God, Purpose in Life, and Mental Well-Being Among Older Adults
This research note uses mixed methods on data from a nationwide sample of 1,525 Americans age 40 and older to make two theoretical contributions to the literatures on purpose and religion. First, by categorizing open-ended responses to an item asking "Please describe a few of the things, feelin...
| Published in: | Journal for the scientific study of religion |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2019]
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2019, Volume: 58, Issue: 1, Pages: 287-300 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Adult (40-65 Jahre)
/ Meaning of life
/ Mental health
/ Religiosity
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CB Christian life; spirituality KBQ North America |
| Further subjects: | B
mental well-being
B Aging B sources of purpose B Religiosity B relationship with God |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This research note uses mixed methods on data from a nationwide sample of 1,525 Americans age 40 and older to make two theoretical contributions to the literatures on purpose and religion. First, by categorizing open-ended responses to an item asking "Please describe a few of the things, feelings, ideas, etc. that give you a sense of purpose in your life," we present a categorization framework to group sources of purpose (SPs) in life. Next, we run multivariate models, using mental well-being as a dependent measure, which simultaneously enter dummy variables reflecting each of the SPs categories within our framework. We hypothesize no relative differences in the effect that any specific source of purpose category would have on mental well-being. This prediction is undercut by finding a positive link between mental well-being and a single SP-citing one's "relationship with God"-although this relationship is noted only among respondents age 60 and older. Beyond this research's theoretical contributions, we offer some practical guidance in arguing that research on SPs, particularly when claiming comprehensiveness or examining mental well-being, should not preclude religious measures and should consider that SPs may have differing effects between age groups. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12565 |