Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
J Relig Health. 2013 Sep;52(3):915-29. doi: 10.1007/s10943-011-9540-2.
Research largely shows that religion and spirituality have a positive correlation to psychological well-being. However, there has been a great deal of confusion and debate over their operational definitions. This study attempted to delineate the two constructs and categorise participants into different groups based on measured levels of religious involvement and spirituality. The groups were then scored against specific measures of well-being. A total of 205 participants from a wide range of religious affiliations and faith groups were recruited from various religious institutions and spiritual meetings. They were assigned to one of four groups with the following characteristics: (1) a high level of religious involvement and spirituality, (2) a low level of religious involvement with a high level of spirituality, (3) a high level of religious involvement with a low level of spirituality, and (4) a low level of religious involvement and spirituality. Multiple comparisons were made between the groups on three measures of psychological well-being: levels of self-actualisation, meaning in life, and personal growth initiative. As predicted, it was discovered that, aside from a few exceptions, groups (1) and (2) obtained higher scores on all three measures. As such, these results confirm the importance of spirituality on psychological well-being, regardless of whether it is experienced through religious participation.
研究表明，宗教和精神信仰与心理健康呈正相关。然而，它们的操作定义一直存在很多混淆和争议。本研究试图对这两个概念进行区分，并根据参与者宗教参与度和精神信仰的测量水平将他们分为不同的组别。然后根据特定的幸福感衡量标准对这些组别进行评分。共从不同的宗教机构和精神聚会中招募了 205 名来自不同宗教背景和信仰群体的参与者。他们被分配到以下四个组别之一，具有以下特征：（1）宗教参与度和精神信仰程度高，（2）宗教参与度低但精神信仰程度高，（3）宗教参与度高但精神信仰程度低，以及（4）宗教参与度和精神信仰程度均低。在自我实现、生活意义和个人成长主动性这三个心理健康衡量标准上，对这些组别进行了多项比较。正如预测的那样，除了一些例外，组别（1）和（2）在所有三个衡量标准上的得分都更高。因此，这些结果证实了精神信仰对心理健康的重要性，而无论这种精神信仰是否通过宗教参与来体验。
