And, Religion Is Good For You....

[seer]

Who knew????

A new study suggests that joining a religious group could do more for someone’s “sustained happiness” than other forms of social participation, such as volunteering, playing sports or taking a class.

A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained happiness lies in participation in religion.

“The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and an author of the study, said in a statement. “It is not clear to us how much this is about religion per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”

Researchers looked at four areas: 1) volunteering or working with a charity; 2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4) participating in a political or community organization. Of the four, participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness, researchers found.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

[shunyadragon]

Who knew????



http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

The problem here from my perspective is which religion? This could potentially include the Unitarian Universalist religion that includes atheists and agnostics.

Over the years studies have concluded that yes involvement in religious and other volunteer groups as opposed to isolation behavior of individuals not socially involved with society.

[seer]

The problem here from my perspective is which religion? This could potentially include the Unitarian Universalist religion that includes atheists and agnostics.

I'm not sure it matters. Perhaps it is as simple as the fact that religion offers a hope and peace that other social organizations or social activities can't.

[shunyadragon]

I'm not sure it matters. Perhaps it is as simple as the fact that religion offers a hope and peace that other social organizations or social activities can't.

The research project does not differentiate as to which religion offers hope and peace.

The research on prayer also found that meditation and a positive outlook on healing all had a positive effect on healing and recovery.

[Jichard]

Who knew????



http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

It's good to read the actual paper.

Social Participation and Depression in Old Age: A Fixed-Effects Analysis in 10 European Countries
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/182/2/168.full

If you do read the paper, you'll notice that the results are limited to those older than 50 years. That's relevant, since older people are more likely to be religious than are younger people. So the paper's results don't show that "Religion Is Good For You", if "You" is meant to include people under 50 years old. Furthermore, the paper doesn't show that "Religion Is Good For You", since the paper is dealing with participation in a religious organization, not religion itself. And one can participate in a religious organization, without being religious and without accepting the religious organizations's religion. For example, one can participate in a church food drive, without being Christian.

And, of course, there are other issues. For example, it's easy to claim that religion makes people happier or improves people's mental health, when non-religious people are subject to prejudice that harms their mental health. This prejudice may be more common in the US, as opposed to the the European study studied in the aforementioned paper. However, the prejudice suffered by non-religious people in the US is enough to undermine the idea that religion itself is good for one's mental health in the US, as opposes to religion just being a way of the avoiding the prejudice directed at the non-religious.

Psychological Distress Among Religious Nonbelievers: A Systematic Review
download.springer.com/static/pdf/507/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10943-011-9541-1.pdf?auth66=1401225222_f59cf7898235f1deed2bc1eba4 dfd9c9&ext=.pdf

"Studies of religious belief and psychological health are on the rise, but most overlook atheists and agnostics. We review 14 articles that examine differences between nonbelievers and believers in levels of psychological distress, and potential sources of distress among nonbelievers. Various forms of psychological distress are experienced by nonbelievers, and greater certainty in one’s belief system is associated with greater psychological health. We found one well-documented source of distress for nonbelievers: negative perceptions by others [emphasis added]. We provide recommendations for improving research on nonbelievers and suggest a model analogous to Pargament’s tripartite spiritual struggle to understand the stresses of nonbelief."

On the Receiving End: Discrimination Toward the Non-religious in the United States
tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13537903.2012.642741

"The present study examines perceived discrimination faced by religious ‘nones’. After distinguishing between atheists, agnostics, and ‘nones’ who are deists or theists, we use nationally representative data from the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) to study the contexts in which these various types of religious ‘nones’ have reported experiencing discrimination. The strongest predictor of such discrimination was not theological atheism or agnosticism but self-identifying as an atheist or agnostic when asked what one’s religion is. Context-specific predictors of discrimination are age, region of the country, rural versus urban location, parents’ religious identifications, educational attainment, ethnicity and race. Results are consistent with the view that people who hold more pronounced views are more likely to report discrimination."

[seer]

Over the years studies have concluded that yes involvement in religious and other volunteer groups as opposed to isolation behavior of individuals not socially involved with society.

Except this study compared being involved with religion with being involved in other groups, volunteer, political or community. And religion came out on top, as a matter of fact being involved in non-religious groups seems to have a long term negative effect.

The study analyzed 9,000 Europeans who were older than 50. The report that studied older Europeans also found that joining political or community organizations lost their benefits over time. In fact, the short-term benefits from those social connections often lead to depressive symptoms later on, researchers say.

Although healthier people are more likely to volunteer, the researchers found no evidence that volunteering actually leads to better mental health. Benefits could be outweighed by other negative impacts of volunteering, such as stress, Avendano said.

[Doug Shaver]

Social involvement is better for your mental health than social isolation. Nobody has said otherwise. Certain kinds of social involvement are better for your mental health than other kinds. I don't think anyone suspected otherwise about that, either.

[seer]

Social involvement is better for your mental health than social isolation. Nobody has said otherwise. Certain kinds of social involvement are better for your mental health than other kinds. I don't think anyone suspected otherwise about that, either.

Yes, and it seems that religious involvement is the best. Of course religion offers something those others don't - hope....

[Tassman]

Yes, and it seems that religious involvement is the best. Of course religion offers something those others don't - hope....

Religion can offer a sense of belonging, but it provides no substantive evidence that it's true.

[JimL]

Who knew????



http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...tudy-suggests/

So,what is your point seer? Do you mean to say that people should believe whatever it is that makes them feel good simply because it makes them feel good?

[shunyadragon]

Except this study compared being involved with religion with being involved in other groups, volunteer, political or community. And religion came out on top, as a matter of fact being involved in non-religious groups seems to have a long term negative effect.

Yes, again it does not differentiate which religion. Religions like UU are not differentiated from religions and churches like the Roman Church or Buddhism.

[seer]

So,what is your point seer? Do you mean to say that people should believe whatever it is that makes them feel good simply because it makes them feel good?

Or perhaps we were designed to be religious. And the closer you get to acting the way you were designed the happier you will be. Perhaps we need to have hope beyond this vale of tears to function correctly. Just a thought...

[shunyadragon]

Or perhaps we were designed to be religious. And the closer you get to acting the way you were designed the happier you will be. Perhaps we need to have hope beyond this vale of tears to function correctly. Just a thought...

Perhaps . . . ? Being potentially naturally religious does not logically conclude design of any sort

[JimL]

Or perhaps we were designed to be religious. And the closer you get to acting the way you were designed the happier you will be. Perhaps we need to have hope beyond this vale of tears to function correctly. Just a thought...

The article is not about belief, it is about the feel good aspect of being part of a community. With regards to the happiness factor, it doesn't matter which cult the community holds to, they all offer rewards for belief, all that matters is the community and the support it provides. Got any happiness data on isolated believers as opposed to non-believers?

[seer]

Perhaps . . . ? Being potentially naturally religious does not logically conclude design of any sort

That is why I said perhaps, and just a thought. Now Shuny, can you go haunt another thread.