Is religious and existential well-being important in quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese?

Publication date: Available online 2 March 2018Source: The Social Science JournalAuthor(s): Kitty ChanAbstractThe present study aims to determine the extent to which general QoL is predicted by religious and existential well-being, taking into consideration the intensity of participants’ religious and personal beliefs. Additionally, we examine the differences between Christians, believers in the Chinese religions, and those who are not religious. The study is based on the secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey on the Spiritual Well-being scale (SWBS), which encompasses religious (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). Participants (N = 445) were comprised of three religious subsamples for known group comparisons: a Chinese religions group (CRG) (n = 133), comprising Buddhism (23.1%), Taoism (5.2%), folk religions and ancestral worship (1.5%); a Christian group (n = 144) consisting of Roman Catholics (8.3%) and Protestants (24%); and non-believers (NRel) (n = 167). Regardless of their religious affiliations, QoL scores were the same in the overall sample. However, when taking the extent of religious commitment and sense of belonging into consideration, religious believers had higher scores in QoL and SWBS than non-believers (highest in Christians, followed by CRG and NRel). Hierarchical regressions showed that EWB was the only significant predictor of QoL after controlling for gender, age, and the extent of religious belief and...
Source: The Social Science Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research