Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Linking Religion and Spirituality with Psychological Well-being: Examining Self-actualisation, Meaning in Life, and Personal Growth Initiative

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research largely shows that religion and spirituality have a positive correlation to psychological well-being. However, there has been a great deal of confusion and debate over their operational definitions. This study attempted to delineate the two constructs and categorise participants into different groups based on measured levels of religious involvement and spirituality. The groups were then scored against specific measures of well-being. A total of 205 participants from a wide range of religious affiliations and faith groups were recruited from various religious institutions and spiritual meetings. They were assigned to one of four groups with the following characteristics: (1) a high level of religious involvement and spirituality, (2) a low level of religious involvement with a high level of spirituality, (3) a high level of religious involvement with a low level of spirituality, and (4) a low level of religious involvement and spirituality. Multiple comparisons were made between the groups on three measures of psychological well-being: levels of self-actualisation, meaning in life, and personal growth initiative. As predicted, it was discovered that, aside from a few exceptions, groups (1) and (2) obtained higher scores on all three measures. As such, these results confirm the importance of spirituality on psychological well-being, regardless of whether it is experienced through religious participation.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

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

  • Argyle, M., & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1975). The social psychology of religion. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. K. (2000). A model of trauma with spirituality and religiosity: The mediating and moderating effects of personal growth initiative and openness to experience (Doctoral dissertation). Texas: Texas Tech University.

  • Chamberlain, K., & Zika, S. (1992). Religiosity, meaning in life, and psychological wellbeing. In J. F. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 138–148). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. B., & Koenig, H. G. (2003). Religion, religiosity and spirituality in the biopsychosocial model of health and ageing. Ageing International, 28, 215–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollahite, D. C. (1998). Fathering, faith and spirituality. Journal of Men’s Study, 7, 3–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellens, J. H. (2007). Radical grace: How belief in a benevolent God benefits our health. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellens, J. H. (2008). Understanding religious experiences: what the Bible says about spirituality. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, M., & Hayward, R. D. (2007). Religion and the search for meaning in life. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 53, 80–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A. (2005). Striving for the sacred: personal goals, life meaning, and religion. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 731–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., Cheung, C., & Tehrani, K. (1998). Assessing spirituality through personal goals: implications for research on religion and subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 45, 391–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankl, V. E. (1965). The doctor and the soul: From psychotherapy to logotherapy. Great Britain: Penguin Books Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry, P. S. (2000). Religious involvement, spirituality and personal meaning for life: Existential predictors of psychological wellbeing in community-residing and Institutional care elders. Aging and Mental Health, 4, 375–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, R. C. (1988). Religion and the life cycle. Philadelphia: Fortress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenway, A. P., Meagan, P., Turnbull, S., & Milne, L. C. (2007). Religious coping strategies and spiritual transcendence. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 10, 325–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: Implications for physical and mental health research. American Psychologist, 58, 64–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, P. C., Pargament, K., Hood, R. W., McCullough, M. E., Swyers, J. P., Larson, D. B., et al. (2000). Conceptualizing religion and spirituality: Points of commonality, points of departure. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 30, 51–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivtzan, I. (2009). Self actualisation: For individualistic cultures only? International Journal on Humanistic Ideology, 1(2), 111–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivtzan, I., & Conneely, R. (2010). Androgyny in the mirror of self-actualisation and spiritual health. The Open Psychology Journal, 2, 58–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1902). The varieties of religious experience. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A., & Crandall, R. (1986). Validation of a short index of self-actualization. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 63–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karoly, P. (1999). A goal systems–Self-regulatory perspective on personality, psychopathology, and change. Review of General Psychology, 3, 264–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp, R. R. (1990). Handbook for the personal orientation inventory. San Diego, Calif: Edits Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology, 10, 302–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lent, R. W. (2004). Toward a unifying theoretical and practical perspective on well-being and psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 51, 482–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, D. A. (2000). Spirituality: Description, measurement and relation to the five factor model of personality. Journal of Personality, 68, 153–197.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, D. A., & Holland, D. (2003). Spirituality and the MMPI-2. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 399–410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, A. E. (1999). Christian spirituality: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field. American Psychologist, 58, 24–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moreira-Almeida, A., Neto, F. L., & Koenig, H. G. (2006). Religiousness and mental health: A review. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 28, 242–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paden, W. E. (2005). Comparative religion. In J. R. Hinnells (Ed.), The Routledge companion to the study of religion (pp. 208–226). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (Eds.) (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: Guilford Press.

  • Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., Tarakeshwar, N., & Hahn, J. (2001). Religious struggle as a predictor of mortality among medically ill elderly patients: A 2-year longitudinal study. Archives of Internal Medicine, 161, 1881–1885.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • 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, 710–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (1999). Does spirituality represent the sixth factor of personality? spiritual transcendence and the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 67, 985–1013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2001). Spiritual transcendence and the scientific study of spirituality. Journal of Rehabilitation, 6, 4–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2004). Spiritual transcendence as a predictor of psychosocial outcome from an outpatient substance abuse program. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 18, 213–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L. (2007). Cross-cultural generalizability of the spiritual transcendence scale to the philippines: Spirituality as a human universal. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 10, 89–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piedmont, R. L., & Leach, M. M. (2002). Cross-cultural generalizability of the spiritual transcendence scale in India:spirituality as a universal aspect of human experience. American Behavioral Scientist, 45, 1888–1901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prosnick, K. P. (1999). Claims of near-death experiences, gestalt resistance processes, and measures of optimal functioning. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 18, 27–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robitschek, C. (1998). Personal growth initiative: The construct and its measure. Measurement and Evaluation in Counselling and Development, 30, 183–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robitschek, C., & Kashubeck, S. (1999). A structural model of parental alcoholism, family functioning and psychological health: the mediating effects of hardiness and personal growth orientation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 159–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rollins, W. G. (1999). Soul and psyche, the bible in psychological perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumaker, J. F. (1992). Religion and mental health. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seidlitz, L., Abernethy, A. D., Duberstein, P. R., Evinger, J. S., Chang, T. H., & Lewis, B. (2002). Development of the spiritual transcendence index. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41, 439–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldrake, P. (2007). A brief history of spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shostrom, E. L. (1964). An inventory for the measurement of self-actualization. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 24, 207–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steger, M. F., & Frazier, P. (2005). Meaning in life: One link in the chain from religiousness to well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 574–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamney, J. B. (1992). Religion and self-actualization. In J. F. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 132–137). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tart, C. T. (1975). Introduction. In C. T. Tart (Ed.), Transpersonal psychologies (pp. 3–7). New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trenholm, P., Trent, J., & Compton, W. C. (1998). Negative religious conflict as a predictor of panic disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54, 59–65.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, F. (1991). Spiritual issues in psychotherapy. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 23, 105–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. J. (1993). Apologetics and ethnocentrism: Psychology and religion within an ideological surround. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 3(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. J., Morris, R. J., & Hood, R. W., Jr. (1990). Intrinsicness, self-actualization, and the ideological surround. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18, 40–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. R., & Sternthal, M. J. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: evidence and research directions. Medical Journal of Australia, 186, S47–S50.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wink, P., & Dillon, M. (2003). Religiousness, spirituality, and psychosocial functioning in late adulthood: Findings from a longitudinal study. Psychology and Aging, 18, 916–924.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, T. E., & Ironson, G. H. (1999). Religion and spirituality in the face of illness: How cancer, cardiac, and HIV patients describe their spirituality/religiosity. Journal of Health Psychology, 4, 393–412.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zinnbauer, B. J., & Pargament, K. I. (2005). Religiousness and spirituality. In R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 21–42). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zinnbauer, B., Pargament, K. I., Cowell, B., et al. (1997). Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36, 549–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK

    Itai Ivtzan, Christine P. L. Chan, Hannah E. Gardner & Kiran Prashar

Authors
  1. Itai Ivtzan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christine P. L. Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hannah E. Gardner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kiran Prashar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Itai Ivtzan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ivtzan, I., Chan, C.P.L., Gardner, H.E. et al. Linking Religion and Spirituality with Psychological Well-being: Examining Self-actualisation, Meaning in Life, and Personal Growth Initiative. J Relig Health 52, 915–929 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9540-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9540-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation