10. Religion and wellbeing

There is a complex relationship between religion and wellbeing. Whilst religious attendance is known to be associated with positive wellbeing, some forms of religious practices place restrictions on people and are detrimental for our wellbeing. Furthermore, religious extremism is a growing social problem and social workers are mindful of its potential harmful effects.

This episode explores the relationship between religion and subjective wellbeing (defined in this study as ‘happiness’ and ‘life satisfaction’). I talk to Dr Kayonda Ngamaba, a Research Fellow in the International Centre for Mental Health Social Research at the University of York, about analysis he has conducted of the World Values Survey. The paper we discuss explores differences between religions, and accounts for differences between countries and several other factors which impact on our wellbeing. We discuss the implications for social work, primarily the importance of supporting people to make informed choices in their lives.

The full text of the paper can be accessed here:

Ngamaba, K.H., Soni, D. (2018) Are happiness and life satisfaction different across religious groups? Exploring determinants of happiness and life satisfaction. Journal of Religion and Health, 57, 2118–2139.

Credit: ‘Positive Energy’ by Scott Holmes Music is licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.