jones 1993;Klaasen et al 2009;Pargament 1997;Silberman 2005;Spilka et al 2003), particularly for older adults (Chamberlain and Zika 1992;Willits and Crider 1989).…”

Is it God or Just the Data that Moves in Mysterious Ways? How Well-Being Research may be Mistaking Faith for Virtue

“…Public religious activity (e.g., church attendance) also predicts well-being (Ferriss 2000;French and Joseph 1999;Laurencelle et al 2002;Martin et al 2003;Maselko and Kuzansky 2006)-however, the direction of causality is not obvious (i.e., healthier believers are more able to attend services). Furthermore, positive (e.g., acceptance and forgiveness, see Pargament et al 2004), but not negative religious coping (e.g., discontent, pleading, passivity/deferral etc.…”

What Mediates the Relationship Between Religious Service Attendance and Aspects of Well-Being?

“…Intrinsic religiosity has also been related to several positive outcomes including: (a) better self-reported health and (b) decreased social isolation, anxiety, depression, and death terror (Donahue 1985;Jonas and Fischer 2006;Laurencelle et al 2002;Masters and Bergin 1992;Smith et al 2003). The meta-analysis by Smith et al (2003) found compelling evidence that intrinsic religiosity has stronger negative correlations with depression than do other measures of religious attitudes or beliefs and suggested that the positive effects of religious service attendance on well-being are at least partially mediated by intrinsic religiosity, although they did not directly test this possibility.…”