Religiosity and Life Satisfaction

Abstract Religiosity has been examined in relation to life satisfaction, subjective well-being, happiness, health and social involvement. Previous social psychological research generally evaluated religiosity as a unidimensional concept focusing primarily on religious attendance. Researchers have noted that reliance on religious attendance as a sole measure of religiosity may be insufficient and lead to incorrect conclusions. Recent studies have explored the relationship between multiple dimensions of religiosity and measures of well-being (Ellison, Gay Ellison, 1991; Chumbler, 1996). This study examined the relationships between religiosity, life satisfaction, age and gender. Two dimensions of religiosity were evaluated, religious affiliation and private religious devotion. Results indicate that religious affiliation is more strongly tied to life satisfaction than private religious devotion. Both measures of religiosity increased with age, indicating that adults tend to increase levels of religious affiliation and private religious devotion across the lifespan. In support of previous findings, women reported a higher level of religiosity than men in the sample studied.