Islamic Religiosity and Life Satisfaction: A Correlational Study

Humera Noor

Authors

Humera Noor University of Karachi Author

Abstract

Background of the study: The present research paper investigates the relationship between Islamic Religiosity and satisfaction with life while also considering gender differences. Hypotheses are: 1) Islamic Religiosity would positively relate to life satisfaction, and 2) Religious female participants would be more satisfied with life than male participants.

Methodology: A hundred Muslim participants (50 male & 50 female) aged 18 to 30 were recruited. Response data were collected through purposive sampling by administering RoIS (Religiosity of Islam Scale) and SWLs (Satisfaction with Life Scale). The data was analyzed using Pearson product and t-test.

Results: The results show no significant relationship between Islamic religion and life satisfaction; however, a significant difference was indicated that females were more religious than males, but there was no significant difference in life satisfaction.

Conclusions: The present paper contributes significantly to knowledge and insight regarding this topic in the context of Muslims.

Author Biography

Humera Noor, University of Karachi

Student, Department of Psychology

References

1. Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2006). Happiness, health, and religiosity: Significant relations. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 9(1), 85–97.

2. Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M. 2010. Quality of life, subjective well-being, and religiosity in Muslim college students. Quality of Life Research 19 (8): 1133–1143.

3. Achterberg, Peter, Dick Houtman, Stef Aupers, Willem de Koster, Peter Mascini, and Jeroen van der Waal. 2009. A Christian cancellation of the secularist truce? Waning Christian religiosity and waxing religious deprivatization in the West. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 48 (4): 687–701.

4. Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2006). Happiness, health, and religiosity: Significant relations. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 9(1), 85–97.

5. Achterberg, P., Houtman, D., Aupers, S., de Koster, W., Mascini, P., & van der Waal, J. (2009). A Christian cancellation of the secularist truce? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48(4), 687–701.

6. Bergan, J., & McConatha, D. (2001). Religion and life satisfaction among young adults. Journal of Adult Development, 8(1), 25-34.

7. Bergan, J., & McConatha, D. (2001). Religion and life satisfaction among young adults. Journal of Adult Development, 8(1), 25-34.

8. Chaves, Mark, and Philip S. Gorski. 2001. Religious pluralism and religious participation. Annual Review of Sociology 27 (1): 261–281.

9. Chipperfield, J. G., & Havens, B. (2001). Gender differences in the relationship between marital status transitions and life satisfaction in later life. Journal of Gerontology, 56(3), 176–186. Abstract retrieved from PubMed Abstract database (Accession No. 11316836).

10. Cohen, Adam B. 2002. The importance of spirituality in well-being for Jews and Christians. Journal of Happiness Studies 3 (3): 287–310.

11. Cohen, A.B., Pierce, J.D., Chambers, J., Meade, R., Gorvine, B.J. & Koenig, H.G., 2005, 'Intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, belief in the afterlife, death anxiety, and life satisfaction in young Catholics and Protestants', Journal of Research in Personality 39(3), 307-324.

12. Chipperfield, J. G., & Havens, B. (2001). Gender differences in the relationship between marital status transitions and life satisfaction in later life. Journal of Gerontology, 56(1), 12-20.

13. Diener, E., & Clifton, D. (2002). Life satisfaction and religion. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(1), 1-8.

14. de Koster, Willem. 2010. Contesting community online: Virtual imagery among Dutch orthodox protestant homosexuals. Symbolic Interaction 33 (4): 552–577.

15. de Koster, Willem, Peter Achterberg, Dick Houtman, and Jeroen van der Waal. 2010. Van God los. Post-Christelijk cultureel conflict in Nederland. Sociologie 6 (3): 27–49.

16. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale.Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

17. Diener, E., & Clifton, D. (2002). Life satisfaction and religiosity in broad probability samples. Psychological Inquiry, 13(3), 206-209.

18. Ellison, C. G. (1991). Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32, 80-99.

19. Ellison, Christopher G., and Andrea K. Henderson. 2011. Religion and mental health: Through the lens of the stress process. In Toward a sociological theory of religion and health, ed. Anthony J. Blasi, 11–44. Leiden: Brill.

20. Fard, M.K., Shahabi, R. & Zardkhaneh, S.A., 2013, 'Religiosity and marital satisfactio Ellison, C. G., & Henderson, A. K. (2011). Religion and mental health: Through the lens of the stress process. Social Science Research, 40(1), 68-80.

21. Fard Shahabi, A., & Zardkhaneh, S. A. (2013). The relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 8(3), 121-128.n', Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 82, 307-311.

22. Ferriss, A. L. (2002). Religion and quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 199-215.

23. Friedli, L. (2009). Mental health, resilience and inequalities. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.equalitiestoolkit.com/sites/default/files/shared/WHO%20Friedli.pdf.

24. Gill, C.S., Minton, C.A.B. & Myers, J.E., 2010, 'Spirituality and religiosity: Factors affecting wellness among low-income, rural women', Journal of Counseling & Development 88(3), 293-302.

25. Golden, Jeannette, Ronán M. Conroy, Irene Bruce, Aisling Denihan, Elaine Greene, Michael Kirby, and Brian A. Lawlor. 2008. Loneliness, social support networks, mood and wellbeing in community-dwelling elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 24 (7): 694–700.

26. Gwozdz, W., & Sousa-Poza, A. (2010). Ageing, health and life satisfaction of the oldest old: An analysis for Germany. Social Indicators Research, 97(3), 397–417.

27. Hadaway, C. K. (1978). Life satisfaction and religion: A reanalysis. Social Forces, 57, 636- 43.

28. Hood, R. W., Hill, P. C., & Spilka, B. (2009). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (4th ed.). Guilford Press.

29. Houtman, Dick, and Peter Mascini. 2002. Why do churches become empty, while New Age grows? Secularization and religious change in the Netherlands. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41 (3): 455–473.

30. Houtman, Dick, Stef Aupers, and Willem de Koster. 2011. Paradoxes of individualization: Social control and social conflict in contemporary modernity. Aldershot: Ashgate.

31. Hutchinson, G., Simeon, D. T., Bain, B. C., Wyatt, G. E., Tucker, M.B., & LeFranc, E. (2004). Social and health determinants of well-being and life satisfaction in Jamaica.

32. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 50(1), 43–53. Abstract retrieved from PubMed Abstract database (Accession No. 15143846).

33. Hutchinson, G., Simeon, D. T., Bain, B. C., Wyatt, G. E., Tucker, M.B., & LeFranc, E. (2004). Social and health determinants of well-being and life satisfaction in Jamaica.

34. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 50(1), 43–53. Abstract retrieved from PubMed Abstract database (Accession No. 15143846).

35. Inglehart, Ronald, and Wayne E. Baker. 2000. Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review 65 (1): 19–51.

36. Ismail, Z., & Desmukh, S. (2012). Religiosity and psychological well-being. International Journal of Homosexuality Accepted Manuscript 22 Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 20-28.

37. Jana-Masri, Asma and Priester, Paul E. (2007) 'The Developmentand Validation of a Qur'an-Based Instrument to Assess Islamic Religiosity: The Religiosity of Islam Scale', Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 2:2, 177 – 188.

38. Joshanloo, M., 2021, 'Within-person relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction: A 20-year study', Personality and Individual Differences 179(April), 110933.

39. Kadkhoda, M., & Jahani, H. (2012). Problem-solving capacities of spiritual intelligence for artificial intelligence. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 32, 170–175.

40. Khraim, H. B. (2010). Islam, personality, and subjective well-being. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 5(2), 227-242.

41. Krause, N. (2003). Religious meaning and subjective well-being in late life. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 58, 160-170.

42. Krauss, S. E. (2005). Development of the Muslim Religiosity-Personality Inventory for Measuring the Religiosity of Malaysian Muslim Youth (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Universiti Putra Malaysia.

43. Koenig, H. G., Kvale, J. N., & Ferrel, C. (1988b). Religion and well-being in later life. The Gerontologist, 28(1), 18–28.

44. Krauss, S. E. (2005). Research paradigms and meaning making: A primer. The Qualitative Report, 10(4), 758-770.

45. Lim, C., & Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 75(6), 914–93.

46. Maltby, J. (2004). Celebrity and religious worship: A refinement. The Journal of Psychology, 138(3), 286–288.

47. Masters, Kevin S., and Glen I. Spielmans. 2007. Prayer and health: Review, meta- analysis, and research agenda. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 30 (4): 329–338.

48. McKnight, D. (2005). An investigation into the relationship between spirituality and life satisfaction (Unpublished master thesis). California State University, California.

49. Munawar, Khadeeja; Tariq, Omama (2017). Exploring Relationship Between Spiritual Intelligence, Religiosity and Life Satisfaction Among Elderly Pakistani Muslims. Journal of Religion and Health.

50. Nooney, Jennifer, and Eric Woodrum. 2002. Religious coping and church-based social support as predictors of mental health outcomes: Testing a conceptual model. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41 (2): 359–368.

51. Oishi, S., Diener, E., Scollon, N. C., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2004). Cross-situational consistency of affective experiences across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 460–472.

52. Okulicz-Kozaryn, Adam. 2009. Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 13 (2): 155–169.

53. Okulicz-Kozaryn, A. (2009). Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 12(3), 257-273.

54. Plouffe, R. A., & Tremblay, P. F. (2017). The relationship between income and life satisfaction: How important is money?. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(4), 1357-1375.

55. Pargament, K. I. (2013). What role do religion and spirituality play in mental health? Retrieved from http:// www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/03/religion-spirituality.aspx

56. Peacock, J. R., & Poloma, M. M. (1999). Religiosity and life satisfaction across the life course. Social Indicators Research, 48(3), 321–345.

57. Plouffe, R.A. & Tremblay, P.F., 2017, 'The relationship between income and life satisfaction: Does religiosity play a role?', Personality and Individual Differences 109, 67-71.

58. Rath, Jan, Rinus Penninx, Kees Groenendijk, and Astrid Meyer. 1999. The politics of recognizing religious diversity in Europe. Social reactions to the institutionalization of Islam in the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain. Netherlands Journal of Social Sciences 35 (1999): 53–68.

59. Ribberink, Egbert, Peter Achterberg, and Dick Houtman. 2013. Deprivatization of disbelief? Non-religiosity and anti-religiosity in 14 Western European countries. Politics and Religion 6 (1): 101–120.

60. Ronel, N., & Gan, R. (2008). The experience of spiritual intelligence. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 40(1), 100–119.

61. Sabatier, C., Berry, T., & Ouellet, F. (2011). Relations among subjective well-being, religiosity and religious practice, and prosociality: A structural equation modeling analysis. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 21(3), 163-176.

62. Shamsuddin, S. (1992). Religious personality in Islamic religiosity. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 7(1), 21-40.

63. Shamsuddin, Q. M. I. (1992). Dimensions of Muslim religiosity: Measurement considerations. In Z. M. Ansari (Ed.), Qur’anic Concepts of Human Psyche (pp. 99–114).

64. Tuzgöl Dost (2007). Üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşam doyumunun bazı değişkenlere göre incelenmesi. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 22, 132-143.

65. Veenhoven, R. (1996). Developments in satisfaction research. Social Indicators Research, 37(1), 1–46.

66. Witter, Robert A., William A. Stock, Morris A. Okun, and Marilyn J. Haring. 1985.

67. Religion and subjective well-being in adulthood: A quantitative synthesis. Review of Religious Research 26 (4): 332–342.

68. Yeary, Karen H.K., Songthip Ounpraseuth, Page Moore, Zoran Bursac, and Paul Greene. 2012. Religion, social capital, and health. Review of Religious Research 54 (3): 331–347.

69. Yuen, M., & Furnham, A. (2006). Sex differences in self-estimation of multiple intelligences among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. High Ability Studies, 16(2), 187–199.

70. Zahedi, F. (2011). The challenge of truth telling across cultures: a case study. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 4, 11.