BACKGROUND Research suggests that Chinese religious believers are more likely to commit suicide than those identifying as non-religious among rural young adults, contrary to findings in Western countries. However, one cannot conclude that religiosity is associated with elevated suicide risk without examining the effect of political and religious beliefs in a generally atheist country like China...

BACKGROUND Infertility has been shown to have considerable psychological effects on the well-being of couples, especially women. Religion has been found as a resource used by infertile women to cope with their distress. Little research has examined the influence of religious coping on psychological distress among infertile women in Ghana. This study examines the relationship between positive an...

Symbols represent information we have previously learned or experienced, but they can also serve to encourage thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with this knowledge/experience in order to maintain social cohesion (Guthrie, 1996). Pictures (e.g., American Red Cross image) representing moral rules (e.g., ‘save lives’) have been shown to influence moral decisions (Broeders, van den Box, Mu...

This article aims to open a new line of debate about religion in public schools by focusing on religious ideals. The article begins with an elucidation of the concept ‘religious ideals’ and an explanation of the notion of reasonable pluralism, in order to be able to explore the dangers and positive contributions of religious ideals and their pursuit on a liberal democratic society. We draw our ...

Religion can have an important influence in moral decision-making, and religious reminders may deter people from unethical behavior. Previous research indicated that religious contexts may increase prosocial behavior and reduce cheating. However, the perceptual-behavioral link between religious contexts and decision-making lacks thorough scientific understanding. This study adds to the current ...

In the Psychiatric Hospital "Vrapce" an investigation on a 200 patient sample was carried out in the year 2000. The purpose of the investigation was to analyze the examinees' experiences of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and religious support. 35.5% of the examinees had had previous experiences of CAM and religious support. The examinees born in towns used CAM methods and religiou...

Religious economies theory, which views religious organizations as akin to single-unit firms competing for adherents in local markets, has three shortcomings that we solve by reconceptualizing religious organizations and developing a new theory of religious mobilization. First, we treat religious organizations as multi-unit entities operating in interdependent markets in a national field. Secon...

Social psychologists are increasingly interested in the growth of irreligion, defined by Lugo (2015) as identification with no particular religious affiliation. Findings that suggest that religion is a product of evolution have influenced this social psychological research, warranting the question: If religious tendencies were strictly a product of evolution, then how does one explain the pheno...

Many studies have examined the influence on sexual attitudes and behavior of religious belief (i.e., religious denomination) or religiosity (e.g., attendance at services, subjective importance of religion). However, few studies have examined the combined effects of religion and religiosity on sexual attitudes and behavior. This study examined such effects in a representative sample of 19,307 Au...

BACKGROUND Religious participation or belief may predict better mental health but most research is American and measures of spirituality are often conflated with well-being. AIMS To examine associations between a spiritual or religious understanding of life and psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses. METHOD We analysed data collected from interviews with 7403 people who participated in the thir...