UMaine Researchers Reaffirm Link Between Religion and Emotional Well-Being
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO – Two University of Maine sociologists have reaffirmed a connection between religion and emotional well-being in older people.
Steven Barkan, a professor of sociology and chair of the university sociology department, and Susan Greenwood, a lecturer in the department, found that people 65 and older tend to be happier and more satisfied with their lives if they attend religious services more frequently. The results of their study appeared in the December issue of “Review of Religious Research,” an academic journal published by the Religious Research Association.
Their article solidifies previous but less reliable conclusions drawn from other studies going back decades.
Most of the previous studies were based on either limited research or survey participants who were not randomly selected, according to Barkan and Greenwood. They may have been, for example, residents in “convenience settings,” such as nursing homes, lunch programs or outpatient clinics, the article says.
The Barkan and Greenwood paper is based on a “more generalizable” random sample of seniors from throughout the United States, the results of which can be applied to all seniors nationwide, according to Barkan. Their study uses information on several hundred seniors interviewed as part of the national General Social Survey, a reputable survey done either annually or biannually since 1972. They also took into account their seniors’ physical health to rule out the possibility that more physically healthy seniors are attending religious services in the first place. Many prior studies had failed to do that, they say.
Barkan and Greenwood hope the results of their study come to the attention of social workers, psychologists, religious leaders, doctors, and those who work with or care for older people in an effort to improve the quality of life for that population.
“If these people read this kind of research, we hope it will have a positive effect,” Greenwood says.
Older people, Barkan and Greenwood note in their paper, tend to have more issues with health, well-being, loneliness, bereavement or mental illness than younger people. For these reasons, it is especially important to uncover the factors that may improve older people’s well-being.
“For physical health, religious involvement has been linked to lower rates of a myriad of problems, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and even mortality,” the professors’ report says. “For mental health, religious activity involvement has been linked to higher levels of psychological well-being such as life satisfaction and happiness and to lower rates of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.”
Barkan, who is Jewish, and Greenwood, who is a practicing Methodist and active member of her church in Orono, say they did not attempt to define religion.
“In the article, we don’t advise people to be religious,” Barkan says. But a “reasonable conclusion from the research,” he says, is for institutions and individuals who work with elderly people to try and make religious activity available to seniors who would be interested in it.
Several reasons may account for the presumed link between religious activity and improved mental or physical health, say Barkan and Greenwood. Regular attendance at religious services increases social ties, which can provide emotional and practical support in the face of personal problems. It also encourages physical activity, and the values generally endorsed in church, they say, promote healthy lifestyles and discourage risky behavior.
More generally, the report says, in times of personal crises, people who can turn to their religious faith may be better able to weather bad times. “…Their faith can promote feelings of hope, forgiveness, joy and other positive emotions that, in turn, enhance well-being,” Barkan and Greenwood wrote.
Barkan says there are no guarantees that people who attend religious services regularly will always be happier and healthier, and, he adds, “I can’t say we’re talking about huge effects, that your life is going to be wonderful… (but) there does seem to be something about religious activity, per se.”
For more information, Barkan can be reached at (207) 581-2383; Greenwood can be reached at (207) 581-2394. They expect the paper eventually to be published in its entirety on the website for the Review of Religious Research at http://rra.hartsem.edu/reviewof.htm.