Institute for Christian
Teaching
Education Department of
Seventh-day Adventists
THE EFFECTS OF RELIGION ON
MENTAL HEALTH:
IMPLICATIONS FOR SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTISTS
By
Cindee M. Bailey, Ph.D.,
M.P.H., A.C. S.W.
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and
Social Work
Walla Walla College
College Place, Washington,
USA
Prepared for the
20th International Faith and
Learning Seminar
held at
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, California, USA
- June 15-26, 1997
286-97 Institute for
Christian Teaching
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA
Introduction
Christianity has been the
basis for an abundance of research done under the broader concept of religion;
and religion has shown to have both positive and negative effects on mental
health. Although psychotherapists have often been dubious about the effects of
religion on mental health, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that
religiousness has a positive effect on overall mental health and well-being.
Seventh-day Adventists (SDA)
as an evangelical denomination has few studies to assess how its focus effects
different aspects of mental health. Even less, if any, work has looked at how
religion impacts those in the mental health field who are SDA. This study
proposes to assess associations between religious orientation, denominational
loyalty, religious commitment and purpose in life in a social work program made
up of both SDA's and non-SDA's. Trends
in religious research
A recent review of the
empirical literature looked at trends in the data on religious commitment and
mental issues, finding some associations with religiousness and
psychopathology, but much more with religiousness and mental health (Gartner,
Larson, & Allen, 1991). Although the literature has a predominance of
positive outcomes from religiousness, there are some areas in which there has
been mixed findings. In an often-cited meta-analysis by Bergin (1983, as cited
in Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991), 30 % of the findings showed no
relationship with religiousness and mental health, 47% showed a positive
effect, and 23% of the studies showed a negative association.
To define religious
commitment Gartner, Larson and Allen (199 I) categorized religiousness or
religious commitment into four areas: religious
activities which measure participation and frequency in church attendance; religiosity measures perceptions on the
value of religious experience; orthodoxy measures
beliefs in established religious doctrine; and intrinsic (1) vs. extrinsic (E) which compares one religious type
to another.
After categorizing the
measures of religiousness, Gartner found an additional four trends based on
that review of over 200 articles. The first trend of Gartner's (Gartner,
Larson, & Allen, 1991) was that most of the studies, which linked
religiousness with psychopathology, used questionnaires, which attempted to
appraise theoretical constructs of personality through "paper
and-pen" tests. Gartner called these "soft variables"; and
considered these measures to be of limited validity and reliability. Such
"soft measures" showed a link between religious commitment and
psychopathology in the mental health aspects of authoritarianism,
suggestibility, dependence, dogmatism, tolerance of ambiguity,
self-actualization, temporal lobe epilepsy and rigidity. In comparison, many
studies associating religiousness and mental health used what Gartner (Gartner,
Larson, & Allen, 199 1) termed, "hard variables" - those methods
which use unambiguous behavioral measures by observing and testing "real
life".
The second trend Gartner
found was that lower levels of religiousness were more often linked with
disorders of impulse "under-control", such as, anti-social behavior,
drug abuse, or suicide; while higher levels of religiousness were linked with
"over-control" disorders, such as rigidity, authoritarianism, or
dogmatism.
Gartner's third trend was
that operationalizing religious commitment through behavioral measures of
religious activities, such as church attendance, were stronger in identifying
mental health than were measures testing attitudes of religiosity. In other
words, measuring real behaviors was a more valid means of assessing positive
mental health than were "paper-and-pencil" tests.
The final trend of Gartner's
was that operationalizing religiosity by means of intrinsic and extrinsic
definitions clarified previously inconsistent findings. Succinctly,
"extrinsically motivated (persons) use (their) religion, whereas the
intrinsically motivated live (their) religion' " (Allport & Ross,
1967, p. 434). Intrinsic religiousness in not correlated with negative aspects
of mental health, and mostly correlated with positive aspects of mental health.
Extrinsic religiousness is more often associated with negative characteristics
of personality (Begin, Masters, & Richards, 1987).
Positive
outcomes of religion and health
Gartner, Larson and Allen
(199 1) reviewed the literature and found numerous variables, which had
positive correlations with religiousness. These will be followed and discussed.
Of physical health, religiousness was related to decreased smoking and
alcohol consumption, as well as positively effecting heart disease and blood
pressure. A confound was that, at least in the elderly, physical health
supported religious activities, more than the other way around. Religious
commitment and participation seemed to effect longevity, as well, especially in
men.
Suicide rates were consistently found to have a negative correlation with
religiosity. Suicide ideology was also lowered, as well as, more disapproving
attitudes towards suicidal behavior. An interesting finding was that church
attendance was a major predictor in suicide prevention, even more than
employment.
There is a negative
correlation between drug use and religiousness. Church attendance was found to
be more of an indicator of drug abstinence than parents' religiosity or
feelings about religion.
Most research findings
support that religious affiliation, especially participation, lowers the rate
of alcohol consumption. The best
defense against overuse of alcohol was modeling disciplined drinking habits by
the religion. This was found because different denominations had different
rates of alcoholism (Jews the lowest, Catholics the highest, and Protestants
somewhere in-between), and that even in conservative Protestant homes there
were found some higher rates of alcoholism, so some concluded that the
religious tradition had more impact than the home.
Positive
outcomes of religion and mental health
Continuing with Gartner's
review, delinquency showed no
relationship with religion and religious beliefs, or church attendance with
crime rates in the community. Yet, there was a negative correlation with both
religious commitment and church participation.
Church attendance also
predicts a low divorce rate. There is also a reported higher level of marital
satisfaction. Enduring marriages report that religion is the most essential
predictor for a happy marriage. There is no research available on those who
stay in an unhappy marriage due to their belief that divorce is unacceptable.
Religious commitment has a
positive correlation with psychological well-being. Well-being has been studied
with many differing variables, from meaning, life satisfaction and purpose.
These will be discussed in more depth later in this paper. Further there is a
negative correlation between distress and religious participation.
Ambiguous
outcomes of religion and mental health
Gartner's findings
demonstrated mixed result in regards to anxiety.
Some research showed greater anxiety with religiosity, while other research
showed less anxiety. Some people were less anxious and showed less somatic
symptoms with public religious activities, yet more so with private devotions.
Intrinsic religion was associated with lower anxiety, while higher levels were
found with extrinsic religion. There was also mixed results on death anxiety
and religiosity.
Of the controversial
findings on self-esteem, one study found that loving portrayals of God were
positively correlated with higher self-esteem, and negatively correlated with
God portrayed as vindictive and punitive. The mixed results may be from
confusion between humans as sinful, as held by conservative Christians, which
might result in a misdefinition of what self-esteem is.
The literature on sexual disorders showed that more male
clients in sex therapy were from religious homes. A replication failed to find
this. Some research has looked at denomination and sex, but little research has
included the variable religion or religious commitment
Several studies have found a
weak positive correlation with education,
others found a negative correlation. "It seems, therefore, that
religious participation is positively associated with education, but religious
conservatism, possibly because of its association with lower social class, is
negatively associated with measures of intellectual achievement" (p. 13).
There seems to be some consensus on a negative correlation between intelligence
and religious conservatism; and possibly a positive correlation between
intelligence and church participation.
Early findings found that
there was more prejudice from religious people. More recent studies have
suggested a curvilinear relationship between prejudice and church attendance;
so that those who attended church often and those who never attended were less
prejudiced than those who attended infrequently. Intrinsic religiosity was
negatively correlated with prejudice, as was religious commitment. Extrinsic
religiosity has been found to have a positive correlation with prejudice.
Religion
and psychopathology
Overall, Gartner's review
seems to support the positive relationship between religiosity and authoritarianism. There does not seem
to be a general relationship between these variables. Conservatism is related
to authoritarianism, thus it might not be religious commitment that effects
this variable, but orthodoxy.
Closely related to
authoritarianism is the concept of dogmatism,
which corresponds with rigidity and close-mindedness. There was a positive
correlation with orthodoxy and dogmatism. Further, people who have little
contact outside one's own religion are more likely to be dogmatic. There is
also a correlation with religiosity and inability to tolerate ambiguity. Those
people were also found to be less autonomous.
A decrease in autonomy may
also be defined as dependent; and there is a clear correlation between
being suggestible (suggestibility) by
another and religiosity. Diverse measures all found similar data: that
religious people tend to be more submissive and dependent. On the other hand,
the variable of religious commitment showed less dependency.
The variable self-actualization has consistency been
found to be negatively correlated with
religious commitment. All the
literature supporting this finding used a scale, which penalized people for answering in the positive
about anything religious, so discretion should be used in interpreting this
data.
A final negative correlation
with religiosity was temporal lobe
epilepsy, which in some studies was not differentiated from other seizure
disorders. But findings that religious experience was crucially connected with
temporal lobe activity, suggest that religious obsessions, scrupulosity and
guilt, can be found in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Further, patients
with this kind of epilepsy have reported more religious feelings than controls
from psychiatric or normal populations.
Intrinsic
and extrinsic religiosity
Allport's Religious
Orientation Scale (ROS) has provided a coherent basis from which to better
understand religion; and has provided the greatest impact on the empirical
literature (Donahue, 1985). Allport's concepts of intrinsic religiosity can be
defined as a religion, which is "a meaning-endowing framework in terms of
which all of life is understood" (Donahue, 1985, p. 400). Allport found
intrinsic religiosity to be associated with being unprejudiced, tolerant,
mature, and integrative, as well as it being unifying, and associated with
church attendance and mental health. Extrinsic religiosity "is the
religion of comfort and social convention, a self-serving, instrumental
approach shaped to suit oneself' (Donahue, 1985, p. 400). It has been
associated with being compartmentalized, prejudiced, exclusionary, immature,
dependent, utilitarian, and defensive and with infrequent church attendance.
Allport (195 0, as cited in
Wicklin, 1990) originally conceptualized I and E to be opposites on a linear
continuum; but it has since been shown to be two separate variables. He later
changed it to a fourfold typology which included people who were high on both
scales ("indiscriminate") and those who were low on both
("nonreligious") The 20 item ROS, has been revised by Gorsuch and his
colleagues to have 14 questions and three scales: intrinsic, extrinsic personal
and extrinsic social; and is more universal in its language (Gorsuch &
McPherson, 1989).
A study done at Brigham
Young University (Bergin, Masters, & Richards, 1987) found students to be
positively correlated with most healthy attributes on a personality inventory.
These included items such as sociability, sense of well-being, responsibility,
self-control, tolerance and intellectual efficiency. Intrinsicness was
negatively correlated with unhealthy attributes, such as anxiety and irrational
beliefs. Extrinsicness in this population was rare, but did show positive
relationships with anxiety and self-acceptance (although this was a weak
association); and negative correlations with items such as capacity for status,
well-being, tolerance, good impression, self-control and intellectual
efficiency.
On the well-being scale of
the same study (Bergin, Masters, & Richards, 1985), 1 was associated with
diminishment of worries, respite from self-doubt, and a happy disposition. E
scores were associated with the opposite findings.
Tolerance and prejudice have
respectively been associated with intrinsicness and extrinsicness. Prejudice,
as reviewed by Donahue (1985) was found to be mostly uncorrelated with the
intrinsic variable across measures, while it is positively related to
extrinsicness. Antiblack measures included racial conservatism, anti-Negro,
antiblack and symbolic racism scales. Prejudice against Jews was also studied
in quantity, with sirnilar findings towards both groups: no or a negative
relationship with 1, and a positive relationship with E.
As with prejudice, Rokeach's
(1960) dogmatism scale found little correlational strength in intrinsicness.
This might possibly be due to the subscales of projectivity, aggression, cynicism,
good versus bad people, conventionalism, stereotypy and superstition, which
intrinsicness only correlated with the latter three variables, rather than the
whole scale of dogmatism. In contrast, extrinsicness was positively correlated
with dogmatism (Donahue, 1985).
Also in Donahue's review
(1985) it was found that research results assessing fear of death and religious
orientation were mixed. It would be assumed that because extrinsicness can be a
"defense against anxiety" and intrinsicness a matter of health
(Allport, 1963, as cited in Donahue, 1985) that I would be negatively
correlated and E positively
associated with fear of death. Most findings were in these directions except
for a negative correlation between intrinsicness and "afterlife of
reward"; which might be explained by the strong negative relationship
between intrinsicness and religious orthodoxy (Donahue, 1985).
Following Donahue's review,
other variables showed similar patterns of mentally healthy trends with
intrinsicness, such as a relationship with internal locus of control, and
purpose of life. The pattern of extrinsicness as less desirable continued with
a positive correlation with perceived powerlessness; but shows no association
with intrinsicness. Further, there was a negative correlation between
intrinsicness and feminism; and evidence that females score higher on
intrinsicness than do males. There were no sex differences in extrinsic scores.
Still more findings
described a belief in grace and an intrinsic religiousness that were related to
less depression, manipulativeness, hopelessness, and individualism; and also
related to more belief in authority, and emotional empathy (Wicklin, 1990). In
contrast, extrinsicness and beliefs about guilt were correlated with "less
adequate self-functioning" (Wicklin, 1990, p. 29).
These patterns were not
always found to be consistent. Wicklin, (1990) discussed an intrinsic
religiosity as having traits of "differential conventionalism" and
"close-mindedness".
This review of I/E
religiosity demonstrates a "moderator variable" in studying how
religious types are associated with mental adjustment. Both the I and the E add to understanding about the
complexity of religious orientation, rather than seeing only conventional or
elementary concepts of conviction and commitment (Wicklin, 1990). The use of
this test in this study will further assess the effects of religious types on
mental health in a particular denomination.
Religion
and well-beine
Well-being can be defined in
many ways and may be found in many ways. Religion appears to be one important
way of having a sense of well-being. There may be three means to which mental
health and well-being could be affected by religiousness (Pollner, 1989, as
cited in Chamberlain & Zita, 1992):
First, religion could
provide a resource for explaining and resolving problematic situations.
Second, religion may operate
to enhance a sense of self as empowered or efficacious.
Third, religion may provide the basis for a sense of
meaning, direction and personal identity, and invest potentially alienating events
with meaning (p. 139).
Additionally, Peterson and Roy (1985, as
cited in Chamberlain, & Zita, 1992) discussed that religion offers an
"interpretive scheme" that people may use to make sense of life.
Religion them may not be the direct cause of well-being, but may indirectly
influence well-being through offering a direction and a framework for life
meaning (Chamberlain, & Zita, 1992).
Religion
may be only one of many ways in which meaning is assessed. Meaning may come
from God and a religious model, or from an existential, humanistic or
self-transcendent model (Battista & Almond, 1973, as cited in Chamberlain,
& Zita, 1992).
There
is evidence that a religious model offers purpose and meaning, giving an effect
of well-being.. Intrinsic religiousness is linked with a sense of life meaning
(Crandall, & Rasmussen, 1975). In a review by Chamberlain and Zita (1992)
people with higher religious commitment were found to have a greater sense of
meaning than less committed people. Also, for people experiencing religious
conversion, and for those who were conservative versus not religious, there was
more meaning to life. Further, having strong religious beliefs and a sense of
self-transcendence were correlated with a sense of meaning.
Although
the construct of meaning may be vague, there seems to be evidence supporting
that in a variety of its definitions, there is a relationship between itself,
mental health and wellbeing. More specifically if well-being is defined as life
satisfaction, then religion continues to play an important role. Religious
people state having greater satisfaction in life and also more happiness
(Poloma, & Pendleton, 1990, as cited in Myers, & Diener, 1995). People
high in spiritual commitment more often agreed that religious faith was the
most valuable aspect of their existence; and they considered themselves
"very happy" 50% more often than less spiritual people (Myers, &
Diener, 1990).
Among adults and elderly
people, there was found to be a greater sense of well-being when they were
religiously committed (Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991). Furthermore,
religion was found to be the more valuable model from which to glean meaning as
people age (Teker, & Guppy, as cited in Chamberlain, & Zita, 1991). In
contrast, psychological distress was greater in those who did not participate
in religion.
Another dimension to
well-being is how to cope. Studies showed that faith in recently widowed women
offered them a greater sense of joy in life than in those having no faith
(Sugel, & Kuykendall, 1990, as cited in Myers, & Diener, 1995). Also,
mothers of disabled children who had a religious faith were less subject to
depression than those who did not have faith (Friedrich, Cohen, &
Wilturner, 1988, as cited in Myers, & Diener, 1995). A strong faith was
also shown to allow people to hold onto happiness after unemployment, serious
illness, divorce, or bereavement (Ellison, 1991 McIntosh, Silver, &
Wortman, 1993, as cited in Myers, & Diener, 1995).
Myers and Diener (1995)
proposed a need for discovering in more detail why well-being is correlated to
religiousness.
What explains these positive
links between faith and well-being? Is it the supportive close relationships
often enjoyed by people who are active in local congregations (of which there
are 258,000 in the United States)? Is it the sense of meaning and purpose that
many people derive from their faith? Is it a religious worldview that offers
answers to life events? Is it the hope that faith affords when people suffer...?
(p. 16).
Whatever the reason, and
whatever the conceptual construct meaning and well-being are given, there is
sufficient evidence to support religion as a crucial and valuable attribute in
mental health, and the attainment of well-being.
Purpose in
life
As meaning is an important
part of well-being, so is the more specific construct, purpose in life. Viktor
Frankl (1969), early on, discussed the connection between well-being and
purpose in the ideas of "existential frustration" and "noogenetic
neurosis". These have to do with a diminished sense of meaningfulness. He
thought that if people could find meaning in their lives, they would have
purpose.
Crandall and Rasmussen
(1975) found that people who had high scores on a Purpose-in-Life (PIL) scale
were more likely than low scorers to report having an "enjoyable,
leisurely life", a "stimulating, active life", a
"comfortable, prosperous life", and believed in being saved with an
"eternal life". The subjects with a low PIL score showed a tendency towards
hedonism. This seems to support Frankl's ideas in the sense that purpose will
lead to service and an orientation towards others. Frankl (as cited in
Crandall, & Rasmussen, 1975) suggested that people move directly towards
happiness and pleasure would only find an "existential vacuum". He
continued that selfish effort towards fulfillment was antithetical to attaining
purpose and meaning.
The importance of salvation
in the high PIL scorers supports the concept that religious orientation is
related to meaning in life. It was further found that an intrinsic religious
orientation was positively correlated with purpose in life. There was no
correlation between PIL and extrinsicness (Crandall, & Rasmussen, 1975).
Therefore, "religious values apparently contribute to increased
meaningfulness of life among a normal range of lay people (p. 485).
Application
It has been shown that
religiousness can be related to psychopathology, but is more often a benefit to
mental health. Well-being through meaning, and having a purpose in life can be
found through the framework of religion.
In assessing intrinsic and
extrinsic religiousness, areas of health, and areas in need of health and
growth can be found. Then, research on religious orientation can assist
educators and therapists in their own lives, on the micro level of dealing with
students and clients, and, also, show any macro level, denominational areas of
strength, or needs for church improvement towards religious commitment.
The purpose of this proposal
is to ascertain if a religious population of Seventh-day Adventist students
would be high in intrinsicness and in purpose in life. It was expected that due
to the focus on service and ministry SDA students would be high PIL scorers.
Further correlations between religious orientation, denominational loyalty,
purpose in life, and religious commitment were assessed.
As SDA's desire to leave a
Christian legacy behind them though Spirit-moved service, this study hopes to
find that religion enhances mental health in a denomination. This psychological
adjustment may lead to a pride in people's religious commitment and a passion
to share their faith through these achievements.
Method
Participants
This pilot study involved 29
masters of social work students in a two year and advanced standing program at
Walla Walla College during summer quarter 1997. Some data sets included only
28, as one student did not fill out her survey completely. There were 5 males,
and 24 females, with a mean age of 32 years. Eight SDA's completed the survey,
and 21 non-SDA's.
Materials
There were four instruments
given to each student to complete.
I. Religious Orientation was
measured using Gorsuch and McPherson's (1989) Intrinsic/Extrinsic Measure: I/E
-Revised. It has 14 items with a Likert-type scale of 1) "1 strongly
agree" to 5) "1 strongly disagree". Dividing the items into
three subscales of intrinsic, extrinsic-social, and extrinsic-personal scores
it. For the purpose of this study, extrinsic-social and extrinsic-personal were
also combined into a total extrinsic score. The lower the score the more that
particular variable is demonstrated.
II. The second measure used
was Denominational Loyalty (Kija, 1993). It included three multiple-choice
questions asking how devoted a person is to his/her denomination. Each question
was scored as one for not loyal, to 5 for very loyal. These were then totaled
with the higher scores meaning higher loyalty to one's denomination.
III. The third instrument
that was intercorrelated was Crumbagh and Maholick's (1969) Purpose-in-Life
test. Only part of this was used, and that containing 20 Likert-type attitude
statements. Twenty to 140 was the range of possible scores, with higher scores
showing higher purpose.
IV. The final measure was a
three-item survey of religious commitment. This asked Ss to state how many
worship services they attend. Options are given. Two other questions are on a
9-point scale asking how religious and spiritual they perceive themselves to
be. This abbreviated person of religious commitment is from Gorsuch and
McFarland (1972).
Demographics included
questions on sex, age, religion, and length of time in SDA schools.
Design and
Procedure
This correlational and group
comparison design utilized available social work graduate students at Walla
Walla College during summer quarter. They were asked to fill out the combined
survey. A procedure was employed to maintain anonymity while maintaining
identities, for when further data will be collected on a larger sample, and a
second "mailing" is required. The above-mentioned variables were
intercorrelated; and these were the dependent variables with SDA's compared
with non-SDA's as the independent variable.
Results
All statistics were done on
Systat 5 statistical package. The Pearson correlation was used to analyze the
correlations between all the continuous variables. (See Table 1.) These were:
age; religious orientation, which was measured using four variables of
intrinsicness, extrinsic-social, extrinsic-personal, and extrinsic-total; religious
commitment was measured with three variables which were amount of services
attended, importance of spirituality, and importance of religion;
denominational loyalty; purpose in life; and SDA education which looked at how
many years at SDA schools one attended.
A t-test was used to analyze
differences between SDA's and non-SDA's on all the applicable variables. (See Table B). There was not enough of any one religious group to categorize
each religion separately.
Religious orientation
Remembering that the
religious orientation scale was scored so that the lower the score the stronger
that variables was, negative correlations actually show a positive association.
The findings which were
significant showed that the more intrinsic people were in their religious
orientation the greater their purpose in life (r(28)=-0.376,p=0.05);
the more religion was deemed important (r(28)=-0.711,p=0.000);
the more spiritual was reported to be important (r(28)=-0.370,p=0.05);
and the more church-related services they reported attending (r(28)=-0.615,p=0.001). also, as instrinsicness grew stronger, so
did denominational loyalty in a near significant correlation (r(28)=-0.366,p=0.060).
There were no significant
correlations with intrinsicness, and age, amount of SDA education, or
extrinsicness.
The total extrinsic score
had no clear significant correlations.
It neared significance when the more services people attended the more
extrinsic they were (r(26)=0.486,p=0.01). There were no significant correlations with
SDA education, denominational loyalty, extrinsicness, or importance of religion
or spirituality.
Purpose in Life
Purpose in life, as already
mentioned, increased along with intrinsicness.
It was also positively correlated with the amount of church services attended
(r(28)=0.486,p=0.01).
There were no significant correlations with SDA education,
denominational loyalty, extrinsicness, or importance of religion or
spirituality.
Table 1
Denominational loyalty
The last main variable
assessed for intercorrelations was denominational loyalty. As already noted, it was positively
correlated with intrinsicness with a near significant correlation. It was also positively correlated, at a
significant level, with how important one considers religion to be (r(28)=0.430,p=0.025).
Incidental correlations
Two divers correlations were
found. These included a positive
correlation between reports of religious importance and spiritual importance r(28)=0.413,p=0.03);
and as importance of religion increased, the amount of church services attended
increased (r(28)=0.696,p=.000).
SDA's vs. Non-SDA's
Seventh-day Adventists
compared with all other religions together (including atheists) showed no
significant differences on any variable as assessed by t-tests. (See Table 2.) Only one variable neared a
significant difference, and this was that SDA's attended church services more
often than non-SDA's (t(27)=1.802,p=0.08).
Although the following
variables were not significant in probability, they do show a trend Seventh-day
Adventists scored as more intrinsic than non-SDA's, thus SDA's had a lower mean
(M=16.125, and M=19.550, respectively). The total extrinsic score was lower (meaning more extrinsic) for
non-SDA's (M=18.947) compared with SDA's (M=19.375). Purpose in life was scored higher by SDA's (M=116.75)
than by non-SDA's (M-=114.43).
Denominational loyalty was also higher for SDA's (M=13.0) than
for non-SDA's (M=10.55). Lastly, SDA's reported religion to be more important (M=6.625)
than did non-SDA's (M=5.905).
Table 2
Discussion
Religious orientation
The intercorrelations
between various measures of religious commitment, years of SDA education, and
purpose in life showed some anticipated results. It is evident that intrinsic religiousness – living one's religion
– remains associated with positive outcomes, such as a greater sense of purpose
in life. Other positive connections
with intrinsicness were feeling loyal to one's denomination, regularly
attending church, and reporting a commitment to both reglion and spirituality.
Although correlations can show no cause and effect, it is interesting to
speculate that intrinsic religiousness as a framework for meaning (Donahue,
1985) may come from attending church habitually, which then leads to loyalty to
one's denomination. If this were so, it would follow that when a denomination
can meet the transcendent needs of its parishioners, there should be minimal
attrition. Equally, when a church offers meaning to a community, there should
be church growth.
Also related to intrinsicness
were the findings that as commitment to religion and to spirituality grew, the
more intrinsic the sample became. This, along with church attendance, seem to
promote the assumption that mental health may be enhanced through the corporate
body of Christ, and fellowship with a community of believers.
The amount of years
attending SDA schools did not affect levels of intrinsic religiousness. The
validity of this finding is questionable due to the small number of SDA's who
responded to the survey of whom even less consistently attended Adventist
schools. This question of validity may also explain why there were no clear
differences between SDA's and non-SDA's on any of the variables. A larger
sample would offer a fairer representation. Also, including categories of
specific religions rather than grouping atheists in with born-again Christians
could present clearer differences between different religions and the
lifestyles/beliefs they offer.
Intrinsicness was not
negatively correlated with extrinsicness. This supports the concept that they
are two distinct variables, rather than opposite ends of a continuum.
It is interesting that age
did not correlate with intrinsicness. This infers that finding meaning and
purpose through religion does not require the experiences or insights of age,
but is available to anyone open to a pervasive worldview derived through a
religious life.
Extrinsic
religiousness had no significant correlations with other variables, but did
near a significant correlation with church attendance. Although intrinsicness
and church attendance was very significant, attending church approached
significance with extrinsicness. It appears that attending church, which was
not measured by participating other than being present, assists one in both gaining
more meaning from religion (intrinsicness), and meeting more personal and
social needs (extrinsicness). Whether one lives one's religion or uses one's
religion, these findings suggest that going to church regularly is an important
means in attaining one's goals.
There was no correlation
between importance of religion and extrinsicness. This implies that although
extrinsicness is a form of religiousness, it is defined differently than a
general sense of how important religion is.
Purpose in
life
Purpose in life was found to
correlate with intrinsicness. As one finds meaning through religion, it appears
to translate into a general application of raison d'etre in all of life.
Also the finding that the amount of church attendance increased with purpose in
life focuses on how fellowship may offer a sense of community; which may lend
itself to a security in goal attainment.
Of equal interest are the variables, which
showed no correlation and thus cannot be associated with attaining meaning and
thus, purpose in life. These were: amount of SDA education, denominational
loyalty, importance of religion or spirituality, and extrinsicness. Again, the
small sample of SDA's in the study may limit the validity on whether SDA
education is or is not related to purpose in life. It would be expedient to
study further how SDA education compares with regular church attendance in
gaining both intrinsicness and purpose in life. Is it the family's
socialization, the home fife, which assist a person in attaining meaning in
religion and in life? Is family support of the tradition of church attendance
more vital in purpose in life than where a person went to school? There will be
no further implications discussed for this until a larger sample is assessed.
Neither loyalty to a
particular denomination nor considering religion as important or valuable
contributed to purpose in life. Reporting spirituality as important also did
not contribute towards a sense of purpose; yet intrinsic religiousness did.
Maybe these non-correlating variables represent a more external form of
religiousness, which do not relate to the internality demonstrated through the
religious orientation variable. Possibly measuring locus of control with
religious commitment and religiosity would be helpful in further determining
relationships between these variables.
Extrinsicness as using one's
religion to meet one's needs did not lead to well-being through purpose in
life. This interesting because it would be desirable if religiousness, no
matter at what level, would offer guidance and direction in life. From these
findings it appears that using one's religion offer no hope in attaining
purpose; while living one's religion does offer that hope.
The question that arises is
how to move from extrinsicness to intrinsicness. How can a church, a pastor, or
a congregation help its members to achieve a healthier level of religiousness?
Which leads to which? Does one find purpose in life, which then lends itself
towards intrinsic religiousness; or it the other way around? Is the aim, then,
to help people find purpose to gain intrinsicness; or to live their religion to
find purpose? Since they are correlated, it may be that they work together, so
efforts towards this mental health could possibly start at either place. An
experimental design, though methodologically difficult, would prove better to
answer these questions.
Both intrinsicness and
purpose in life seem founded in having and maintaining a personal guidance
system, which allows one to see life through "a bigger picture". When
a satisfactory system is in place, then possibly that is when one can find
meaning in the little activities, happenings and ideas of life, as well as in
the overwhelming, tragic and joyous ones.
Church
attendance
Attending church seems to be
a valuable aspect of religious commitment, as seen through correlations with
intrinsicness, extrinsicness, and importance of religion. Attending church also
correlated with purpose in life. Perhaps attending church services assists in
developing a guidance system, or framework, from which goals may be set and
aimed towards, and from which meaning can be attained. Getting people to church
may be an initial and crucial step towards the correlates of mental health.
SDA's and
non-SDA's
Although SDA's did not
differ from non-SDA's on any variable, they did score higher in intrinsicness,
purpose in life, denominational loyalty, and in reporting that religion was
important to them. Seventh-day Adventists approached a significant difference
from non-SDA's by attending church more often; and as previously stated, church
attendance seems to be a common variable for many positive outcomes.
Seventh-day Adventists, though not statistically different in this sample,
proved themselves as having the basis for good mental health because of their
religion. Seventh-day Adventists scored
high in purpose in life and in intrinsicness, both of which show that Adventism
offers meaning to its members. This is confirmed, as well, by SDA's having a
higher score on denominational loyalty.
Conclusion
It is a hope that through
this study mental health professionals may better understand the function of
religion in achieving and maintaining mental health, specifically for
themselves, and indirectly for their clients. It is also desired that SDA's, as
well as other religious denominations, may find pride in their beliefs, which
have so often been considered psychopathological by this profession.
This research supported
previous literature's findings that intrinsic religiousness is related to many
positive outcomes (Bergin, Masters, & Richards, 1987), including purpose in
life (Crandall, & Rasmussen, 1975). Also, the more church services people
attended, the more there was a sense of loyalty to one's denomination, an intrinsic
religiousness, and a sense of purpose in life. Seventh-day Adventists were
stronger than non-SDA's on all the positive variables; yet, a
larger sample needs to be
attained for greater validity. It appears that mental health professionals who
live their religion and who attend church regularly have a greater chance of
finding purpose in life than do those who do not.
This study offers evidence
that Christians, especially Seventh-day Adventists, have a framework of meaning
from their religion, which contributes to good mental health. This research
gives Christians scientific reasons for having confidence and joy in their
religion, and a passion to share this Good News.
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