HIGHER levels of emotional well-being amongst people of religion reflect the lens through which they’re “seeing, interpreting, and navigating life”, a recent report by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) suggests.
“Faith works since it is a lifestyle,” it argues. “People of religion can reply to life with more optimism and courage and find greater happiness and contentment mainly due to how they view the world. Life is all the time open to more, to something greater than personal fears and circumstances.”
The report, Faith and Happiness: How religious belief shapes Britain’s emotional well-being, written by Dr Amanda Murjan and published last month, draws on a web based poll of 2068 UK adults by Whitestone Insight, in April, plus a “booster sample” of 451 Muslims and 291 Christians.
The data was weighted to be representative of all adults.
In total, Christians made up 48 per cent of the sample (42 per cent of whom said that they attended church at the very least once a month), and Muslims five per cent (of which 93 per cent said that they attended mosque at the very least once a month). In addition, ten respondents of religion were interviewed.
The poll asked a spread of questions on life satisfaction, worry and anxiety, low mood and depression, loneliness, and attitudes to mental health.
Muslims consistently reported the very best levels of life satisfaction, optimism in regards to the future, and confidence in handling life’s challenges. Eighty per cent agreed that they accepted their situation in life, compared with 60 per cent of those of no faith. Two-thirds of Muslims said that they may handle whatever life brings, compared with 48 per cent of Christian and 36 per cent of those without faith.
Drawing on interviews, the report links these responses to theological ideas in Islam, including “divine testing, growth through hardship, and the emotional regulation offered by prayer”.
A Sunni Muslim woman told the researchers: “It’s all right down to that core belief that whatever has happened, I’m being gifted with something much better . . . whatever I had, wasn’t sufficient for the following phase of my life and the following a part of my journey. . . And this makes me stronger.”
Both Christians and Muslims reported lower levels of tension, depression, and loneliness, and more positive feelings, including resilience, optimism, gratitude, and self-efficacy than those without faith.
“People of religion showed greater confidence of their personal resources to handle whatever life throws at them and were more prone to consider they’ve control over their wellbeing,” the report concludes. “This strong sense of self-efficacy was a notable and potentially vital character strength shaping wellbeing for people of religion in comparison with those without. . .
“This may stem from a way of unbreakable connection to something solid and stable that transcends life’s unpredictability and impermanence, which may strengthen personal resources to face all seasons of life. . . Feeling secure because we all know we’ve got the resources to deal with life’s unpredictability, and that we’re never alone in doing so, could also be crucial for enhancing our emotional health.”
The poll found that 81 per cent of Muslim respondents, and 78 per cent of Christians, said that they felt “in charge of their mental health”, compared with 68 per cent of non-believers.
They were also more prone to advocate the necessity for greater resilience to handle hardship in life, compared with those without faith (85 per cent of Muslims and 82 per cent of Christians, compared with 70 per cent of those without faith).
“Our interview data suggests this will stem from a view of human potential as extensive inside God’s grace, that through faith, people can develop the non-public resources needed to face whatever life brings,” the report says.
The director research on the IIFL, Dr Charlotte Littlewood, said that faith needs to be “recognised as a partner in public health”. Yet “healthy, mainstream expressions of religion, especially inside Muslim communities, are too often overshadowed in public discourse by narratives of suspicion and extremism. The data as an alternative points to a unique conclusion: that these communities are sources of emotional strength.”
