Abstract
Happiness is a feeling that is desired by every human being. To achieve happiness, human try various routes like, to gain financial superiority, fame, entertainment, assets and so on. But on the contrary, religiosity is claimed to be a technique to attain purpose in life, mental health, physical well-being and internal peace, which ultimately leads to happiness in life. This study analyses the studies conducted in last two decades toward understanding the relationship between religiousness and happiness. These studies have been organised in terms of the religions, geographic locations, scales and significance. The study shows that the claim has proven to be true by a vast majority of the surveys irrespective of religion, gender, nationality or race. Although Muslims seems to be the happiest, it requires further verification.
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Appendices
Appendix
References | Sample | Scales used | Other parameters measured | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | Mean age | Size | M | F | ||||
A. Christianity and positive significance on happiness | ||||||||
1 | Robbins and Francis (1996) | Wales, UK | 20s | 360 | 98 | 262 | OHI, FSAC | – |
2 | Francis and Lester (1997) | USA | 20s | 212 | 79 | 133 | OHI, FSAC | Neuroticism, extraversion |
3 | Levin and Chatters (1998) | USA | 73 | 2183 | 840 | 1343 | Proposed Model | Well-being, psychological health |
66 | 1056 | 390 | 666 | |||||
70 | 1553 | 506 | 1047 | |||||
4 | French and Joseph (1999) | Essex, UK | 21 | 101 | 57 | 44 | OHI, DHS, PIL, ISA | Well-being, purpose in life. |
5 | Maltby and Day (2000) | Sheffield, UK | 20.5 | 360 | 172 | 188 | BDI, LOT, Others | Religious orientation, depression |
6 | Compton (2001) | USA | 26 | 242 | 89 | 153 | HM and others | Mental health |
7 | Francis et al. (2003a) | Wales, UK | 20s | 89 | 44 | 45 | OHI, FSAC | – |
8 | Francis et al. (2004b) | Wales and North Ireland, UK | 20s | 246 | 84 | 162 | FSAC, GHQ | General health |
9 | Robbins and Francis (2005) | North Ireland, UK | 13–15 | 2670 | – | – | Others | Purpose in life |
10 | Lelkes (2006) | Hungary | >16 | 9167 | – | – | General | Economic freedom |
11 | Robbins et al. (2008) | Wales, UK | 21 | 131 | 71 | 60 | OHI, EPQ | Personality |
12 | Idler et al. (2009) | New Haven, USA | 81 | 499 | 247 | 252 | Self-made | Quality of life |
13 | Holder et al. (2010) | Canada | 10 | 307 | 157 | 163 | OHI, SWBQ, Others | Spirituality |
14 | Malpere (2010) | New Jersey, USA | 45 | 44 | 15 | 29 | SWLS, others | Spirituality |
15 | Fisher (2013) | Victoria, Australia | 12–60+ | 1952 | – | – | OHI, EPQ | Personality |
16 | Pena (2013) | Cross-sectional | 25 | 59 | 27 | 32 | SWLS, others | Happiness and life satisfaction |
17 | Kortt et al. (2015) | Australia | ≥18 | 28,962 | – | – | General | Life satisfaction |
18 | Hamren et al. (2015) | Ethiopia | 68 | 214 | 104 | 110 | Others | Social support and quality of life |
B. Christianity and no significance on happiness | ||||||||
1 | Lewis et al. (1996) | North Ireland, UK | – | 150 | – | – | FSAC, SWLS | Satisfaction in life |
2 | Lewis et al. (1997) | Ulster, UK | 24 | 154 | 68 | 86 | DHS, SWLS, FSAC, PIL | – |
Essex, UK | 22 | 67 | 19 | 48 | ||||
3 | Lewis et al. (2000) | North England, UK | 55 | 64 | – | – | DHS, FSAC | – |
54 | 70 | – | – | |||||
4 | Argyle and Hills (2000) | Oxfordshire, UK | 42 | 364 | 127 | 237 | OHI, EPQ, Others | Mystical experience |
5 | Lewis (2002) | North Ireland, UK | 24 | 154 | 68 | 86 | DHS | – |
6 | Francis et al. (2003b) | Würzburg, Germany | 20s | 331 | 118 | 193 | OHI | Neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism |
7 | O’Connor et al. (2003) | Leeds and Strathclyde, UK | 20.5 | 177 | 75 | 102 | FSAC, GHQ and others | Stress and psychological distress |
8 | Malpere (2010) | New Jersey, USA | 45 | 44 | 15 | 29 | SWLS, others | Spirituality |
9 | Francis et al. (2012) | Estonia | 20s | 150 | 32 | 118 | OHI, FSAC | – |
C. Islam and positive significance on happiness | ||||||||
1 | Suhail and Chaudhry (2004) | Pakistan | 18–80 | 973 | 477 | 485 | EPQ, SES, RS | Life satisfaction |
2 | Abdel-Khalek (2006) | Kuwait | 21 | 2210 | 1056 | 1154 | OHI, SSI | Physical and mental health |
3 | Abdel-Khalek and Naceur (2007) | Algeria | ~21 | 244 | 109 | 135 | KUAS, Self-Rating | Positive and negative emotions |
4 | Abdel-Khalek (2007) | Kuwait | 13 | 6339 | 3181 | 3158 | IRM, OHI, KUAS, CES-D | Health and psychopathology |
5 | Aghili and Venkatesh Kumar (2008) | Iran | 36–56 | 1491 | 447 | 1044 | OHI and other | – |
6 | Abdel-Khalek (2008) | Kuwait | 33 | 424 | 219 | 205 | OHI, SWLS and others | Health and well-being |
7 | Abdel-Khalek and Lester (2009) | Kuwait | 20 | 162 | 33 | 129 | Self-rating scales | – |
8 | Abdel-Khalek (2009) | Saudi Arabia | 16 | 7211 | 2159 | 5052 | Self-rating scales | Well-being and depression |
9 | Kuwait | 20 | 487 | 216 | 271 | Self-rating and others | Well-being and neuroticism | |
10 | Kuwait | 21 | 224 | 106 | 118 | Self-rating and WHOQOL | Well-being and quality of life | |
11 | Moltafet et al. (2010) | Iran | 20 | 301 | 110 | 191 | IEROS, OHI | Personality traits, religious orientation |
12 | Egypt | 19 | 224 | 101 | 123 | OHI, SWLS | Well-being | |
13 | Kuwait | 17 | 499 | 249 | 250 | Self-rating, KUAS | Self-esteem, well-being, anxiety | |
14 | Amrai et al. (2011) | Iran | – | 347 | 135 | 212 | BDI, Others | Anxiety and depression |
15 | Kuwait | 16 | 1420 | 242 | 235 | OHI, SWLS, self | Well-being | |
20 | 251 | 258 | ||||||
35 | 226 | 208 | ||||||
16 | Hafeez and Rafique (2013) | Pakistan | 70 | 60 | 30 | 30 | Others | Spirituality, well-being |
17 | Gull and Dawood (2013) | Pakistan | 69 | 100 | 64 | 36 | Others | Life satisfaction |
18 | Qatar | 15 | 372 | 194 | 178 | Self-rating | Health and happiness | |
19 | Qatar | 21 | 246 | 113 | 133 | OHI, SWLS | Health and well-being | |
20 | Sahraian et al. (2013) | Iran | 20s | 271 | 164 | 107 | OHI, RAQ | – |
21 | Jesarati et al. (2013) | Iran | 20s | 370 | 192 | 178 | OHI, ROS | Social relationships |
22 | Lebanon | 18 | 239 | 111 | 128 | OHI, SWLS | Health | |
23 | Parveen et al. (2014) | India | 17–25 | 60 | 30 | 30 | Others | Mental health |
24 | Bayani (2014) | Iran | 26 | 358 | 165 | 193 | OHI, DHS. ROS | – |
25 | Abu-Raiya and Agbaria (2015) | Israel and/or Palestine | 21 | 264 | 74 | 190 | Others | Emotions |
26 | Eryilmaz (2015) | Turkey | 14–16 | 196 | 97 | 99 | SWLS, others | Well-being, life satisfaction |
27 | Abdel-Khalek (2015) | Lebanon | 23 | 476 | 215 | 261 | OHI, SWLS | Health |
References | Sample | Religion | Scales used | Other parameters measured | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | Mean age | Size | M | F | |||||
D. Other Religions and Positive Significance on Happiness | |||||||||
1 | Francis and Katz (2002) | Israel | 20s | 298 | 0 | 298 | Judaism | OHI, KFSAJ | – |
2 | Francis et al. (2004b) | Israel | 20s | 203 | 203 | 0 | Judaism | OHI, KFSAJ | Personality |
3 | Maheshwari and Singh (2009) | Allahabad, India | 61 | 154 | 94 | 60 | Hinduism | SWLS and others | Life satisfaction |
4 | Liu et al. (2012) | Taiwan | >18 | 1881 | – | – | Buddhism | others | – |
5 | Gupta and Chadha (2014) | India | 49–89 | 171 | 95 | 76 | Hinduism | SES, Others | Well-being |
6 | Abdel-Khalek and Singh (2014) | India | 21.5 | 400 | 200 | 200 | Hinduism | SES, KUAS, others | Well-being |
7 | Francis et al. (2014) | Israel | 20s | 284 | 0 | 284 | Judaism | OHI, EPQ, KFSAJ | – |
E. Mixed religion, region and/or scale and positive significance on happiness | |||||||||
1 | Swinyard et al. (2001) | USA | – | 425 | – | – | Christianity | D-TS MVO | Materialism |
Singapore | – | 293 | – | – | |||||
2 | Ferriss (2002) | USA | – | 34,942 | – | – | Christianity and Judaism | QOL | Quality of life |
3 | Abdel-Khalek and Lester (2007) | Kuwait | 22 | 460 | 103 | 357 | Islam | KUAS, Self-rating | Ego, optimism, Anxiety, death obsession, suicidal ideation |
USA | 23 | 274 | 61 | 212 | Christianity | ||||
4 | Abdel-Khalek and Eid (2011) | Kuwait | 14 | 1937 | 673 | 1264 | Islam | Self-rating | Well-being, health, satisfaction |
Palestine | 1009 | 452 | 557 | ||||||
5 | Egypt | 19 | 224 | 101 | 123 | Islam | OHI, SWLS | Well-being | |
6 | Egypt | 21 | 577 | 214 | 363 | Islam | Self-rating, ASMH | Mental health and well-being | |
Kuwait | 24 | 674 | 332 | 342 | |||||
7 | Abdel-Khalek and Lester (2013) | Kuwait | 21 | 154 | 28 | 125 | Islam | Others | Mental health and well-being |
USA | 22 | 154 | 28 | 125 | Christianity | ||||
8 | Lebanon | 18 | 239 | 111 | 128 | Islam | OHI, SWLS | Health | |
References | Sample | Religion | Scales used | Other parameters measured | Significance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | Mean age | Size | M | F | ||||||
F. Mixed religion, region and/or scale and mixed/no significance on happiness | ||||||||||
1 | Dorahy et al. (1998) | Ghana | 25 | 186 | 98 | 88 | Christianity and Islam | SWLS, RAS | Life Satisfaction | Positive for most men None for women |
Nigeria | 24.5 | 177 | 118 | 59 | ||||||
North Ireland | 23 | 140 | 50 | 90 | ||||||
Swaziland | 26 | 74 | 25 | 49 | Christianity | |||||
2 | Lewis et al. (2005) | UK | 24 | 138 | 55 | 83 | Christianity | OHI, DHS | Religious orientation and coping | OHI—positive DHS—None |
3 | Halama et al. (2010) | Slovakia | 22 | 274 | 128 | 146 | Christianity | FSAC, OHI, SWLS, PIL | Well-being | None |
Hungary | 22 | 249 | 94 | 155 | Positive | |||||
4 | Pena (2013) | Cross-sectional | 25 | 59 | 27 | 32 | Christianity | SWLS, others | Happiness and life satisfaction | None |
5 | Gundlach and Opfinger (2013) | Cross-Country | – | 237 | – | – | Mixed | General | – | Positive none when substituted |
6 | Jung (2014) | South Korea | 43.5 | 1599 | 769 | 830 | Buddhism and Christianity | Self-rating | Stress | Positive for women only |
Scales
OHI Oxford Happiness Inventory, DHS Depression–Happiness Scale, PIL Purpose in Life Test, ISA Index of Self-Actualization, SSI Somatic Symptoms Inventory, IRM Intrinsic Religious Motivation, KUAS Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, CED-S Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, RAQ Religious Attitude Questionnaire, QOL Quality of Life, D-TS Delighted-Terrible Scale, MVO Materialism Value-Oriented scale, FSAC Francis scale of Attitude toward Christianity, SWLS Satisfaction With Life scale, RAS Religious Attitudes Scale, EPQ Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, BDI Beck Depression Inventory, LOT Life Orientation Test, KFSAJ Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism, GHQ General Health Questionnaire, HM Happiness Measure, SES Self-Esteem Scale, LSGW Ladder Scale of General Well-being, WHOQOL World Health Organization Quality of Life, SWBQ Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire, IEROS Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale, ASMH Arabic Scale of Mental Health, ROS Religiosity Orientation Scale.
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Rizvi, M.A.K., Hossain, M.Z. Relationship Between Religious Belief and Happiness: A Systematic Literature Review. J Relig Health 56, 1561–1582 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0332-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0332-6
Keywords
- Religiosity
- Happiness
- Life satisfaction
- Well-being
- Mental health
- Quality of life
- Spirituality