Religion, Health, and Nonphysical Senses of Self

The relationship between religion and physical health is a complicated one. In the Durkheimian tradition, and in longitudinal epidemiological studies, religious involvement is shown to have a protective effect on health. Cross-sectionally, however, and even in short followup periods, we sometimes see higher levels of religiousness associated with poorer, not better, health, as people in the midst of crises often turn to religion for comfort and social support. A third way of thinking about the relationship involves self-ratings of health, which appear to represent broad conceptions of self in which physical health and abilities may be deemphasized and nonphysical characteristics, including religious or spiritual self-identities, may be relied upon. Quantitative and qualitative data from a cross-sectional sample of disabled clients of an urban rehabilitation clinic support both of the latter perspectives.