Abstract
There is systematic and quantitative evidence that religious commitment is associated with indicators of well-being, such as positive emotions and moods, absence of negative emotions, and satisfaction with life; however, researchers remain far from a consensus regarding which mechanisms may account for these observed relationships. Although religious commitment influences well-being through many different mechanisms, meaning in life is probably the predominant one. Thus, we examined the bidimensional conceptualization of meaning in life as a potential mechanism between religious commitment and well-being. The study was cross-sectional in nature. Survey data were collected from 92 college students, aged 17–21. A battery of self-report measures was used for tapping religious commitment, well-being, and meaning in life. Even though presence of meaning, search for meaning, religious commitment, and well-being correlated moderately with each other, presence of meaning carried a substantial proportion of variance in predicting well-being for girls/women. This study suggests that religious commitment influences a person’s sense of meaning in life, which, in turn, influences her/his well-being. And, we hope that these results encourage professionals to explore with their clients the fundamental questions of meaning and purpose in life.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank late Afroza Begum, the principle investigator’s wife, for her invaluable assistance with this project. Thanks are also due to those who kindly volunteered to participate in the present study.
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Dar, K.A., Iqbal, N. Religious Commitment and Well-Being in College Students: Examining Conditional Indirect Effects of Meaning in Life. J Relig Health 58, 2288–2297 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0538-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0538-2