Definition
Religiosity refers to a broad set of beliefs and behaviors centering on the sacred.
Description
Introduction
Over the past several decades, there has been an increasing interest among social scientists in documenting the relationship between religion and health, including both psychological and physical health outcomes. The purpose of this entry is to provide an overview of the field with particular attention to theory and evidence regarding specific mechanisms that explain why religion tends to be associated with better mental and physical health. The bulk of this entry will be based on research conducted in the United States but will also include a small body of cross-national studies that compare the nature of the religion/health association between countries. Although the list of potential mediators is extensive, this entry will focus on religion as a source of social identity, of social support, and of attitudes...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bennett, P., & Elliott, M. (2011). God give me strength: Exploring prayer as self-disclosure. Journal of Religion and Health. doi:10.1007/s10943-011-9460-1.
Bergin, A. E., Masters, K. S., & Richards, P. (1987). Religiousness and mental health reconsidered: A study of an intrinsically religious sample. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34(2), 197–204.
Bjorck, J. P., & Thurman, J. W. (2007). Negative life events, patterns of positive and negative religious coping, and psychological functioning. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46(2), 159–167.
Chatters, L. M. (2000). Religion and health: Public health research and practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 335–367.
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. The American Psychologist, 59(8), 676–684.
Cohn, M. A., Fredrickson, B. L., Brown, S. L., Mikels, J. A., & Conway, A. M. (2009). Happiness unpacked: Positive emotions increase life satisfaction by building resilience. Emotion, 9(3), 361–368.
Dezutter, J., Soenens, B., & Hutsebaut, D. (2006). Religiosity and mental health: A further exploration of the relative importance of religious behaviors versus religious attitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(4), 807–818.
Diener, E., & Chan, M. Y. (2011). Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 3(1), 1–43.
Diener, E., Tay, L., & Myers, D. G. (2011). The religion paradox: If religion makes people happy, why are so many dropping out? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(6), 1278–1290.
Doane, M. J. (2013). The association between religiosity and subjective well-being: The unique contribution of religious service attendance and the mediating role of perceived religious social support. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 34(1), 49–66.
Elliott, M., & Hayward, R. D. (2009). Religion and life satisfaction worldwide: The role of government regulation. Sociology of Religion, 70(3), 285–310.
Ellison, C. W. (1991). Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32, 80–99.
Eriksson, M., & Lindström, B. (2006). Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and the relation with health: A systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60, 376–381.
Gadalla, T. M. (2009). Determinants, correlates and mediators of psychological distress: A longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 68(12), 2199–2205.
Gale, C. R., Batty, G. D., & Deary, I. J. (2008). Locus of control at age 10 years and health outcomes and behaviors at age 30 years: The 1980 British Cohort Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(4), 397–403.
George, L. K., Ellison, C. G., & Larson, D. B. (2002). Explaining the relationships between religious involvement and health. Psychological Inquiry, 13(3), 190–200.
Green, M., & Elliott, M. (2010). Religion, health, and psychological well-being. Journal of Religion and Health, 49(2), 149–163.
Greenfield, E. A., & Marks, N. F. (2007). Religious social identity as an explanatory factor for associations between more frequent formal religious participation and psychological well-being. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 17(3), 245–259.
Grim, B. J., & Finke, R. (2007). Religious persecution in cross-national context: Clashing civilizations or regulated religious economies? American Sociological Review, 72(4), 633–658.
Haslam, S., Jetten, J., Postmes, T., & Haslam, C. (2009). Social identity, health and well-being: An emerging agenda for applied psychology. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 58(1), 1–23.
Hayward, R., & Elliott, M. (2009). Fitting in with the flock: Social attractiveness as a mechanism for well-being in religious groups. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39(4), 592–607.
Koenig, H. G., George, L. K., Blazer, D. G., & Pritchett, J. T. (1993). The relationship between religion and anxiety in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(1), 65–93.
Koenig, H. G., Larson, D. B., & Larson, S. S. (2001). Religion and coping with serious medical illness. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 35(3), 352–359.
Krause, N., Ellison, C. G., & Wulff, K. M. (1998). Church-based support, negative interaction and psychological well-being: Findings from a national sample of Presbyterians. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 725–741.
Krause, N., & Wulff, K. M. (2004). Religious doubt and health: Exploring the potential dark side of religion. Sociology of Religion, 65(1), 35–56.
Levin, J. (2010). Religion and mental health: Theory and research. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 7(2), 102–115.
Lindenthal, J. J., Myers, J. K., Pepper, M. P., & Stern, M. S. (1970). Mental status and religious behavior. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 9(2), 143–149.
Mael, F. A., & Ashforth, B. E. (2001). Identification in work, war, sports, and religion: Contrasting the benefits and risks. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 31(2), 197–222.
Masters, K. S., & Bergin, A. E. (1992). Religious orientation and mental health. In J. F. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 221–232). New York: Oxford University Press.
Nicholson, A., Rose, R., & Bobak, M. (2009). Association between attendance at religious services and self-reported health in 22 European countries. Social Science & Medicine, 69(4), 519–528.
Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping. New York: Guilford Press.
Pargament, K. I., Ishler, K., Dubow, E. G., Stanik, P., Rouiller, R., Crowe, P., et al. (1994). Methods of religious coping with the Gulf War: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 33(4), 347–361.
Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 710–724.
Pew Research Center. (2012). “Nones” on the rise: One-in-five adults have no religious affiliation. Retrieved April 2, 2012, http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Unaffiliated/NonesOnTheRise-full.pdf.
Schieman, S. (2008). The religious role and the sense of personal control. Sociology of Religion, 69(3), 273–296.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Elliott, M., Doane, M.J. (2014). Religion, Psychological Well-Being, and Health. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_4128
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_4128
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0752-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0753-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law