Today’s Goals

  • Mini review & catch up: Money & happiness
  • Understand how religion is related to SWB
  • Understand the ‘religion paradox’
  • Consider why religion (sometimes) predicts SWB

 

Mini review: Money

  • Is the correlation between money and happiness larger within or between nations?

Between nations: big differences across nations and the general happiness between individuals Correlation is definitely big

Within: between wealth and happiness not particularly large

  • Which component of SWB is most related to money (especially at high levels of money) Life satisfaction (other two are positive affect/negative affect)
  • What is materialism; how does it differ from money in relation to SWB?

Putting a lot of value in money and what money can buy you Lowers other aspects of SWB

  • In the 2 x 2 study of spending (self vs. other & $5 vs. $20), o How did groups differ in happiness?

Giving money to others compared to spending money on themselves

Didn’t matter how much was given o What were (other) participants’ forecasts?

Thought they would be happier if they got the $20 and it was spent on themselves

 

Religion & SWB: Previous Research

  • Particular religion not important to SWB o Though could consider specific teachings empirically • Participation has been associated with SWB

People who report being more religion tend to report being happier Is there one religion related to more happiness over another?

 

Diener et al. Religion Paradox

  • Is religion actually associated with SWB?

o Consider atheist critics, counter arguments

  • When/where are the benefits of religion greater?
  • Why are many in developed nations leaving religion?
  • Perhaps religion helps SWB more in difficult circumstances Also has to do with health, education, safety, etc.
  • Potential mediators: respect, support, meaning
  • Different forms of SWB o PA, NA, satisfaction (again)
  • Different religious traditions/regions

Do religions differ from another in their happiness?

  • S. as an atypical example?
  • Person-society fit (cf. extraversion)?

 

Study 1: U.S.A

  • Representative sample, nationwide
  • Survey (self-report) methods
  • Demographics, SWB, religious importance, circumstances
  • Results o Religious importance ranged 44% to 88%

o Difficult circumstances associated with religion

In difficult circumstances, religion seems to help o Difficult circumstances associated with lower SWB (as expected), but religion seemed to help o Associations stronger at state level

 

Study 2 Method

  • Gallup World Poll
  • SWB (PA, NA, Ladder)
  • Religion important?; attendance?

Questions about religion

Is religion an important part of your day-to-day life?

Do you regularly attend religious ceremonies/services?

  • Difficult circumstances (income, education, basic & safety needs)
  • Result o About 68% of world finds religion important daily o Much variation across world (99% to 16%)!
  • CANADA at 45%; below mean, below US (66%)

 

More GWP Results o Difficult circumstances associated with more religion o Stronger at nation (vs. individual) level

  • National circumstances seem to produce religiosity more than individual circumstances o Religiosity predicts lower evaluations

Of life satisfactory, positive emotions, negative emotions

Correlation – people are both more religious and less happy in specific circumstances o E.g., Togo vs. Denmark

  • BUT, this eliminated or reversed when controlling for circumstances o Thus, religion seems to be helping with bad circumstances o Religion less important in good circumstances

 

  • Potential mediators o Social support, meaning, and respect associated with religion & SWB o Similar pattern:
  • Support, respect, & SWB generally high in good circumstances (regardless) Wasn’t much of a difference in good circumstances
  • Support, respect, & SWB boosted by religion in poor circumstances

Religious people had more support and felt more respect

Amount of support received through religion depends on circumstance o Anomaly: meaning and purpose higher with religion even in good circumstances • But without the SWB gain

Happiness isn’t necessarily suffering for it

  • Person-environment (society) fit supported
  • Religious people happier in religious societies

More happiness out of it than to be religious in a non-religious place

Matter of degree

  • Not much benefit of religion in some societies
  • Different religions have similar results
  • (a few minor variations, e.g., in demographic predictors of religiosity, details not essential here)
  • Diener et al. Religion Paradox
  • Discussion o Why the anomaly with purpose & meaning? o Issues of causal direction
  • Wealth, circumstances, religion, SWB o Other, unmeasured mediators?

o General strengths & limitations of GWP