Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prayer and personal happiness: a study among secondary school students in Australia

  • Published:
Journal of Religious Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to examine the association between prayer and happiness, a sample of 1,002 students, ranging in age from 12- to 18-years, attending ten non-government secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, completed three measures: the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the short form of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised, and a single-item measure of prayer affect assessed on a five-point scale. The data demonstrated a significant positive correlation between prayer affect and happiness after taking into account individual differences in sex, age and personality.

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

References

  • Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2006). Happiness, health, and religiosity: Significant relations. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 9, 85–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ap Siôn, T., & Francis, L. J. (2009). The psychology of prayer: A review of empirical research. In M. De Souza, L. J. Francis, J. O’Higgins-Norman, & D. G. Scott (Eds.), International handbook of education for spirituality, care and wellbeing (pp. 247–268). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Argyle, M., & Crossland, J. (1987). Dimensions of positive emotions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 127–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argyle, M., Martin, M., & Crossland, J. (1989). Happiness as a function of personality and social encounters. In J. P. Forgas & J. M. Innes (Eds.), Recent Advances in Social Psychology: An International Perspective (pp. 189–203). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayani, A. A. (2008). Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the Farsi version of the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Psychological Reports, 103, 139–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capps, D. (1982). The psychology of petitionary prayer. Theology Today, 39, 130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coe, G. A. (1916). The psychology of religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corulla, W. J. (1990). A revised version of the psychoticism scale for children. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeVellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1991). Manual of the Eysenck personality scales. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J. (1992). The influence of religion, gender and social class on attitudes toward school among 11 years old in England. Journal of Experimental Education, 60, 339–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J. (2005). Prayer, personality and purpose in life among churchgoing and non-churchgoing adolescents. In L. J. Francis, M. Robbins, & J. Astley (Eds.), Religion, education and adolescence: International empirical perspectives (pp. 15–38). Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Burton, L. (1994). The influence of personal prayer on purpose in life among Catholic adolescents. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 15(2), 6–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Evans, T. E. (1996). The relationship between personal prayer and purpose in life among churchgoing and non-churchgoing 12–15 year olds in the UK. Religious Education, 91, 9–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., Jones, S. H., & Wilcox, C. (2000). Religiosity and happiness: During adolescence, young adulthood and later life. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 19, 245–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Katz, Y. J. (2000). Hebrew Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire: short form (EPQR-S) and abbreviated form (EPQR-A). Social Behaviour and Personality, 28, 555–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Katz, Y. J. (2002). Religiosity and happiness: A study among Israeli female undergraduates. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 13, 75–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., Katz, Y. J., Yablon, Y., & Robbins, M. (2004). Religiosity, personality, and happiness: A study among Israeli male undergraduates. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5, 315–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Lester, D. (1997). Religion, personality and happiness. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 12, 81–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2000). Religion and happiness: a study in empirical theology. Transpersonal Psychology Review, 4(2), 17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2006). Prayer, purpose in life, personality and social attitudes among non-churchgoing 13- to 15-year-olds in England and Wales. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 17, 123–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2009). Prayer, purpose in life, and attitude toward substances: A study among 13- to 15-year-olds in England and Wales. Counselling and Spirituality, 28(2), 83–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., Robbins, M., & White, A. (2003). Correlation between religion and happiness: A replication. Psychological Reports, 92, 51–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J., Yablon, Y. B., & Robbins, M. (2014). Religion and happiness: A study among female undergraduate students in Israel. International Journal of Jewish Education Research, 7, 77–92.

  • Furnham, A., & Cheng, H. (1999). Personality as predictors of mental health and happiness in the East and West. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 395–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1902). The varieties of religious experience. New York: Longmans Green.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, C. A., Francis, L. J., & Ziebertz, H.-G. (2002). The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the German translation of the Oxford Happiness Inventory. North American Journal of Psychology, 4, 211–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, L., & Lin, Y. Y. (1998). Family roles and happiness in adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 195–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meleddu, M., Guicciardi, M., Scalas, L. F., & Fadda, D. (2012). Validation of an Italian version of the Oxford Happiness Inventory in adolescence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94, 175–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, A., & Francis, L. J. (1996). Relationship between personal prayer and school-related attitudes among 11–16 year old girls. Psychological Reports, 78, 787–793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neto, F. (2001). Personality predictors of happiness. Psychological Reports, 88, 817–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, M., Babington, P., & Francis, L. J. (2003). Personal prayer and school-related attitudes among 8–11-year-olds. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 24, 245–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, M., & Francis, L. J. (1996). Are religious people happier? A study among undergraduates. In L. J. Francis, W. K. Kay, & W. S. Campbell (Eds.), Research in religious education (pp. 207–217). Leominster: Gracewing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, M., & Francis, L. J. (2005). Purpose in life and prayer among Catholic and protestant adolescents in Northern Ireland. Journal of Research in Christian Education, 14, 73–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, M., Francis, L. J., & Edwards, B. (2008). Prayer, personality and happiness: A study among undergraduate students in Wales. Journal of Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 11, 93–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warwick Religions & Education Research Unit, Institute of Education, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, England, UK

    Leslie J. Francis

  2. Federation University, Ballarat, Australia

    John W. Fisher

Authors
  1. Leslie J. Francis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John W. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leslie J. Francis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Francis, L.J., Fisher, J.W. Prayer and personal happiness: a study among secondary school students in Australia. j. relig. educ. 62, 79–86 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-014-0010-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-014-0010-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation