Religious practice and the meaning of life in young adults

Authors

  • María Emilia Oñate CIIPME-CONICET, UCA-Paraná.
  • Belén Mesurado CIIPME-CONICET
  • Lucas Marcelo Rodríguez CIIPME-CONICET y Facultad “Teresa de Ávila” UCA-Paraná.
  • José Moreno CIIPME-CONICET y Facultad “Teresa de Ávila” UCA-Paraná.

Keywords:

Religious practice, Purpose in life, Young Adults

Abstract

In the last decades of research in Psychology, studiesthat examine the relationship between religiosity and other psychosocial variables have increased. The religion in each of us, as a belief system, provides different patterns of behaviour, ways of understand the world, others and our selves, thus offering a purpose to the vital project. The meaning of life is a fundamental theme in psychology because it collaborates with the understanding of human nature and because it refers to the essence of existence in general and singularly in each person. In addition, having a purpose in life promotes greater well-being and positive development, as has been evidenced in various studies on young adults. The purpose of this study was to study if there is an association between religious practices and the purpose in life inyoungadults. Two scales of the Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness and Spirituality were usedto measure the frequency of religious practices and the Purpose in Life Test. These instruments were administered in a convenient sample of 122 young adults from 18 to 28 years of age, of whom 61.5% were women and 38.5% were men, from the city of Paraná, Argentina. The data demonstrate significant positive low correlation between religious practices and purpose in life, to a higher frequency of religious practices, a greater purpose in life. Comparing a group with "lower frequency of religious practices" versus a group with "higher frequency of religious practices" the result suggest a statistically significant difference between both, being that the group with "higher frequency of religious practices" presented higher scores in the Purpose in Life (PIL). These results are consistent with previous findings and contribute to the progress of research in Psychology of Religion in Argentina.

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Author Biographies

María Emilia Oñate, CIIPME-CONICET, UCA-Paraná.

Licenciada en psicología.

Belén Mesurado, CIIPME-CONICET

Doctora en psicología.

Lucas Marcelo Rodríguez, CIIPME-CONICET y Facultad “Teresa de Ávila” UCA-Paraná.

Doctor en psicología.

José Moreno, CIIPME-CONICET y Facultad “Teresa de Ávila” UCA-Paraná.

Doctor en psicología. Centro de Investigación Interdisciplinar en Valores, Integración y Desarrollo Social, Facultad “Teresa de Ávila”, UCA-Paraná y CIIPME-CONICET.

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Published

03/11/2019

How to Cite

Oñate, M. E., Mesurado, B., Rodríguez, L. M., & Moreno, J. (2019). Religious practice and the meaning of life in young adults. Revista De Psicología, 14(27), 57–68. Retrieved from https://erevistas.uca.edu.ar/index.php/RPSI/article/view/1358

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