Abstract
This essay was posted in blog format, and examines the proportion of people who ascribe to religion, and some of the possible reasons that people follow religion, as well as some of the benefits and drawbacks.
Introduction
Emmons and Paloutzian (2003, p. 386) have defined religiousness as “a person characteristic, as a belief and meaning system that is stable over time and manifested across diverse situations”. Emmons and Paloutzian further suggest that gratitude, forgiveness and humility may be some of the factors that cause religion to have a beneficial effect on health. This essay aims to determine what proportion of people ascribe to a religion, and some of the possible reasons that people may follow a religion.
Proportion
Sources that detail the proportion of people ascribing to a different religion can vary dramatically, given that the definition of religion may be variable. Short of asking every person in the world what religion they ascribe to, a definite answer cannot be obtained. It should be noted that even if every person in the world was asked, some people may simply state that they are religious or non-religious because of social pressures, rather than reporting what they personally believe. This fits in with the social psychological concept of public compliance, where a person publicly states one opinion, but privately believes something else. Even so, some figures have been obtained (Wikipedia, 2007) and the three most populous religions are Christianity (approximately 2.1 billion), Islam (approximately 1.5 billion) and Hindiusm (approximately 900 million). A hyperlink to this figure has been inserted into a blog posting for reference.
Personality
Maltby (1999) states that religious orientation is related to personality. The author found that all aspects of religiosity, such as intrinsic orientation toward religion and frequency of prayer, were negatively related to psychoticism. There was no association found between religiosity and other personality variables. Obsessional personality traits were found to be positively related to personal religion. This evidence does not seem to support the idea that certain personality traits lead people to be more or less likely to follow a religion.
Positive mental health
Aalsma and Lapsley (1999) reported that religiosity has been consistently associated with positive mental health outcomes. The authors also noted that it is possible that the relational aspect of being religious provides psychosocial benefits. For example, participation in the religious community can be beneficial to mental health.
Hadaway (1978) provided support for the idea that religion is a coping resource, and it was found to help Americans lead happier lives. Hintikka (2001) found a positive relationship between religious attendance and life satisfaction. Apparently social support did not seem to affect this relationship. Because the Finns are racially and religiously homogenous this study is very representative of that population, however whether it can be generalised to other populations is less certain.
Young, Cashwell and Shcherbakova (2000) found that spirituality provides a significant moderating effect for negative life events on depression and anxiety, and the effect was found to be stronger for depression. It should be noted that this study only used college students, and most participants reported participating in Christian activities. The authors concede that a more heterogeneous sample would be useful for future research.
Fallot (2001) reported that spirituality can play a positive role for dealing with stress and decision-making. Praying and not using drugs were two reasons given. Involvement in religion also enhances social support. Spirituality also gave many a sense of being a “whole” person, of being complete. Hodges (2000) reported that having an active spiritual life was associated with being emotionally healthy, having meaning and purpose in life. Religion may not always play a positive part, but it often does.
Negative mental health
Fallot (2001) found that depending on the cultural context, sometimes if an individual is hearing voices or displaying other psychiatric symptoms, this may be considered normal. Religion can be helpful or can make things worse, someone in depression may have more severe symptoms as a result of guilt and unattainable ideals. There are also conflicting reports about whether religion is associated with happiness, for example, Lewis (2002) studied Northern Irish undergraduates and found no significant relationship between religiosity and happiness. Further research is needed, into different populations and religions.
Framing
Being religious can change the way a person frames a situation. Gall (2000) claimed that spiritual or religious interpretations of why a person has got cancer can help them frame it more positively, which may enable them to deal with it more effectively. However, it could be possible that a person could learn to frame other situations in a more negative light, which may not lead to such positive outcomes.
Emotional
Thagard (2005) states that religion is full of emotion, and so is cognition. The author cites many different possible reasons that people have religious beliefs, such as traditional arguments about the design of the world and the fact that religion can give an explanation of miracles. The author also mentions desire for comfort, belonging, ethics and immortality. Thagard suggests that religion can provide satisfaction of cognitive and emotional needs. Children acquire many of their beliefs from their parents and children naturally believe what their parents tell them. The author found no evidence to suggest that religiosity is heritable or that it is due to evolution. However, religion could be a byproduct of something else that did come about through evolution, such as emotional cognition.
Control / social
Meisenhelder (2002) proposed that maybe as individuals are faced with a threat, they want to gain some form of control, even if it is just perceived control. If an individual feels that they cannot control an event, they may look to a higher power, such as a god. This may give the individual a sense of control and reassurance. The author also states that religious services bring people together in a supportive social environment.
Stone, Cross, Purvis and Young (2003) found that religious beliefs and participation, such as praying, were found to be very helpful for coping with stress. Relationships with others in the church community also helped.
Need for answers
Pataki (2006) notes that many people are drawn to religion because they believe it is ‘good’, and provides them with hope. Religion has the capacity to provide answers to questions such as why there bad things happen. Humans have a need to ‘know’ and religion provides answers to many of the questions.
Shobris (1994) explains that the universality of religion may suggest a common biological tendency. There may be a religion specific part of the brain located in the temporal lobes, involving the limbic system.
Conclusion
There are many different reasons that a person may ascribe to a religion, though one of the largest influences would be the environment that a person was brought up in. Religion is impressed upon children from a very early age, and children would not generally question what their parents tell them, and this can dramaticaly shape their view of the world. Religion can provide some benefits, to both physical and mental health, and the main reasons for this appear to be due to the social contact that religious involvement often brings.
References
Aalsma, M. C., & Lapsley, D. K. (1999). Religiosity and adolescent narcissism: Implications for values counseling [Electronic version]. Counseling & Values, 44(1), 17-29.
Emmons, R. A., & Paloutzian, R. F. (2003). The psychology of religion [Electronic version]. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 377-402.
Fallot, R. D. (2001). Spirituality and religion in psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery from mental illness [Electronic version]. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 110-116.
Gall, T. L. (2000). Integrating religious resources within a general model of stress and coping: Long-term adjustment to breast cancer [Electronic version]. Journal of Religion and Health, 39(2), 167-182.
Hadaway, C. K. (1978). Life satisfaction and religion: A reanalysis [Electronic version]. Social Forces, 57(2), 636-643.
Hintikka, J. (2001). Religious attendance and life satisfaction in the Finnish general population [Electronic version]. Journal of Psychology & Theology, 29(2), 158-164.
Hodges, S. (2002). Mental health, depression, and dimensions of spirituality and religion [Electronic version]. Journal of Adult Development, 9(2), 109-115.
Lewis, C. A. (2002). Church attendance and happiness among northern Irish undergraduate students: No association [Electronic version]. Pastoral Psychology, 50(3), 191-195.
Maltby, J. (1999). Personality dimensions of religious orientation [Electronic version]. The Journal of Psychology, 133(6), 631-640.
Meisenhelder, J. B. (2002). Terrorism, posttraumatic stress, and religious coping [Electronic version]. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 23, 771-782.
Pataki, T. (2006). Against religion [Electronic version]. Australian Book Review, February 2006, 36-41.
Shobris, J. G. (1994). The dualism of psychology [Electronic version]. Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs, 120(4), 373-393.
Stone, H. W., Cross, D. R., Purvis, K. B., & Young, M. J. (2003). A study of the benefit of social and religious support on church members during times of crisis [Electronic version]. Pastoral Psychology, 51(4), 327-340.
Thagard, P. (2005). The emotional coherence of religion [Electronic version]. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 5, 58-74.
Wikipedia. (2007). Religion. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion October 21, 2007.
Young, J. S., Cashwell, C. S., & Shcherbakova, J. (2000). The moderating relationship of spirituality on negative life events and psychological adjustment [Electronic version]. Counseling & Values, 45(1), 49-57.
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