By Paul Andrew Bourne, M.Sc.; B.Sc.; Dip. Edu.
Religiosity
From theologians’ perspective, spirituality and religiosity are critical components in the lifespan of people. They believe that man (including woman) cannot be completely whole without religion. With this fundamental concept, theologians theorize that man cannot be happy, lowly depressed or feel comfortable without a balance of spirit and body (Whang 2006).
In order to acquire a state of personal happiness, self-reported subjective well-being, some pundits forward a construct that people are fashioned in the image of God, which requires some religiosity before man, can be happy or less stressed. Religion is, therefore, association with well-being (Dierendonck and Mohan 2006; Krause 2006; Jurkovic and Walker 2006; Ardelt 2003; Graham et al. 1978; Zuchkerman et al. 1984) as well as low mortality (Schonenbach et al. 1986; House, Robbin and Metzner 1982). Religion is seen as the opiate of the people from Karl Marx perspective but Theologians, on the other hand, hypothesized that religion is a coping mechanism against unhappiness and stress. This further goes to add credence to Durkheim’s work on religion and suicide. He found a lower association between religious people and suicide. According to Kart (1990), religious guidelines aid well-being in that through restrictive behavioural habits which are health risk such smoking, drinking of alcohol, and even diet.
The discourse of religiosity and spirituality influencing well-being is well documented (Frazier et al. 2005; Edmondson et al. 2005; Thorson et al. 2001; Moberg 1984; Graham et al. 1978). Researchers have sought to concretize this issue by studying the influence of religiosity on quality and life, and they have found that a positive associate exist between those two phenomena (Maskelko and Kubzansky 2006; Franzini et al. 2004). They found that the relationship was even stronger for men than for women, and that this association was influenced by denominational affiliation. Graham et al’s (Graham, et al 1978) study found that blood pressure for highly religious male heads of households in Evan County was low. The findings of this research did not dissipate when controlled for age, obesity, cigarette smoking, and socioeconomic status. A study on the Mormon in Utah revealed that cancer rates were lower (by 80%) for those who adhere to Church doctrine (Gardner and Lyon 1982a, 1982b) than those with weaker adherence.
In a study of 147 volunteer Australian males between 18 and 83 years old, Jurkovic and Walker (2006) study found a high stress level of non-religious than compared to religious men. The researchers in constructing a contextual literature quoted many studies that have made a link between non-spirituality and “dryness”, which results in suicide. Even though, Jurkovic and Walker’s research was primarily on spiritual well-being, it provides a platform that can be used in understanding linkages between psychological status of people and their general well-being. In a study which looked at young adult women, the researchers found that spirituality affects the physical well-being of its populace (Edmondson et al. 2005). Embedded within that study is the positive influence of spirituality and religion on the health status of women. Edmondson’s et al. work constituted of 42 female college students of which 78.8 percent were Caucasian, 13.5 percent African-American, 5.8 percent Asian and 92 percent were non-smokers.
Health psychologists concurred with Theologians and Christians that religion influence psychological well-being (Taylor 1999; Rice 1998; Paloutzian and Kirkpatrick 1995). Taylor argued that religious people are more likely to cope with stressors than non-religious individuals, which explains the former better health status. She forwarded the position that this may be done through avoidance or vigilant strategies. This response is an aversive coping mechanism in addressing serious monologue or confrontational and traumatic events. Coping strategies, therefore, are psychological tools used by an individual to problem-solve issues, without which are likely to construct stressors and threaten ones health status. Taylor (1999, 214) said that "some religious beliefs also lead to better health practices" which see lower cancer mortality rates from all cancers in Orthodox Christians. Non-Theologians and Demographers have studied religiosity and health status, and concluded that higher religiosity is associated with a higher subjective well-being and-or mortality (Hummer et al. 1999; Ellison and Levin 1998, Levin 1994a, 1994b). Ellison and Levin found an association between religion and physical and mental health.
Stressors may arise from within the individual or outside his/her environment. One such external stressor that may affect the individual is the death of love ones. Response to mortality of close family members may be more traumatic dependent on expectancy or non-expectancy. Bereavement influences incidence of mortality (Rice 1998). This may result in exhaustion of the individual's 'adaptive reserve'. The person body wears down and becomes highly vulnerable to morbidity and even death. Rice forwarded a study (by Levav, Friedlander, Kark, and Peritz 1995) that contradicted an association between bereavement and mortality. He wrote that "Fathers who lost sons in war had lower mortality rates than those who lost son in accidents" (Rice 1998, 76). Despite that study, Rice quoted other research (Baker 1987; Jemmott and Locke 1984; Locke 1982) that showed the impact of stress on physiology of humans. He argued that it is through suppression after and during bereavement that creates the stressors, which become potent devices for mortality and morbidity.
According to Moody (2006), “Empirical data show that religious belief is correlated with good health”, and this ethos according to some writers is not limited to Christian scholars or spiritualists. According to Moody (2006), Koenig and Cohen forwarded a stance that was dialectic in nature. They believed that religiosity was both a positive as well as a negative determinant on health in particular ‘life span’ (Moody, 2006 p. 148).
Cox and Hammonds (1988) found that there is a positive relationship between religiosity and well-being of the elderly; this was also concurred by Edward and Klemmack (1973) Hummer (1999) and Spreitzer and Synder (1974) in separate studies on the same space. Cox and Hammonds in their abstract, they forwarded the perspective that all past studies that have analyses religiosity and life satisfaction came to the same conclusion that individuals who attend church experience a greater life satisfaction. They forwarded the justification for the association. The researcher cited that:
A plausible explanation for the positive value that religious participation has on the lives of the elderly is that the church becomes a focal point of social integration and activity for the elderly, providing them with a sense of community and well-being (Cox and Hammonds 1988).
According to Cox and Hammonds (1988), Guy in a study on the discourse of religiosity and life satisfaction, found that the group with the highest score on the measure of life satisfaction was that which reported the most frequent church attendance. Other research on the same space agreed with Guy, and Cox and Hammonds that religiosity was a determinant of life satisfaction experienced by the elderly (Markides1983; Ortega 1983). Cox and Hammonds stated that this space in the discipline of gerontology has a high degree of scientific bias, as scientists are less likely to reflect the secular attitudes of the public. In addition to the few longitudinal studies on matter, Cox and Hammonds argued that all the interpretation of the results and conclusion must be used cautiously (1988, 47).
According to Hummer et al. (1999), several studies have concluded that religion influences health, mortality and that the relationship varies across socio-demographic factors. They referred to studies carried out by Levin et al. (1994), Bryant and Ralowski (1992) and House et al. (1982); as those works have added to the space.
In a study conducted by Frazier et al. (2005) exclusively on African American older people, they found that several multidimensional measures of religiosity were associated with psychological well-being. Kail and Cavanaugh (2004, 584) captured the experiences of seniors and how religion enhances their survivability, when they said that "...older adults who are more involved and committed to their faith have better physical and mental health ..." When asked 'how you deal with the living', respondents listed among coping strategies spirituality (Kail and Cavanaugh 2004). From studies analyzed earlier, spiritual support is a mechanism used in coping with life's challenges as the church offers a social support system and this is a mantle of hope. Religiosity is a determinant of the health status of people more so for seniors as they continue to grapple with lose of spouse, work and other psychosocial and biological conditions.
From the Census of 2001, approximately 21 percent of Jamaican reported that they had ‘no religion’ and 2.78 percent did not report, then the discourse on influence of religiosity on the quality of life of the aged should provide an indepth understanding of this phenomenon as a predictor.