Title
Religion and happiness: Consensus, contradictions,comments and concerns
Abstract
The relationship between religion and happiness has been the focus of much research. The present review provides a critical examination of this research and, in particular, focuses on conceptual and methodological concerns. The majority of studies report a positive association between measures of religion and happiness; however, contradictory findings are common. This is exemplified in the literature that has systematically employed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity alongside two different measures of happiness among a variety of samples. Two opposing conclusions have found consistent support. Research with the Oxford Happiness Inventory has consistently found religiosity to be associated with happiness, while research employing the Depression–Happiness Scale has consistently found no association. It is argued that such contradictions may reflect both conceptual and methodological weaknesses in this literature.
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Lewis, C. A, & Cruise, S. M. (2006)‘Religion and happiness: Consensus, contradictions, comments and concerns’. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 9(3), 213- 225
Digital Commons Citation
Lewis, Christopher A. and Cruise, S M., "Religion and happiness: Consensus, contradictions,comments and concerns" (2006). Psychology. Paper 8.
http://epubs.glyndwr.ac.uk/psyc/8
Comments
Metadata only available from this repository. This article was published in the Mental Health, Religion & Culture Journal by Taylor and Francis in 2006. The published article is available online at http://www.informaworld.com Contact the author via email at -ca.lewis@glyndwr.ac.uk for information about this article.