Religion 'linked to happy life' - BBC, Tuesday, 18 March 2008

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Religion 'linked to happy life'

BBC Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 11:56 GMT

 

A belief in God could lead to a more contented life, research

suggests.

 

Religious people are better able to cope with shocks such as losing a

job or divorce, claims the study presented to a Royal Economic

Society conference.

 

Data from thousands of Europeans revealed higher levels of " life

satisfaction " in believers.

 

However, researcher Professor Andrew Clark said other aspects of a

religious upbringing unrelated to belief may influence future

happiness.

 

What we found was that religious people were experiencing current

day rewards, rather than storing them up for the future

 

Professor Andrew Clark

Paris School of Economics

 

This is not the first study to draw links between religion and

happiness, with a belief among many psychologists that some factor in

either belief, or its observance, offering benefits.

 

Professor Clark, from the Paris School of Economics, and co-author Dr

Orsolya Lelkes from the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and

Research, used information from household surveys to analyse the

attitudes of Christians - both Catholic and Protestant - not only to

their own happiness, but also to issues such as unemployment.

 

Their findings, they said, suggested that religion could offer

a " buffer " which protected from life's disappointments.

 

Professor Clark said: " We originally started the research to work out

why some European countries had more generous unemployment benefits

than others, but our analysis suggested that religious people

suffered less psychological harm from unemployment than the non-

religious.

 

" They had higher levels of life satisfaction " .

 

Purpose of life

 

Even though churchgoers were unsurprisingly more likely to oppose

divorce, they were both less psychologically affected by marital

separation when it did happen, he said.

 

" What we found was that religious people were experiencing current

day rewards, rather than storing them up for the future. "

 

However, he said that the nature of the surveys used meant that

undetected factors, perhaps in the lifestyle or upbringing of

religious people, such as stable family life and relationships, could

be the cause of this increased satisfaction.

 

The precise contribution of religion to mental health remains

controversial, although there is other evidence that it does directly

improve happiness, said Professor Leslie Francis, from the University

of Warwick.

 

He said that the benefit might stem from the increased " purpose of

life " felt by believers.

 

He said: " These findings are consistent with other studies which

suggest that religion does have a positive effect, although there are

other views which say that religion can lead to self-doubt, and

failure, and thereby have a negative effect.

 

" The belief that religion damages people is still in the minds of

many. "

 

'Meaningless'

 

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, which

represents the interests of atheists and agnostics, said that studies

purporting to show a link between happiness and religion were " all

meaningless " .

 

" Non-believers can't just turn on a faith in order to be happy. If

you find religious claims incredible, then you won't believe them,

whatever the supposed rewards in terms of personal fulfilment.

 

" Happiness is an elusive concept, anyway - I find listening to

classical music blissful and watching football repulsive.

 

" Other people feel exactly the opposite. In the end, it comes down to

the individual and, to an extent, their genetic predispositions. "

 

But Justin Thacker, head of Theology for the Evangelical Alliance,

said that there should now be no doubt about the connection between

religious belief and happiness.

 

" There is more than one reason for this - part of it will be the

sense of community and the relationships fostered, but that doesn't

account for all of it.

 

" A large part of it is due to the meaning, purpose and value which

believing in God gives you, whereas not believing in God can leave

you without those things. "

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7302609.stm