The Role of Religiosity in Satisfaction With Life: A Sample of Turkish Gay Men

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated the role of religiosity in satisfaction with life in a sample of Turkish gay men. A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that the religiosity had a significant effect on life satisfaction of gay men. Extrinsically religious gay men displayed significantly higher life satisfaction scores than both intrinsically religious and nonreligious gay men. Moreover, intrinsically religious and nonreligious gay men did not significantly differ in terms of life satisfaction. Based on the findings of the study, we concluded that the role of a committed religiosity in enhancing satisfaction with life as documented by the overwhelming majority of previous research was reversed in the case of Turkish Muslim gay men.     

The Association Between Perceived Spirituality, Religiosity, and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Self-Rated Health

This study examined the mediating role of self-perceived health between perceived spirituality, religiosity, and life satisfaction among a stratified, random sample of college students, while controlling for gender. Although both models displayed excellent fit criteria, the perceived spirituality and life satisfaction model was fully mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 4) = 1.64, p=0.80, CFI =0.99, TLI=0.99), and the perceived religiosity and life satisfaction model was partially mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 10) = 22.29, p=0.01 CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99). Both models were equal for men and women. Students who describe themselves as spiritual (or religious) are likely to report greater self-perceived health and greater self-perceived health likely influences life satisfaction for both men and women. Results preliminarily support the contention that life satisfaction is related to differing reported health status, whether physical or mental, and that life satisfaction may be influenced by religiosity and spirituality engagement. Implications for colleges and universities are discussed.     

Religious domains and general well-being

With only a few notable exceptions, studies on quality of life or general well-being have failed to deal with religiosity in general, and the development of more refined measures of religious meaning and belonging in particular. Data measuring subjective perceptions of well-being for various domains of life, including neighborhood, employment, work at home, education, friends, household members, marital status, standard of living, health and religion were used to form a number of domain scales. Relationships between the multidimensional concepts of well-being and religiosity are explored and the importance of religiosity in defining well-being is tested. Religious satisfaction was found to be important for general life satisfaction and existential well-being. Among the eight indicators and scales of religiosity, various combinations of religious satisfaction, frequency of prayer, prayer experience, and relationship with God, were important predictors of general life satisfaction, existential well-being, and overall happiness. Under no circumstance did any measure of religosity contribute to negative affect.     

The evolution of secularization: cultural transmission, religion and fertility—theory, simulations and evidence

This study presents an evolutionary process of secularization assuming that cultural/social/religious norms (in particular the ‘religious taste for children’) are transmitted from one generation to the next via two venues: (i) direct socialization—across generations, by parents; and (ii) oblique socialization—within generations, by the cultural environment. The paper integrates a theoretical model, simulations and an empirical estimation, that lead to the following main findings: (i) direct religious socialization efforts of one generation have a negative effect on secularization within the next generation; (ii) oblique socialization by the community has a parabolic effect on secularization; and (iii) the two types of socialization are complementary in ‘producing’ religiosity in the next generation.     

Religiosity,quality of life,and survival in cancer patients

This study is based on a sample of 253 hospitalised cancer patients who filled out a 108 item-questionnaire, including indicators of quality of life and a two-item religiosity scale. A majority of the patients reported that their religious belief had been of support to them after they became ill from cancer. Religiosity was found to be significantly related to general satisfaction with life and feelings of hopelessness. A Cox regression analysis, where religiosity was entered among other relevant covariates, showed a negative relationship between religiosity and the hazard rate that came very close to attain statistical significance. Thus, the effect of religiosity on the survival of patients with severe diseases such as cancer seems worth following up in future studies.     

The Relative Importance of Health

This article seeks to extend Michalos’ [Social indicators research and health-related quality of life (QoL) research. Social Indicators Research, 65, 27–72, 2004] discussion on bridging social indicators research and health-related QoL (HRQoL) research through an examination of (1) the relative importance of satisfaction with one’s own health to another common measure of QoL—Life satisfaction, and (2) the relative importance of health in relation to other major life domains. Using data from two surveys, this article found that individuals may perceive health as most important in relation to other major life domains but satisfaction with one’s own health may not necessarily be the most important determining factor (in relation to satisfaction with other major life domains) of QoL as measured by life satisfaction. These findings support Michalos’ (Social indicators research and HRQoL research. Social Indicators Research, 65, 27–72, 2004) call for caution regarding the interpretation of research results on HRQoL since many HRQoL measures are measures of satisfaction with one’s own health and should not be considered as measures of QoL.     

The Quality of Life in Taiwan

The AsiaBarometer survey of 1,006 respondents shows that in Taiwan, people have access to modern utilities and digital media, signs of materialistic achievement, and yet are more concerned with physical security and financial safety than with personal growth. Regardless of their demographic backgrounds and value priorities, the Taiwanese, like other Confucian publics, are most satisfied with the interpersonal life sphere and least satisfied with the public life sphere. Their satisfaction levels concerning various life domains affect their sense of well-being more than does their prioritization of values. Assessments of material and nonmaterial life domains contribute to their sense of well-being more than those of interpersonal and public domains do. Access to modern utilities and a high income, however, detract from their sense of well-being. As is the case elsewhere, a better set of objective life circumstance does not necessarily make for a greater quality of life in Taiwan. The government, therefore, should seek to provide more than economic goods and services.     

“The Priest Obviously Doesn't Know That I'm Gay”: The Religious and Spiritual Journeys of Latino Gay Men

ABSTRACT

In the United States, most adults state that religion plays an important role in their lives and claim a religious affiliation. For gay, bisexual, and transgender persons (GBT), the story is unique because their sexual and gender identity is not accepted by most religions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of religiosity in the life course of Latino GBTs raised as Catholics. Data come from 66 life history interviews with Latino GBTs living in Chicago and San Francisco, who grew up as Catholics. We found a religious trajectory that mirrored participants' developmental stages. During childhood, religion was inculcated by the family, culture, and schools. In adolescence, many experienced a conflict between their religion and their GBT identity, and in adulthood, they reached a resolution. Most participants abandoned Catholicism to join other religions or spiritual groups that they perceived to be welcoming. We found participants engaging in a remedial ideological work to reconcile their religious values and their identity.     

The impact of professional and personal satisfaction on perceptions of rural and urban: Some analytic evidence

Studies of rural-urban location decisions traditionally used ana priori definition of rural/urban based on population size. A group of 29 physicians (study group) practising in communities of less than 10 000, that were part of a larger sample, perceived their communities as ‘urban’. A matched group of physicians (control group) in the same communities, who perceived the communities as ‘rural’, was selected. The research question raised was: Are there personal and professional factors that could reliably predict the perception of rural and urban? A logistic regression analysis was done using professional and personal satisfaction items as predictors of the two groups. The analysis gives some evidence that, once the effect of community size is removed, the perception of rural urban can be explained by satisfaction with the following: (i) access to specialist expertise, (ii) quality of education for children, (iii) quality of life for children and (iv) quality of housing; satisfaction with size of community was not a significant predictor of rural/urban perception.     

Importance is Not Unimportant: The Role of Importance Weighting in QOL Measures

The effect of relative domain importance as a weighting mechanism in quality of life (QoL) measures has been a topic of debate for decades. Studies investigating the role of domain importance in QoL measures have produced mixed results. The mixed results may very well be the consequences of a limited choice of global satisfaction or QoL measures, measurements of domain satisfaction, measurements of domain importance and weighting approaches applied to date. This study investigated the effect of importance weighting without assigning any arbitrary weighting function of domain importance. A cluster analysis was first used to classify individuals into groups, based on their perceived importance of various life domains, and then the relationship between global life satisfaction measure and the composite of domain satisfaction scores between these groups was compared. Results of this study showed that the relationship between global life satisfaction and composite of satisfaction scores did not remain consistent for respondents with different importance rankings of major life domains, which suggested an important effect of domain importance in QoL measures.     

Aging,Proximity to Death,and Religiosity

Considerable evidence has documented that the elderly are more religious and that religiosity is associated with better health and lower mortality. Yet, little is known about the reverse role of life expectancy or proximity to death, as opposed to age, for religiosity. This paper provides evidence for the distinct role of expected remaining life years for the importance of religion in individuals’ lives. We combine individual survey response data for more than 300,000 individuals from 95 countries over the period 1994–2014 with information from period life tables. Contrary to wide-held beliefs, religiosity decreases with greater expected proximity to death. The findings have important implications regarding the consequences of population aging for religiosity and associated outcomes.     

The Relative Contribution of Health Status and Quality of Life Domains in Subjective Health in Old Age

To analyze the influence of different health status dimensions and quality of life (QoL) domains on older adults’ subjective health, and to assess the role that residential satisfaction plays in these relationships. A QoL survey was conducted on a representative sample of the community-dwelling older adult population in Madrid province (Spain). Logistic regression models were applied to studying: the health status dimensions associated with satisfaction with health; the relationship between satisfaction with health and other QoL domains; and, the influence of these domains on satisfaction with life. Sociodemographic and residential characteristics were included in all the models. The determinants of satisfaction with health in the first model were: mobility, usual activities, morbidity, and satisfaction with neighborhood. QoL domains associated with health were: leisure activities, neighborhood, and finances. Satisfaction with life was explained by these three domains, along with age, family and health. In sum, leisure, neighborhood, and finances showed a positive effect on satisfaction with health and with life.     

Is the Easy Life Always the Happiest? Examining the Association of Convenience and Well-Being in Taiwan

Social scientists have under-examined neighborhood stores and other “resources” and their relationships to community welfare and personal happiness. Because the presence of neighborhood conveniences may signify that a neighborhood caters to residents’ needs and smoothes out the hassles of their daily lives, it could be hypothesized that commercial amenities and services enhance individuals’ satisfaction with their neighborhoods, with their health, and even with their lives as a whole. This study used a national probability sample from Taiwan, a densely populated society in East Asia, to test if service-oriented commercial and religious enterprises in neighborhoods are associated with positive estimations of well-being by those who occupy these spaces. We empirically examine whether proximity to main roads, night markets and temples or proximity to smoky food stands and other shops that produce pungent products affects well-being. Our findings from multivariate analyses suggest that if nearby conveniences are conceived as annoyances, they tend to lower satisfaction with neighborhood, but they do not lower life satisfaction in general. In contrast, air quality, along with “peace and quietness” is reported by respondents to be key in enhancing general well-being. We discuss the policy implications in the concluding session.     

Health Outcomes and Volunteering: The Moderating Role of Religiosity

In this paper, we examine whether and what extent public and private forms of religiosity act as moderators of the volunteering and well-being relationship in mid- to later-life. We use data from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n = 1,805). We analyzed the relationships between volunteering and indicators of well-being (self-rated physical and mental health), and tested the moderating effects of public and private religiosity on the volunteering and well-being relationship. Our findings suggest that salubrious effects of volunteering on the self-perceived physical and mental health of middle- aged and older- aged adults varied by their participation in different forms of religiosity. In particular, volunteers who engaged in more public forms of religiosity reported significantly better physical and mental health than non-volunteers who engaged in these forms of religiosity. In other words, individuals who were actively engaged public forms of religious practices and who volunteered, maximized the associated health benefits.     

A Systematic Review of the Assessment of Quality of Life in Adolescents

This study examined how the quality of life (QoL) affects an individual’s disaster preparedness behavior (PB); furthermore, it also considered and examined the mediating effects of trust in government (GT) and the moderating effects of self-efficacy (SE). One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to test the differences in QoL, GT, SE, and PB, by socio-demographic, and the study hypotheses were verified by using hierarchical regression analysis based on 1682 samples. The Johnson–Neyman technique was used to test the conditional effects of SE on QoL and PB. All the hypotheses presented in this study were supported: (1) QoL had a positive effect on PB; (2) QoL had a positive effect on GT; (3) GT had a positive effect on PB; (4) GT mediated the relationship between QoL and PB; (5) SE moderated the relationship between QoL and PB. Specifically, when SE was high, the positive relationship between QoL and PB increased; (6) SE moderated the relationship between GT and PB. Specifically, when SE was high, the positive relationship between GT and PB increased; and (7) SE moderated the indirect effect of QoL on PB. Specifically, when SE was high, the mediating effect of GT on the relationship between QoL and PB increased. This study makes significant contributions in terms of identifying the mechanisms of QoL on PB based on the moderated mediation model. Improving individuals’ QoL is not only an important societal goal, but also an effective way to enhance people’s positive behavioral outcomes. Therefore, QoL improvement should be considered in the top-level design of government policies, and it should also be regarded as an important indicator of government performance assessment.

     

Daily Spiritual Experiences and Prosocial Behavior

This paper examines how the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) relates to range of prosocial behaviors, using a large, nationally representative U.S. data set. It finds that daily spiritual experiences are a statistically and substantively significant predictor of volunteering, charitable giving, and helping individuals one knows personally. Daily spiritual experiences better predict helping to distant others than to friends and family, indicating that they may motivate helping by fostering an extensive definition of one’s moral community. The relationship between the DSES and helping is not moderated by sympathy and is robust to the inclusion of most religiosity measures. However, the relationship becomes non-significant for most helping behaviors when measures of meditation, prayer, and mindfulness are included in a regression equation. The DSES is particularly effective in predicting helping behaviors among people who do not belong to a religious congregation, indicating that it may measure spiritual motivations for helping among people who are not conventionally religious.     

Examining the Influence of the Wine Festival Experience on Tourists’ Quality of Life

Hosting events and festivals is the best way of providing the wine tourism experience. Wine festivals offer a wide range of experiences that are different from day-to-day living, offer a lifestyle package and are an indicator of lifestyle tourism experience. Tourists travel to wine festivals for wine and other leisure-related experiences, including opportunities for social and/or cultural experiences, interactivity and personal development. Therefore, wine festivals should provide an experience that can influence the quality of life (QoL) of the attending tourist. QoL is influenced by various life domains, which include social, leisure and recreational, intellectual, culinary, and travel life. By its nature, a wine festival is able to influence life domains, thereby decreasing or increasing the level of satisfaction with QoL, according to the level of satisfactory experience. The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of the wine festival experience on the QoL of attending tourists. The structural relationship between the wine festival experience on tourists’ QoL is shown in a structural equation model (SEM), which is based on the notion that the QoL of attending tourists will be influenced by their level of satisfaction in various life domains. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed during the Wacky Wine Festival in Robertson South Africa. The data from 329 (N) eligible questionnaires was cleaned, captured and analysed using SPSS. Furthermore, Amos was used to test the structural model providing statistical support. From the study’s findings, managerial recommendations were made with the aim of maximising attending wine tourists’ QoL. The research contributes to the literature related to QoL.     

Exploratory Study on Drug Users’ Perspectives on Quality of Life: More than Health-Related Quality of Life?

In drug treatment outcome literature, a focus on objective and socially desirable indicators of change (e.g. no drug use) has predominated, while outcome indicators that are important for drug users themselves (e.g. quality of life, satisfaction with treatment) have largely been neglected. Nonetheless, Quality of Life (QoL) has become an important concept to evaluate effectiveness of treatment in mental health care research and disability studies. Given the almost exclusive focus on Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in substance abuse research and the neglect of clients’ perspectives in this field, we explore in this study the concept of QoL as perceived by drug users. Focus group discussions (n = 9) were organised in various treatment settings and community services for drug users in the region of Ghent, Belgium to identify important dimensions of QoL and their interpretation by drug users. Data were clustered and analysed based on the theoretical framework of Robert Schalock (Quality of life. Volume 1: Conceptualization and measurement, 1996). The domains ‘personal relationships’, ‘social inclusion’ and ‘self-determination’ were discussed most frequently by the participants. They stressed the importance of a supportive social network in particular. It can be concluded that QoL is not primarily associated by drug users with health and it involves much more than the aspects typically represented in measures of HRQOL.     

Individual quality of life: can it be accounted for by psychological or subjective well-being?

There is ongoing discussion in the scientific literature about the need for a more theoretical foundation to underpin quality of life (QoL) measurement. This paper applied Keyes et al.’s [J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 82 (2002) 1007] model of well-being as a framework to assess whether respondents (n = 136 students) focus on elements of subjective well-being (SWB), such as satisfaction and happiness, or on elements of psychological well-being (PWB), such as meaning and personal growth, when making individual QoL (IQoL) judgments using the Schedue of the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL). The Keyes et al.’s model was confirmed and explained 41% of the variance in SEIQoL scores. Both SWB and PWB were correlated with the SEIQoL Index Score and SWB was found to be an important mediating variable in the relationship between PWB and SEIQoL. When analyzing different well-being combinations, respondents with high SWB/high PWB had significantly higher SEIQoL scores than did those with low SWB/low PWB. Respondents with high PWB/high SWB had higher SEIQoL scores than did those with high PWB/low SWB. Longitudinal studies in different patient groups are needed to explore the dynamic relationship between IQoL and well-being. Further investigation of the relationship between PWB and SWB with other instruments purporting to measure QoL would contribute to an enhanced understanding of the underlying nature of QoL.     

A human ecological approach to quality of life: Conceptual framework and results of a preliminary study

A human ecological framework for study of quality of life is proposed and used in the study of the QOL of a rural sample in northern Michigan. The framework is based on an ecosystem, i.e., the interaction of humans, the environed units, with their interrelated environments. These are conceptualized as: natural, human constructed and human behavioral. Quality of life indicators can measure aspects of the environed units, environments, and their interaction. Scales to measure perceived overall quality of life (POQL), community satisfaction (COMSAT), and the importance of and satisfaction with selected life concerns (SALI and SALS) were used. The life concerns represented human needs, attributes of the self, conditions and resources of the three environments, or implied interaction with or action upon the environment. Objectives were to study how these life concerns contributed to POQL; the relationship between SALI and SALS ratings and how this influenced POQL; the relationship between COMSAT and POQL; and whether or not satisfaction with these two variables varied by demographic characteristics. A relatively high POQL was found; those with higher incomes and children living at home had higher scores. COMSAT was also generally high, but did not vary by demographic characteristics. POQL and COMSAT were significantly related. Family life, health, safety, house, and financial security ranked highest in importance; clothing, spare time activities, and fun ranked lowest. Family life, religious faith, food work, and safety ranked highest in satisfaction; national government, financial security, developing oneself, health, and an interesting life ranked the lowest. The various life concerns appear) to behave differently in regard to how the discrepancy between importance of a concern and satisfaction with it influences overall quality of life. Satisfaction with accomplishments, family life, work and financial security accounted for over half the variance in POQL. These represent essential human needs which are satisfied with resources of the near environment, suggesting the salience of one's most proximate environment to evaluation of quality of life. Findings, while preliminary, illustrate the viability of a human ecological model as a unifying framework for conceptualization and measurement of quality of life. Further specification and elaboration of the model are indicated.