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Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures pp 163–175Cite as

Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being: An International Perspective

Part of the Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology book series (CAPP,volume 9)

Abstract

To what extent does religiosity relate to subjective well-being (SWB) across the world? We review empirical evidence from both Western and non-Western nations and it points to a pan-cultural positive relation between religiosity and SWB. Using a multilevel perspective, we propose psychological and social mechanisms for this process: at the individual level, religiosity fulfills needs; at the national level, collective religiosity can enhance pro-social behaviors. Recent research also points to contextual effects of religiosity. National religiosity can serve as a buffer to SWB against difficult life circumstances; it can also augment personal religiosity effects on SWB. Future research directions on religiosity and SWB are discussed.

Keywords

  • Life Satisfaction
  • Religious Context
  • Religious Individual
  • Western Industrialize Nation
  • National Religiosity

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2081, USA

    Louis Tay

  2. Department of Sociology, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2081, USA

    Miao Li

  3. Department of Psychology, Hope College, Holland, MI, USA

    David Myers

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA

    Ed Diener

  5. The Gallup Organization, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Ed Diener

Authors
  1. Louis Tay
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  2. Miao Li
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  3. David Myers
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  4. Ed Diener
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louis Tay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA

    Chu Kim-Prieto

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Tay, L., Li, M., Myers, D., Diener, E. (2014). Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being: An International Perspective. In: Kim-Prieto, C. (eds) Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8950-9_9

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