SPIRITUALITY, RELIGIOSITY AND WELL-BEING RELATIONSHIP IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: TESTING DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT VIA MEANING IN LIFE

Kremena Mineva

Abstract


The study explored the impact of religiosity and spirituality indicators on the subjective, social and psychological well-being of individuals aged 18 to 45 years both directly and indirectly through meaning in life.  A total of 199 Bulgarians took part in the study (Mage = 27.58; SD = 8.71; 82.4% females). The instruments of the study were: Brief Mental Health Continuum Short, Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity and Spirituality, Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Analyses showed that spiritual forgiveness predicted all domains of well-being and religious support predicted subjective well-being, all performing positive small effects. Meaning in life acted as full mediator in the relationship between daily spiritual experiences, religious support, forgiveness and all the domains of well-being. Meaning in life partially mediated the relationships between religious support and subjective well-being as well as between forgiveness and social well-being. The findings address that religiosity-based social support, daily transcendent experiences, and forgiving to oneself and the others promote well-being in early adulthood, and the underlying mechanism can be explained by meaning in life. Practical implications of the findings and directions for future research were discussed.


Keywords


meaning, psychological functioning, religiosity, spirituality

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37708/psyct.v17i2.990


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ISSN: 2193-7281
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