Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Religious Practice and Life Satisfaction: A Domains-of-Life Approach

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on the relationship between religious practice and life satisfaction usually points to the existence of a positive association; with spiritual and social networks in the congregation being considered as important aspects intervening in the relationship. This paper follows a domains-of-life approach to provide insight into the relationship between religious practice and life satisfaction; seven domains of life are considered: Family, Friends, Economic, Free time, Health, Occupation, and Spiritual. By following a domains-of-life approach it is possible to consider how this association takes place through many facets in a person’s life. The methodology allows mapping out the links between religious practice and life satisfaction; in fact, the relationship between religious practice and life satisfaction depends on the importance each domain has in explaining life satisfaction, as well as on the role religious practice plays in explaining domain satisfaction. Empirical research relies on information from a representative survey of the adult non-Hispanic white population in the United States. It is shown that the most important link between religious practice and life satisfaction takes place through the economic domain, followed by the spiritual and family domains of life. The friendship, occupation, and health domains have a minor but statistically significant role.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Available upon request from the author.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Notes

  1. This paper corroborated this well-known finding; the categorical life satisfaction variable was treated as cardinal -running OLS regressions- and as ordinal -running ordered probit regressions- and it was found that the main results do sustain.

  2. The domains-of-life demarcation used in this paper overlaps with commonly used demarcations, such as those mentioned in the OECD’s Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-Being (OECD, 2013: Section E). For example, the Friends domain overlaps with domains such as: our relationships, social connectedness, and personal relationships. The Economic domain overlaps with domains such as: material conditions, income and wealth, personal finance, and economic standard of living. The Free time domain overlaps with domains such as: leisure and recreation, work and life balance. The Health domain overlaps with domains such as: health, health status, health (physical and mental), personal health. The occupation domain overlaps with domains such as: what we do, paid work, jobs and earnings. The family domain overlaps with domains such as marriage and family life, and it was mentioned in the pioneer study of Campbell et al. (1976). The spiritual domain was introduced by Wills (2009).

  3. One reviewer recommended incorporating the trait variable in the study of the relationship between religious practice and satisfaction in domains of life, since both variables are reported by the same person and in the same questionnaire (Podsakoff et al., 2003). This path was explored, and it was observed that the major conclusions of the paper regarding the domains-of-life mapping do not substantially change.

References

  • Argyle, M. (2002). The psychology of happiness. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azzi, C., & Ehrenberg, R. (1975). Household allocation of time and church attendance. Journal of Political Economy, 83(1), 27–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardo, A. (2017). A life course model for a domains-of-life approach to happiness: Evidence from the United States. Advances in Life Course Research, 33, 11–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardo, A. R., & Yamashita, T. (2013). Validity of domain satisfaction across cohorts in the US. Social Indicators Research, 117, 367–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benefiel, M., Fry, L. W., & Geigle, D. (2014). Spirituality and religion in the workplace: History, theory and research. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(3), 175–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulman, R. J., & Wortman, C. B. (1977). Attributions of blame and coping in the ‘Real World’: Severe accident victims react to their lot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 351–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life. Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and Unemployment. The Economic Journal, 104, 648–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colvin, C. L., & McCracken, M. (2017). Work ethic, social ethic, no ethic: Measuring the economic values of modern Christians. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 32(5), 1043–1053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. A. (1996). The domains of life satisfaction: An attempt to order chaos. Social Indicators Research, 38, 303–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dargent, C. (2019). Religious practice versus subjective religiosity: Catholics and those with ‘no religion’ in the French 2017 presidential election. Social Compass, 66(2), 164–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, R. L. (1987). Relationships between life satisfaction and consumer satisfaction. In A. Coskun Samli (Ed.), Marketing and the quality of life interface. Quorum Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilmaghani, M. (2018). Religiosity and subjective wellbeing in Canada. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 629–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A., & Sawangfa, O. (2009). Happiness and domain satisfaction: New directions for the economics of happiness. In A. K. Dutt & B. Radcliff (Eds.), Happiness, economics, and politics: Towards a multi-disciplinary approach (pp. 70–94). Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliassen, A. H., Taylor, J., & Lloyd, D. A. (2005). Subjective religiosity and depression in the transition to adulthood. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44(2), 187–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, M., & Hayward, R. D. (2009). Religion and life satisfaction worldwide: The role of government regulation. Sociology of Religion, 70(3), 285–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. G. (1991). Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32(1), 80–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. G., Gay, D. A., & Glass, T. A. (1989). Does religious commitment contribute to individual life satisfaction? Social Forces, 68(1), 100–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., & Frijters, P. (2004). How important is methodology for the estimates of determinants of happiness? The Economic Journal, 114, 641–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferriss, A. L. (2002). Religion and the quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(3), 199–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, P., Ai, A. L., Aydin, A., Frey, D., & Haslam, S. A. (2010). The relationship between religious identity and preferred coping strategies: An examination of the relative importance of interpersonal and intrapersonal coping in Muslim and Christian faiths. Review of General Psychology, 14(4), 365–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. (2018). Economics of happiness. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, M. E., & Veevers, J. E. (1990). Religious involvement and life satisfaction in Canada. Sociology of Religion, 51(4), 387–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorsuch, R. L., & Smith, C. S. (1983). Attribution of responsibility to God: An interaction of religious beliefs and outcomes. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 22, 340–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, K. V., & Yoon, B. J. (2004). Religiosity, economics and life satisfaction. Review of Social Economy, 62(2), 245–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayo, B. (2007). Happiness in transition: An empirical study on eastern Europe. Economic Systems, 31(2), 204–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., Holmström, E., & Wearing, A. J. (1984). The impact of life events and changes in domain satisfactions on well-being. Social Indicators Research, 15, 203–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., Schupp, J., Tucci, I., & Wagner, G. G. (2010). Authentic happiness theory supported by impact of religion on life satisfaction: A longitudinal analysis with data for Germany. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 73–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., Veenhoven, R., & Wearing, A. (1991). Top-down versus bottom-up: Theories of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 24, 81–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idler, E. L. (2004). Religious observance and health: Theory and research. In K. Warner Schaie, N. Krause, & A. Booth (Eds.), Religious influences on health and well-being in the elderly (pp. 20–42). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., Mcintosh, D., & Pacini, R. (1992). Value priorities and religiosity—An empiric investigation. International Journal of Psychology, 27(3–4), 304–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2004). Sacred & secular: Religion and politics worldwide. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1982). 1902. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. H. (2014). Religious attendance, stress, and happiness in South Korea: Do gender and religious affiliation matter? Social Indicators Research, 118(3), 1125–1145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim-Prieto, C., & Miller, L. (2018). Intersection of religion and subjective well-being. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. DEF Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kortt, M., Dollery, B., & Grant, B. (2015). Religion and life satisfaction down under. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16, 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N., Ingersoll-Dayton, B., Liang, J., & Sugisawa, H. (1999). Religion, social support, and health among the Japanese elderly. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40, 405–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N., & Wulff, K. M. (2005). Church-based social ties, a sense of belonging in a congregation, and physical health status. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(1), 73–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaBarbera, P. A., & Gurhan, Z. (1997). The role of materialism, religiosity, and demographics in subjective well-being. Psychology and Marketing, 14(1), 71–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. R. (1992). Religious practice as social exchange: An explanation of the empirical findings. Sociology of Religion, 53(1), 1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lelkes, O. (2006). Tasting freedom: Happiness, religion and economic transition. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 59(2), 173–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenski, G. (1963). The religious factor. A sociological study of religion’s impact on politics, economics, and family life. Doubleday Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyva, G., Bustos, A., & Romo, A. M. (2016). Life satisfaction and happiness in Mexico: Correlates and redundancies. In M. Rojas (Ed.), Handbook of happiness research in Latin America. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, C., & Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 75(6), 914–933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, A. (2010). Religion in families, 1999–2009: A relational spirituality framework. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(4), 805–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, A., Pargament, K. I., Tarakeshwar, N., & Swank, A. B. (2001). Religion in the home in the 1980s and 1990s: A meta-analytic review and conceptual analysis of links between religion, marriage, and parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(4), 559–596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manglos, N. D. (2013). Faith pinnacle moments: Stress, miraculous experiences, and life satisfaction in young adulthood. Sociology of Religion, 74(2), 176–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, K. K., Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2012). The role of domain satisfaction in explaining the paradoxical association between life satisfaction and age. Social Indicators Research, 109(2), 295–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OCDE. (2013). OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. OECD Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pace, S. (2012). Does religion affect the materialism of consumers? An empirical investigation of Buddhist ethics and the resistance of the self. Journal of Business Ethics, 112, 25–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K., & Ano, G. (2004). Empirical advances in the psychology of religion and coping. In K. Warner Schaie, N. Krause, & A. Booth (Eds.), Religious influences on health and well-being in the elderly (pp. 114–139). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K., & Hahn, J. (1986). God and the just world: Causal and coping attributions to god in health situation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 25, 193–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, L. D., & Axinn, W. (1998). The impact of family religious life on the quality of mother-child relations. American Sociological Review, 63(6), 810–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., Mackenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollner, M. (1989). Divine relations, social relations, and well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, 92–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R., & Campbell, D. E. (2010). American Grace: How religion divides and unites us. Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, K. (1991). Strength of religious affiliation and life satisfaction. Sociology of Religion, 52(2), 205–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, M. (2006). Life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life: Is it a simple relationship? Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(4), 467–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, M. (2007). The complexity of well-being: A life-satisfaction conception and a domains-of-life approach. In I. Gough & A. McGregor (Eds.), Researching well-being in developing countries: From theory to research (pp. 259–280). Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, M. (2009). A monetary appraisal of some illnesses in Costa Rica: A subjective well-being approach. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 26(3), 255–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, M., & Elizondo-Lara, M. (2012). Satisfacción de Vida en Costa Rica: Un Enfoque de Dominios de Vida. Latin American Research Review, 47(1), 78–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saris, W. E., & Ferligoj, A., et al. (1996). Life satisfaction and domain satisfaction in 10 European countries: Correlation at the individual level. In W. E. Saris (Ed.), A comparative study of satisfaction with life in Europe (pp. 275–280). Eötvös University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shor, E., & Roelfs, D. J. (2013). The longevity effects of religious and nonreligious participation: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52(1), 120–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In S. Leinhardt (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp. 290–312). American Sociological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spilka, B., & Schmidt, G. (1983). General attribution theory for the psychology of religion: The influence of event-character on attributions to God. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 22, 326–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swinyard, W., Kau, A.-K., & Phua, H.-Y. (2001). Happiness, materialism, and religious experience in the US and Singapore. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2, 13–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Cappellen, P., Toth-Gauthier, M., Saroglou, V., & Fredrickson, B. (2016). Religion and well-being: The mediating role of positive emotions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(2), 485–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Praag, B., & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2004). Happiness quantified: A satisfaction calculus approach. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • van Praag, B. M. S., Frijters, P., & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2003). The anatomy of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 51, 29–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeer, P. (2010). The impact of parental religiosity on parenting goals and parenting style: A Dutch perspective. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 32(1), 69–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeer, P. (2014). Religion and family life: An overview of current research and suggestions for future research. Religions, 5, 402–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1966). The sociology of religion. Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wills, E. (2009). Spirituality and subjective well-being: Evidence for a new domain in the personal well-being index. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(1), 49–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Happiness and Well-Being: Integrating Research across the Disciplines project at Saint Louis University is acknowledged.

Funding

The survey is part of the research project Understanding Happiness in Latin America, which received a grant from the Happiness and Well-Being: Integrating Research across the Disciplines project, based at Saint Louis University and with financial support from the Templeton Foundation and Saint Louis University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Internacional de La Rioja & ITSM, Madrid, Spain

    Mariano Rojas & Karen Watkins-Fassler

Authors
  1. Mariano Rojas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karen Watkins-Fassler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariano Rojas.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have not disclosed any conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rojas, M., Watkins-Fassler, K. Religious Practice and Life Satisfaction: A Domains-of-Life Approach. J Happiness Stud 23, 2349–2369 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00510-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00510-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation