Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
1
in press/published: Journal of Happiness Studies
For the published version, see http://link.springer.com/journal/10902
Religion and Well-being: The Mediating Role of Positive Emotions
Patty Van Cappellen1, Maria Toth-Gauthier2, Vassilis Saroglou2, and Barbara L. Fredrickson1
1
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2
Université catholique de Louvain
Author Note
Patty Van Cappellen, Université catholique de Louvain (Study 1) and University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Study 2); Maria Toth-Gauthier, Université catholique de
Louvain; Vassilis Saroglou, Université catholique de Louvain; Barbara L. Fredrickson,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Patty Van
Cappellen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology, CB
3270, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
E-mail:
[email protected]
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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Abstract
Research has consistently shown that endorsing a religion or spirituality is to some extent
related to one’s well-being. Common studied explanations tap into the social and cognitive
aspects of religion and spirituality. The present research aims at understanding how religiosity
and spirituality exert their impact on well-being and investigates the role of a surprisingly
neglected mechanism: positive emotions. Two cross-sectional studies using a quantitative
approach are presented. In two different contexts (churchgoers in a European country and US
university employees interested in meditation), results showed that the relation between
religion (Study 1), spirituality (Study 2) and well-being is mediated by positive emotions.
Distinguishing between more and less relevant positive emotions in a religious/spiritual
context, it was found that the effect was mediated by self-transcendent positive emotions
(awe, gratitude, love, and peace) but not by other positive emotions (amusement and pride).
Keywords: Positive emotions, religion, spirituality, well-being, self-transcendent
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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Religion and Well-being: The Mediating Role of Positive Emotions
Among other protective factors, such as education and nationality, endorsing a religion
or spirituality has been modestly but consistently associated with higher well-being (Koenig,
2012; Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012). Religion and spirituality are multidimensional
constructs that have been variously defined. Religion involves the co-presence of beliefs,
ritualized experiences, norms, and groups connected to what people perceive as a
transcendent entity (e.g. God, Allah, Higher Power; Koenig, 2013; Saroglou, 2014).
Spirituality reflects the personal search for connection with a larger sacredness or a
transcendent entity (Piedmont, 1999). Spirituality is usually devoid of the institutionalized
aspect of religion but is not considered to be a separate construct (Koenig, 2013; Saroglou,
2014).
Research has shown a positive association between multiple indicators of
religiousness, spirituality, and valued outcomes including life satisfaction (Ellison & Fan,
2008; Salsman, Brown, Brechting, & Carlson, 2005), optimism and sense of self-worth
(Krause, 2005; Whittington & Scher, 2010), perceived meaning in life (Martos, Thege, &
Steger, 2010; Steger & Frazier, 2005), and hope (Ai, Park, Huang, Rodgers, & Tice, 2007).
The next step for researchers has been to try to understand how and why religion and
spirituality are related to well-being. Knowing the mechanisms of action is critical in order to
promote well-being within but also outside the context of religion. Studies have examined
multiple processes by which religion is theorized to affect well-being (see for a recent review
Hayward & Krause, 2014). These studies can be organized into two general categories: the
social resources of religion (identification with and support received by the religious group);
and cognitive resources of religion (mostly sense of coherence and meaning).
The social resource has been mostly studied with regard to religion’s effects on well-
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
4
being. Indeed, religion is usually more organized and institutionalized than spirituality, and as
such it provides more opportunities for social interactions and social benefits (Zinnbauer &
Pargament, 2005). Past research shows that for most people, by adhering to a specific religion
or spirituality, believers benefit from greater social integration and social support from
religious leaders and other group members (Krause & Hayward, 2014; Strawbridge, Shema,
Cohen, & Kaplan, 2001). These results of course do not reflect the ostracism specific people
or groups of people have experienced in the context of their religion (e.g. homosexuals,
Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 1992). However, the extent to which religious support alone serves
to explain the relation between religion and well-being is not clear. In 2002, George, Ellison,
and Larson reported more studies that failed than succeeded to find mediation by social
support for the religion-health link. More recent work continues to offer at best mixed support
(recently e.g., Edlund, Harris, Koenig, Han, Sullivan, Mattox, & Tang, 2010; and
Schuurmans-Stekhoven, 2013 failed; Salsman et al., 2005 succeed; see also Hayward &
Krause, 2014 for a review). Moreover, research found that the relation between religion and
health still holds when controlling for either sociability (Ellison, Gay, & Glass, 1989) or
social support (Hayward, Owen, Koenig, Steffens, & Payne, 2012; Oman, Kurata,
Strawbridge, & Cohen, 2002). This suggests that if social support is a significant mediator, it
is at least not the sole one.
The cognitive aspects of religion and spirituality have also been studied as potential
explanatory mechanisms for the link between religion/spirituality and well-being. Endorsing a
religious faith or spiritual beliefs often provides a sense of coherence and meaning that may in
turn promote greater well-being. Religion/spirituality is a meaning-making system and serves
as a way to understand the world, the self, other living beings, and their interactions (Park,
2005). This may engender perceived control and positive expectations about the future
(Levin, 2010). This assumption is bolstered by cross-sectional and longitudinal research that
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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has shown that the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and well-being is mediated by
meaning in life and perceived control (Jackson & Bergeman, 2011; Kashdan & Nezleck,
2012; Park, 2005).
Positive Emotions as Potential Mechanism
Religion and spirituality thus provide social and cognitive resources that help believers
to experience greater well-being. In addition to these two mechanisms, a third potential
mechanism has been neglected in previous empirical research: emotional resources.
In the present paper, we focused specifically on positive emotions. The study of
positive emotions is relatively recent and has been propelled by positive psychology, which is
the science of human flourishing (Gable & Haidt, 2005). Like all emotions, positive emotions
are “brief, multisystem responses to some change in the way people interpret–or appraise–
their current circumstances” (Fredrickson, 2013, p.3). When those circumstances are
appraised as good, a positive emotion arises. According to the broaden-and-build theory
(Fredrickson, 1998), which has now received ample empirical support (Fredrickson, 2013),
positive emotions broaden people’s thought-action repertoires. Over time, the recurrence of
these micro-moments of positive emotion and broadened awareness build consequential
personal resources, like optimism, conducive to higher life satisfaction (Fredrickson et al.,
2008). As such, well-being, indexed as a combination of optimism and life satisfaction, is not
synonymous with positive emotions (Cohn, Fredrickson, Brown, Mikels, Conway, 2009).
Empirical support exists for the separate pathways from religiosity/spirituality to
positive emotions, and from positive emotions to well-being. Indeed, measures of religiosity
and spirituality are positively associated with positive emotions (see Smith, Ortiz, Wiggins,
Bernard, & Dalen, 2012). Positive emotions are also an important component of religious and
spiritual practices (see Van Cappellen & Rimé, 2014). In addition, positive emotions have
been shown to increase well-being by broadening thought-action repertoires and by building
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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consequential psychological, social, and physical resources (Cohn et al., 2009; Fredrickson,
Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008; for a review of the broaden-and-build-theory of positive
emotions, see Fredrickson, 2013).
Although some authors have suggested the potential role of positive emotions in
fostering the well-being of believers (Fredrickson, 2002; and more recently Park and Slattery,
2012), they have also noted that empirical support for this claim remains only indirect. The
evidence comes mostly from research on religious and spiritual practices. Krause and
Hayward (2013) for example, found that an emotionally expressive worship style (i.e. where
members openly express their emotions during worship services) is associated with life
satisfaction. In addition, there is a growing literature on meditation, which despite being
sometimes practiced in secular contexts is here considered to be a spiritual practice because of
its Buddhist origin. Research has shown that specific meditation practices increase positive
emotions, which in turn yield positive consequences for life satisfaction and health markers
(Cohn & Fredrickson, 2010; Fredrickson et al., 2008; Kok et al., 2013). Unfortunately,
spirituality or religiosity in these studies of meditation was not reported. As such, no direct
tests of positive emotions as mediators of the relation between religiosity/spirituality and
well-being have been reported. In the two studies reported here, we address this gap and
hypothesize that positive emotions will emerge as a significant mediator of the association
between religion/spirituality and well-being.
Theoretically, all positive emotions have been related to well-being without making
distinctions or rankings among them (Fredrickson, 2013). However, further exploring this
issue, we argue that because certain positive emotions seem to be particularly relevant to
contexts of religion and spirituality (Emmons, 2005; Saroglou, Buxant, & Tilquin, 2008; Van
Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012), these emotions, compared to other positive emotions, will be
more conducive to well-being for religious people. Historical and empirical works emphasize
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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the importance within Western religion/spirituality of a series of positive emotions such as
gratitude (e.g. McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002), awe/wonder (e.g. Saroglou et al.,
2008), peacefulness (d’Aquili and Newberg, 1993), and love (e.g. Kim-Prieto & Diener,
2009). Gratitude is the emotional response toward a benefactor prompting an individual to be
prosocial (Algoe & Haidt, 2009). Awe/wonder is the emotional response to something vast
(like natural or artistic beauty) that cannot be comprehended using existing mental structures
(Haidt, 2003). Peacefulness is the emotion prompted by situations appraised as safe, with a
high degree of certainty, and with low effort (Fredrickson, 1998). Love is elicited by warm
feelings and care for another’s well-being (Fredrickson, 2013). These positive emotions have
been studied as the self-transcendent positive emotions1 (Haidt, 2003). This family of positive
emotions is “linked to the interests or welfare either of society as a whole or at least of
persons other than the judge or agent” (Haidt, 2003; p. 253; see also Algoe & Haidt, 2009;
Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner, & Mossman, 2007).
Previous research has shown that self-transcendent positive emotions are particularly
relevant for religious and spiritual experiences (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Valdesolo & Graham,
2014; or see Van Cappellen & Rimé, 2014). Indeed, induced self-transcendent positive
emotions led religious and spiritual people to endorse more religion and spirituality-related
feelings and behavioral intentions (Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012). Moreover, induced
self-transcendent positive emotions increase religious and spiritual beliefs (Saroglou et al.,
2008) through enhanced perception of the benevolence of people/the world (Van Cappellen,
Saroglou, Iweins, Piovesana, & Fredrickson, 2013, Study 2) and meaning in life (Van
Cappellen et al., 2013, Study 1), whereas induced amusement or pride produce no such
effects. Indeed, amusement and pride have more complicated relations with Western religion
1
Peacefulness does not typically appear on lists of self-transcendent positive emotions. It is actually an
infrequent target of research. However, definitions of peacefulness/serenity include elements of selftranscendence (“a mindful broadening of a person’s self-views and world views,” p. 306, Fredrickson, 1998) and
peacefulness is a very common emotion reported during self-transcendent experiences such as mystical
experiences (Spilka, Brown, & Cassidy, 1991).
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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and spirituality, being qualified respectively as frivolous and sinful (Saroglou, 2002; Williams
& DeSteno, 2009). They are also less valued by believers (Kim-Prieto & Diener, 2009;
LaMothe, 2005; Saroglou, 2002).
Experiences of self-transcendent positive emotions are not restricted to religious and
spiritual settings or to religious and spiritual people. However, they are arguably experienced
more often than other positive emotions in religious/spiritual contexts, are much-valued by
believers, and are therefore potentially more adaptive for believers (Emmons, 2005;
Fredrickson, 2002). Given that the present research explores the relation between positive
emotions and well-being in the specific contexts of religion and spirituality, an additional
hypothesis is that the self-transcendent positive emotions of awe, gratitude, love, and peace
will play a more determinant role in explaining the relation between religion/spirituality and
well-being than do the positive emotions of amusement and pride.
In the present research, we also explored negative emotions as potential mechanisms.
A possible hypothesis could be that religion and spirituality decrease negative emotions,
which in turn increases well-being. However, past research has shown that negative emotions’
effects cannot be reduced to the mere opposite of positive emotions’ effects. For example,
Fredrickson and colleagues found that increases in positive emotions following meditation
were independent of decreases in negative emotions (Fredrickson et al., 2008). In addition,
religion and spirituality are thought to increase people’s ability to cope with negative
emotions and thereby dampen their deleterious effects on well-being (Ellison & Levin, 1998).
It is therefore possible that religion and spirituality do not decrease negative emotions per se
but alter people’ responses to them. Even so, we measure negative emotions in Study 2 for
comparison purposes without formulating a specific hypothesis.
Overview of the Studies
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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In two cross-sectional studies we will test the hypotheses that positive emotions, and
in particular the self-transcendent positive emotions of awe, gratitude, love, and peace
mediate the relation between religiosity/spirituality and well-being. Each study was run in a
different cultural and religious context. Study 1 (European country) focused on churchgoers
and on what happens during the regular religious ritual (Sunday mass) that could explain its
effect on well-being. Study 2 (USA) aimed to replicate the results of Study 1 by examining
spirituality among people enacting their interest in meditation. In addition, Study 2 extends
Study 1 by investigating the role of negative emotions in the spirituality-well-being
association.
Study 1
Method
Participants and procedure.
Procedure and participants are the same as described in Van Cappellen, Saroglou, and
Toth-Gautier (in press). All relevant information is repeated here. Via five contact priests,
1240 questionnaires were distributed in 20 different Catholic parishes. The parishes were all
in the French-speaking part of Belgium and reflect the Belgian (dominant) Catholic landscape
with mostly traditional churches in small and larger villages, one parish of the Catholic
charismatic renewal, and one university parish. All questionnaires were distributed the same
day, which corresponded to a special celebration in Roman Catholic churches: the Whit
Monday. We benefited from a somewhat greater crowd because of this special celebration,
which is one day after Pentecost and memorializes the Holy Spirit’s visit to the apostles. In
addition, given that the selection of biblical texts read during the mass is based on the
calendar, this procedure ensured that all participants listened to the same selection.
Before the mass, questionnaire packets were left near the church seating. At the end of
the mass, each priest briefly explained that the study, carried out by university researchers,
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
10
was about well-being and invited their followers to complete the questionnaire, and to do so
as soon as possible after the mass. Participants were allowed to take a copy of the
questionnaire and complete it at home. They were given a postage-paid return envelope
supplied by the researchers, valid for one day after the mass. This procedure ensured that
participants did not complete the questionnaire after a future mass. Seven participants were
not taken into account in the analyses because their religious affiliation was not Christian. The
final sample was composed of 548 people (representing a 44% response rate; 55% women;
age M = 55.3, SD = 19.2).
Measures
Religiosity. Participants completed different measures of self-reported religiousness.
An index of personal religiousness (Saroglou & Munoz-Garcia, 2008) was composed of three
items measuring the importance of God in life, the importance of religion in life (7-point
Likert scales), and frequency of prayer (5-point scale: 1 = a little, for example for exceptional
moments in my life; 2 = sometimes during the year; 3 = at least once a month; 4 = every
week; and 5 = more than once a week; transformed into a 7-point scale before being averaged
with the other items). Internal consistency is above .7 which is satisfactory (Hogan, 2007): α
= .77. Church attendance was measured with one item on the same 5-point scale.
Spirituality. To measure spirituality, as a construct partly distinct from religiosity, we
used the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (Piedmont, 1999; our French translation). To keep the
length of the questionnaire reasonable, we could not use the full scale. Therefore, for the
selected subscales of Universality and Connectedness, we used the three items with the
highest factor loadings (see Piedmont, 1999, pp. 995-996). Like other studies (Van Cappellen
& Saroglou, 2012; Van Cappellen et al., 2013) we did not include the subscale Prayer
Fulfillment because it has explicitly religious content (reference to God and religious
practices such as prayer or meditation) and has been found to relate positively to traditional
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
11
religious attitudes and behaviors (Piedmont, 1999). The following items were included for
Universality: “I feel that on a higher level, all of us share a common bond,” “All life is
interconnected,” “There is a higher plane of consciousness or spirituality that binds all
people;” and for Connectedness: “Although dead, images of some of my relatives continue to
influence my current life,” “I am a link in the chain of my family’s heritage, a bridge between
past and future,” “I still have a strong emotional ties with someone who has died.” Reliability
for both subscales was satisfactory (α = .76).
Mediators: perception of the cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of religious
attendance. The measures used were purposefully developed herein to assess what is
specifically involved or experienced during the mass (see the Appendix for the full scale).
Therefore all items explicitly refer to the mass or to a specific aspect of the mass. The items
were developed by a team of three researchers whose academic trainings were in psychology,
theology, and religious studies and came from three different ethnic and religious
backgrounds. The items were developed to broadly assess participants’ perception of three
aspects of religious service attendance, defined as follows. The cognitive aspect refers to the
potential role the mass plays in the comprehension of faith and personal reflection. This scale
is composed of five items for which reliability was satisfactory (α = .85), example item: “The
mass helps me to understand the meaning of the Bible.” The social aspect refers to the
potential role the mass plays in promoting social connectedness with the parish members. It is
also composed of five items for which reliability was satisfactory (α = .84), example item:
“During the mass, I feel closer to the other believers.” Finally, the emotional aspect of the
mass refers to the positive emotions felt during the mass. We assessed six specific positive
emotions plus one more general item on emotions felt toward the beauty of the Church. Four
items measured feelings of self-transcendent emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
12
two measured other positive emotions (pride and amusement). Reliability was satisfactory (α
= .82). All scales were 7-point Likert scales.
Well-being. Well-being was assessed as a composite of two different measures: life
satisfaction and optimism. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, &
Griffin, 1985) is considered to be a component of subjective well-being (Pavot & Diener,
1993). It is a five-item measure (7-point Likert scale) intending to reflect an overall judgment
of one’s life and measure global life satisfaction. A sample item is: “In most ways my life is
close to ideal.” Cronbach’s alpha in this study was = .84. Optimism was measured through the
Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994; 5-point Likert scale,
transformed into a 7-point Likert scale for the analyses) that defines optimists as people who
have general favorable expectancies. It is a six-item plus four fillers measure. Three items are
framed positively (e.g. “In uncertain times, I expect the best”) and the other three negatively
(e.g. “If something can go wrong for me it will”). Reliability was α = .68. All two scales were
averaged to compute a single score of well-being. The two scales were positively correlated, r
= .38, p < .001.
Results
Means, standard deviations, and bivariate associations of all measures are detailed in
Table 1. For each of the three religiousness and spirituality variables (personal religiousness,
church attendance, and spirituality) multiple mediator analyses were performed on well-being
(simultaneously entering the three mediators: cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of the
mass). Three additional multiple mediator analyses were performed to further explore the
emotional aspect of the mass. In particular, the analyses explored whether self-transcendent
positive emotions more specifically mediated the relation between religion and well-being.
Age was included as a covariate in all of the analyses. As recommended by Preacher and
Hayes (2008), we used the bootstrapping method to test our multiple mediator models. This
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
13
nonparametric resampling procedure is one of the more powerful and valid methods for
testing indirect effects for a single-step multiple mediator model (see Preacher & Hayes,
2004). Importantly, given the purpose of our study, this procedure allows us to enter multiple
mediators simultaneously, and thus test the unique indirect effect of each mediator controlling
for the other mediators. It is also possible to determine, by the test of contrast, whether one
mediator accounts for more of the mediated effect than the others. All results were based on
5,000 bootstrap samples. We report data parameters and bias corrected and accelerated 95%
confidence intervals (BCa CI), using the SPSS version of the Preacher and Hayes’ (2008)
macro (“indirect”).
To be concise, we only describe the results for the religiousness scale in the text.
Results for church attendance and spirituality were largely the same and can be found in Table
2.
We tested a model with religiousness as the predictor variable, well-being as the
dependent variable, and simultaneously the three aspects of the mass (cognitive, social, and
emotional) as proposed mediators. As predicted, the total effect of religiousness on well-being
was significant (B = 0.11, SE = 0.03, p < .01), and became non-significant when controlling
for the three mediators (B = 0.01, SE = 0.04, ns.). The total indirect effect was significant,
with a point estimate of .09 and a 95% BCa CI of [.05 to .15]. The fact that the confidence
intervals excluded zero indicates a significant indirect effect. This suggests an overall
mediation effect for aspects of the mass within the association between religiousness and
well-being. A closer look at the specific indirect effect for each mediator confirmed that
emotional aspect of the mass was a significant mediator, point estimate of .06 and a 95% BCa
CI of [.01 to .12] but this was not the case for the cognitive and social aspects (respectively,
point estimates of .04, -.01 and 95% BCa CIs of [−.006 to .10], [−.06 to .03]. Contrasting the
three indirect effects revealed the indirect effect via the emotional aspect was significantly
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
14
stronger than the one via the social aspect only for when Church attendance was a predictor
(point estimate of contrast = .07, 95% BCa CI [.006, .16]).
Results from mediational analysis on the three aspects of the mass revealed that the
emotional aspect was a significant mediator between religiousness and spirituality variables
and well-being. To probe this mediator further, we tested our hypothesis that it is selftranscendent positive emotions that are at the core of the religion/spirituality - well-being
relation and not other positive emotions. We repeated the mediational analyses by
distinguishing between self-transcendent (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and other positive
emotions (pride and amusement) using the same bootstrapping method as described above.
We tested three (religiousness, church attendance, and spirituality) multiple mediator models
and, to be concise, we only describe results for the religiousness scale below. Results for
church attendance and spirituality were largely the same and can be found in Table 3.
We tested a model with religiousness as the predictor variable, well-being as the
dependent variable, and simultaneously the two groups of positive emotions (selftranscendent and other positive emotions) as proposed mediators. The total effect of
religiousness on well-being was significant (B = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p < .01), and became nonsignificant when controlling for the two mediators (B = 0.01, SE = 0.04, ns.). Furthermore, the
analyses showed that the total indirect effect was significant, with a point estimate of .09 and
a 95% BCa CI of [.04 to .15]. A closer look at the specific indirect effects indicates that only
the self-transcendent positive emotions were a significant mediator (point estimate of .09 and
95% BCa CI of [.03 to .15]). Other positive emotions did not significantly mediate, with a
point estimate of .005 and a 95% BCa CI of [−.01 to .03]. Moreover, contrasting the two
indirect effects revealed that the indirect effect via the self-transcendent positive emotions
was significantly stronger than the one via the other positive emotions (point estimate of
contrast = .08, 95% BCa CI [.02, .16]).
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
15
Discussion
Attending religious services has been shown to be one of the strongest religious
predictors of well-being (George et al., 2002). To better understand the pathways through
which religious attendance benefits well-being, Study 1 focused on believers’ self-reported
experiences during the mass and simultaneously explored the cognitive, social, and emotional
effects of attending a religious service. Results indicate that the emotional effects of the mass
mediate the religion – well-being association. More specifically, confirming our hypothesis, a
closer look at positive emotions revealed that only self-transcendent positive emotions of awe,
gratitude, love, and peace were significant mediators, not other positive emotions of pride and
amusement. This study provides the first piece of empirical evidence that positive emotions
are one way through which religion is beneficial for well-being.
In the full model tested, the social and cognitive effects of the mass were not
significant mediators. Two explanations are possible for this null result. First, social as well as
cognitive aspects of religion have sometimes been shown to be a significant mechanism in
studies globally comparing religious with non-religious people. As in the present study our
sample was exclusively composed of religious church attendees, the social and cognitive
aspects of the mass may not be discriminating constructs within this population. Second, in
past work, social and cognitive aspects of religion have been found to be significant mediators
when measured independently (e.g. Greenfield & Marks, 2007; Jackson & Bergeman, 2011).
In the present study, we controlled for the presence of positive emotions and the inclusion of
this additional mediator may account for the drop in significance for the social and cognitive
aspects. Indeed, running a model with the social mediator alone yielded a significant
mediation (point estimate of .05 and 95% BCa CI of [.02 to .09]). The same applies for the
cognitive mediator: point estimate of .07 and 95% BCa CI of [.03 to .13]. It is possible that
the “social” and “cognitive” active ingredients identified in previous literature overlap with,
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
16
or are influenced by the emotional aspects measured in this study. For example, social
interaction is known to increase positive emotions (Catalino & Fredrickson, 2011) and
positive emotions are known to increase people’s social resources (Fredrickson, 2013).
Therefore, controlling for these other aspects may reduce the likelihood for the social aspect
to be a significant independent mediator.
A limitation of Study 1 is that it took place in a specific religious setting, namely Belgian
Catholic parishes, and may not generalize to other religions. In addition, the mediators in the
present study specifically asked about participants’ experience during the mass. This is a
strength of the present work that attempted to explore the question of why attending regular
religious rituals is beneficial for an individual’s well-being, but it is also a limitation in terms
of generalizability. We therefore must be circumscribed in our conclusions. Another
limitation of Study 1 is that negative emotions were not measured. Study 2 addresses this
limitation and thereby provides a more global picture of the effect of emotions on believers’
well-being. A final limitation of Study 1 is that there was a brief mention that the research
was about well-being, which could potentially create demand effects. Nonetheless, both
longitudinal and experimental research clarifies that the religion-well-being link is not an
artifact of demand characteristics (Koenig, 2012).
Study 2
We used archival data from a larger study (see primary results in Kok et al., 2013) to provide
a conceptual replication of Study 1 that self-transcendent positive emotions mediate the
spirituality-well-being association. Study 2 extends Study 1 by targeting a different sample,
specifically, US university employees enacting their interests in meditation, and by assessing
both positive and negative emotions.
Method
Participants and procedure.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
17
Participants were faculty and staff of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
recruited for a larger longitudinal study on meditation conducted by researchers from that
University. We drew on baseline assessments of the variables of interest: positive and
negative emotions, well-being, and spirituality. A total of 71 participants consented to
participate (66% were female, Age M = 39.7, SD = 13.03). The majority was White (88.7%).
Measures.
Spirituality. Fifteen of the 20 items of the Self-transcendence Scale (mysticism items
were not assessed) from the Temperament Character Inventory were used to measure
spirituality (see Kluger, Chu, Liston, Sieger, & Williams, 2004; for the full version of the TCI
see Cloninger, Przybeck, Svrakic, & Wetzel, 1994). The scale taps into feelings of oneness
and unity with all life, and into the ability to be immersed in the moment. Sample items are: “I
often feel a strong sense of unity with all the things around me;” “Often when I look at an
ordinary thing, something wonderful happens. I get the feeling that I am seeing it fresh for the
first time;” “I often feel a strong spiritual or emotional connection with all the people around
me.” Participants rated statements using a 1 to 7 Likert-scale from disagree strongly to agree
strongly. Internal reliability was satisfactory, α = .85.
Emotions. The modified Differential Emotions Scale was used to assess positive and
negative emotions (mDES; Fredrickson, Tugade, Waugh, & Larkin, 2003; Fredrickson,
2013). Participants rated daily their strongest experiences of nine positive emotions (i.e.,
amusement, awe, gratitude, hope, interest, joy, love, pride, and peace) and 11 negative
emotions (i.e., anger, boredom, contempt, disgust, embarrassment, fear, guilt, hatred, sadness,
shame, and stress) in the past day on a 5-point scale (1 = not at all to 5 = extremely). We used
an average of their first week of baseline ratings. We used the same emotions as in Study 1 to
compute scores for self-transcendent positive emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and
for the other positive emotions (pride and amusement).
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
18
Well-being. As in Study 1, well-being was assessed through two measures: life
satisfaction and optimism using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985;
Cronbach’s alpha in this study was = .87) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier et
al., 1994; α = .73). The two scales were positively correlated, r = .64, p < .001.
Results
Means, standard deviations, and bivariate associations of all measures are detailed in
Table 4. As in Study 1, we used the “indirect” macro from Preacher and Hayes (2008) for all
the analyses. We used bootstrap analyses to test the effect of spirituality on well-being
through positive emotions (see Figure 3). As predicted, the total effect of spirituality on wellbeing was significant (B = 0.33, SE = 0.11, p < .01), and became non-significant when
controlling for positive emotions (B = 0.19, SE = 0.10, ns.). Furthermore, the analyses showed
that the total indirect effect was significant, with a point estimate of .14 and a 90% BCa CI of
[.01 to .28]. Performing the same analyses with negative emotions as the mediator did not
yield significant results (total indirect effect point estimate = .03, 90% BCa CI [-.01 to .10].
Then, using the same emotions as in Study 1, we computed a score for selftranscendent positive emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and one for the other positive
emotions (pride and amusement). We tested a model with spirituality as the predictor variable,
well-being as the dependent variable, and simultaneously the two groups of positive emotions
(self-transcendent and other) as proposed mediators. As predicted the total effect of
spirituality on well-being was significant (B = 0.33, SE = 0.11, p < .01), and became nonsignificant when controlling for the two mediators (B = 0.19, SE = 0.10, ns.). Furthermore, the
analyses showed that the total indirect effect was significant, with a point estimate of .14 and
a 90% BCa CI of [.01 to .28]. A closer look at the specific indirect effects indicates that only
the self-transcendent positive emotions were a significant mediator (point estimate of .12 and
90% BCa CI of [.02 to .29]). This was not the case for the other positive emotions with a
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
19
point estimate of .02 and a 90% BCa CI of [−.05 to .15]. The contrast between the two
indirect effects was not significant (point estimate of contrast = .10, 90% BCa CI [-.03, .37]).
Discussion
Positive emotions – and more specifically self-transcendent positive emotions – are a
significant mediator of the relation between spirituality and well-being. Study 2 replicated the
findings of Study 1 using a different population and a different measure of spirituality.
Although the use of a different measure of spirituality prevents from showing an exact
replication of Study 1’s results, it is noteworthy that the findings are not restricted to a
specific measure of spirituality. A limitation of the present result is that the mediation
analyses were significant when using a 90%, rather than a 95% BCa interval. In addition,
despite that only the pathway through self-transcendent positive emotions is significant and
not the one through other positive emotions, the contrast between the indirect effects was not
significant. We suggest that these differences are due to the lower number of participants in
this study (n = 71) than in Study 1 (n = 548). Extending Study 1, Study 2 found that negative
emotions were not a significant mediator of the spirituality-well-being association.
General Discussion
Why are religion/spirituality and well-being related? The goal of the present studies
was to investigate the role of positive emotions in understanding the relation between
religion/spirituality and well-being, a role that has been surprisingly neglected in past
research. More specifically, we hypothesized that a category of positive emotions, selftranscendent positive emotions of awe, gratitude, love, and peace, that is particularly relevant
and valued in the context of religion and spirituality would be apt to explain the relation
between religion and well-being over and above other positive emotions, amusement and
pride. We tested these hypotheses in two studies with different samples (churchgoers and
middle-aged university employees interested in meditation) from different countries (Belgium
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
20
and the US). As Church attendance is, among the various religious variables, one of the most
important predictors of well-being, Study 1 focused on churchgoers and their experience
during their regular religious ritual, the mass. Results showed that self-transcendent positive
emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) partially explained the relation between religion
and well-being over and above other positive emotions (amusement and pride). Study 2
replicated these findings among adults with an interest in meditation. Results showed that
again, the relation between spirituality and well-being is partially explained by higher positive
emotions, and more specifically, by higher self-transcendent positive emotions. However,
negative emotions, measured in Study 2, did not play a significant role in explaining the
spirituality-well-being relation.
Religion and spirituality are a fertile ground for the experience of positive emotions
(Van Cappellen and Rimé, 2014). Through their involvement in religious and spiritual
practices, believers may experience positive emotions on a weekly or even daily basis. This
frequency may be crucial because the broaden effect of positive emotions accumulates and
compounds over time to build consequential personal and social resources (Fredrickson,
2013). The present cross-sectional findings may thus reflect the accumulation and repetition
of religious and spiritual experiences.
Understanding the mechanisms by which religion/spirituality exert their impact on
well-being is important because it can inform future interventions that seek to improve wellbeing within or outside of a religious context. In religious contexts, these findings underscore
that the degree, and type (and likely frequency) of positive emotions felt are not trivial but
rather can improve believers’ well-being. Importantly, however, self-transcendent positive
emotions are not restricted to the religious or spiritual domain. Although awe, gratitude, love,
and peace, are particularly elicited in the religious and spiritual domain, these emotions also
occur outside of that context and among non-religious people. For example, these emotions
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
21
have been discussed in literature on peak experiences (Maslow, 1964), flow
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), or chaironic happiness (Wong, 2011). This means that the link
between religion/spirituality and well-being is at least partially explained by a mechanism that
is not restricted to religious and spiritual people/settings. However, religion and spirituality
may be protective factors for well-being because they have a unique footing for creating these
self-transcendent positive emotions. Many characteristics of religion and spirituality are
powerful elicitors of such positive emotions, such as the monumental architecture of churches
and religious buildings that promotes awe (Joye & Verpooten, 2013), or religious and spiritual
collective practices that create amplified collective emotions (i.e. emotional effervescence à la
Durkheim, 1968). An interesting question is whether nonbelievers may also reap some of the
benefits of religion and spirituality without turning to religion or spirituality, so long as they
find reliable sources of awe, gratitude, love, and peace in their daily lives. Another interesting
question is whether self-transcendent positive emotions may be more conducive to well-being
than other positive emotions even for non-religious and spiritual people. All positive emotions
broaden and build (see Broaden-and-Build theory, Fredrickson, 2013) but it is possible that
some of them allow for greater benefits in terms of well-being. Given that self-transcendent
positive emotions are not focused on the self and promote prosocial behaviors, they might be
particularly apt at promoting well-being through feedback loops (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010).
We do not, however, suggest that positive emotions are the sole mechanism by which
religion and spirituality affect well-being. Despite that in Study 1 the cognitive and social
aspects of the Mass measured were not independent significant mediators, other more specific
measures of these aspects may reveal unique influences on well-being. In addition, positive
emotions not investigated here may also account for the religion-well-being relation, such as
admiration, elevation (the emotional response to moral beauty), or inspiration, which have
been shown to be relevant for spirituality (Thrash & Elliot, 2004; Van Cappellen et al., 2013).
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
22
However, the distinction between positive and negative emotions is not that clear-cut. Selftranscendent emotions sometimes include a small negative component such as fear for awe, or
sadness (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Saroglou et al., 2008) that despite being marginal might be
worth looking at more deeply. Indeed, some research has shown that mixed emotions are
related to less health decline (Hershfield, Scheibe, Sims, & Carstensen, 2013). It is also
possible that different mechanisms account for the religion-well-being association than for the
spirituality-well-being association. In keeping with past research, we did not hypothesize or
find that religiosity or spirituality, as measured here, relate differently to well-being or
positive emotions. However, at least one study has found that measures tapping more specific
aspects of spirituality, for example spiritual perceptions, were related differently to well-being
than religious participation was (Greenfield, Vaillant, & Marks, 2009). Additional research
should therefore investigate whether specific aspects of religion and spirituality relate to wellbeing in distinct ways. Future research should also include additional measures to test
competing theories. For example, it has recently been found that when virtue (e.g. kindness)
was included along spirituality in multiple regressions, spirituality became negatively related
to well-being (Schuurmans-Stekhoven, 2011). Future research should continue to investigate
the psychological aspects of spirituality and religion that are beneficial for people’s wellbeing. Finally, given positive emotions’ role in promoting physical health (Kok et al., 2013;
Pressman & Cohen, 2005; Steptoe, Wardle, & Marmot, 2005), future research should
investigate whether positive emotions may also explain the relation between
religion/spirituality and physical health.
We also do not suggest that religion and spirituality are always a good thing. Religions
can also foster negative emotions, such as guilt, in their adherents (Maltby, 2005). In difficult
times, religion and spirituality can also be used as a negative coping strategy (e.g., feeling
abandoned or punished by God or being angry at God), which is related to poorer health
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
23
outcomes (Pargament, 2001). Finally, religions are also related to prejudice and antisocial
behaviors (Johnson, Rowatt, LaBouff, 2010; Saroglou, Corneille, & Van Cappellen, 2009).
These findings show that religion’s beneficial effects are limited and provide important
nuances to the present findings.
A limit of the present work is that, as other researchers have also found, correlations
between religiousness/spirituality and well-being were of small size (Cohen, 1988). A metaanalysis has estimated an average effect of r = 0.10 between religiosity and general
psychological well-being (Hackney & Sander, 2003). Although small, the effects are
consistent across a large number of studies using a variety of methodology and design
(George et al., 2002; Koenig et al., 2012) and therefore are not negligible.
Another limit of the present work is that it is cross-sectional. In our models we
assumed that religiosity or spirituality led to greater well-being through positive emotions.
Indeed, this direction of causality represents the dominant view within the religion and wellbeing literature and has been supported by longitudinal research (see Kashdan & Nezleck,
2012; Park and Slattery, 2012). However, it remains possible that greater well-being increases
religiosity and spirituality through positive emotions. Indeed, causal influence need not be
unidirectional: Positive emotions, in particular, have been shown to operate within
frameworks of reciprocal causality indicative of a positive self-reinforcing process (Garland,
Gaylord, & Fredrickson, 2011; Kok & Fredrickson, 2010). Future work with longitudinal
designs is necessary to pinpoint causal direction(s). Theoretically, we anticipate reciprocal
relations between religion/spirituality and well-being, with positive emotions serving as
mediators in both cases. For instance, religious/spiritual practices promote positive emotions
(e.g. Fredrickson et al., 2008; Lambert, Fincham, Braithwaite, Graham, & Beach, 2009),
mostly self-transcendent ones (Emmons, 2005), which in turn benefit well-being. In addition,
feeling good about one’s life and one’s future can lead to increased religious and spiritual
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
24
beliefs potentially through the greater openness and enhanced energy to participate in relevant
practices that positive emotions may spark. The work of King and colleagues (2006) supports
the latter view by showing that positive emotions promote people’s experiences of meaning.
In addition, induced feelings of self-transcendent positive emotions of awe, elevation, and
admiration have been shown to increase report of religiosity and spirituality (Saroglou et al.,
2008; Valdesolo & Graham, 2014; Van Cappellen et al., 2013; see Park and Slattery, 2012 for
a similar reciprocal model that ties the concepts of religiousness/spirituality, emotions, and
health).
To conclude, the two studies reported here add to a large body of evidence that shows
that endorsing religious or spiritual beliefs is positively related to well-being. Critically,
moving beyond this general effect to understand its mechanisms, we investigated positive
emotions as one pathway through which religion and spirituality may exert their beneficial
effects on well-being. Surprisingly, given the important role of positive emotions in
promoting well-being and health, they have been largely neglected in past empirical research
that has targeted mediating mechanisms. Results confirmed that positive emotions –
especially the self-transcendent positive emotions of awe, gratitude, love, and peace that are
especially valued within religious and spiritual contexts – partially explain why religion and
spirituality are beneficial for people’s psychological well-being.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
25
Acknowledgment
Study 1was supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from the National Fund for Scientific
Research, Belgium to Patty Van Cappellen. Study 2 was supported by National Institute of
Mental Health Grant MH59615 to Barbara L. Fredrickson. The new analyses for Study 2 were
rendered possible by a travel grant awarded by the National Fund for Scientific Research,
Belgium FNRS; Excellence travel grant awarded by WBI-world; FSR travel grant for
postdoctoral research by Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium to Patty Van Cappellen.
Part of the data is published in Van Cappellen, Saroglou, and Toth-Gautier (in press).
Part of Study 2 data is published in Kok, Coffey, Cohn, Catalino, Vacharkulksemsuk,
Algoe, Brantley, and Fredrickson (2013).
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
26
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Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
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Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations for all Measures (Study 1)
Variable
M
SD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1. Age
55.3
19.2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2. Religiousness
6.2
1.1
-.01
-
-
-
-
-
-
3. Church Attendance
4
0.9
.06
.48***
-
-
-
-
-
4. Spirituality
5.1
1.2
.14**
.23***
.10*
-
-
-
-
5. Cognitive (mass)
5.5
1.2
-.11**
.43***
.30***
.38***
-
-
-
6. Emotional (mass)
4.7
1.2
-.16***
.47***
.31***
.39***
.69***
-
-
- Self-transcendent
5.3
1.3
-.16***
.54***
.31***
.36***
.70***
- Other
3.4
1.5
-.15**
.24***
.19***
.24***
.40***
7. Social (mass)
5.3
1.1
.10*
.44***
.36***
.36***
.59***
.63***
-
.59***
.46***
8. Well-being
5
0.9
-.12**
.14**
.15**
.17***
.24***
.26***
.25***
.16***
*p < .05. ** p < .01. *** < .001.
.15**
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
37
Table 2
Bootstrapped Multiple Mediator Models for Religiousness, Church Attendance, and
Spirituality as Predictors and Well-being as Outcome (Study 1)
Specific Indirect Effects
Outcome
Predictors
Direct
Indirect
Total
Emotional
Cognitive
Social
Contrast
Effect
Effect
Indirect
Emotion
(c)
(c’)
Effect (c-
/ Social
c’)
Well-being
Religiousness
Church
.11**
.15***
.01
.08
Attendance
Spirituality
.14***
.07
.09;
.06;
.04;
-.01;
.07;
[.05 to
[.01 to
[-.01 to
[-.06 to
[-.004 to
.15]
.12]
.10]
.03]
.16]
.07;
.05;
.03;
-.02;
.07;
[.03 to
[.01 to
[-.007 to
[-.07 to
[.006 to
.12]
.11]
.09]
.03]
.16]
.07;
.05;
.03;
-.01;
.06;
[.04 to
[.01 to
[-.01 to
[-.05 to
[-.0004
.11]
.10]
.08]
.02]
to .13]
Notes. Numbers provided for direct and indirect effect are unstandardized regression coefficients.
Numbers provided in the other columns are point estimates and in brackets 95% BCa CI.
** p < .01. *** < .001.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
38
Table 3
Bootstrapped Multiple Mediator Models for Religiousness, Church Attendance, and
Spirituality as Predictors, Well-being as Outcome and Focus on Positive Emotions as
Mediators (Study 1)
Specific Indirect Effects
Outcome
Well-
Predictors
Religiousness
Direct
Indirect
Total
Self-
Other Positive
Effect
Effect
Indirect
transcendent
Emotions
(c)
(c’)
Effect (c-
Positive
c’)
Emotions
.09;
.09;
.01;
.08;
[.04 to .15]
[.03 to .15]
[-.01 to .03]
[.02 to .16]
.06;
.06;
.003;
.06;
[.03 to .11]
[.03 to .11]
[-.02 to .02]
[.01 to .12]
.06;
.05;
.006;
.04;
[.03 to .09]
[.02 to .09]
[-.01 to .03]
[.001 to .09]
.10**
.01
being
Church
.14**
.08
Attendance
Spirituality
.13***
.08*
Contrast
Notes. Numbers provided for direct and indirect effect are unstandardized regression coefficients.
Numbers provided in the other columns are point estimates and in brackets 95% BCa CI.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** < .001.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
Table 4
Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations for all Measures (Study 2)
Variable
M
SD
1
2
3
1. Spirituality
4.1
1.0
-
-
-
2. Positive Emotions
2.9
0.7
.30*
-
-
- Self-transcendent
2.8
0.8
.30*
- Other
2.8
0.7
.30*
1.8
0.5
-.12
-.13
-
3. Negative Emotions
-.11
-.11
4. Well-being
4.1
1.0
.39**
.50***
.47***
.48***
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** < .001.
-.38**
39
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
40
Positive Emotions
.50***
.45***
Religiousness
.13*
Cognition
.10*
Well-being
.15*** (.04)
.45***
Social
-.02
Figure 1. Multiple mediation of the effect of religiousness on well-being through the positive
emotions, cognitive and social effects of the mass (Study 1). Numbers on paths represent
unstandardized regression coefficients. *p<.05; **p<.01.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
.62***
Religiousness
Self-transcendent
Positive Emotions
.14***
Well-being
.23*** (.04)
.32***
Other Positive
Emotions
41
.02
Figure 2. Multiple mediation of the effect of religiousness on well-being through self-transcendent
positive emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and other positive emotions (pride and amusement)
(Study 1). Numbers on paths represent unstandardized regression coefficients. *p<.05; **p<.01;
***p<.001.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
.21*
Spirituality
Positive Emotions
.33** (.19)
.64***
Well-being
Figure 3. Mediation of the effect of spirituality on well-being through positive emotions (Study 2).
Numbers on paths represent unstandardized regression coefficients. *p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001
42
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
.22*
Spirituality
Self-transcendent
Positive Emotions
.54*
Well-being
.33** (.19)
.21*
Other Positive
Emotions
43
.09
Figure 4. Multiple mediation of the effect of spirituality on well-being through self-transcendent
positive emotions (awe, gratitude, love, and peace) and other positive emotions (pride and amusement)
(Study 2). Numbers on paths represent unstandardized regression coefficients. *p<.05; **p<.01.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
44
Appendix
Perception of the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Aspects of Religious Attendance (English
translation and original French items).
Cognitive aspect:
The mass helps me to understand the truths about faith.
La messe m’aide à comprendre les vérités de la foi.
The mass helps me to understand the meaning of the Bible.
La messe m’aide à comprendre le sens de la Bible.
The mass helps in my personal reflection.
La messe m’aide dans ma réflexion personnelle.
I particularly appreciate the homily because the ideas developed allow me to think.
J’apprécie particulièrement l’homélie, car les idées qui y sont développées me
permettent de réfléchir.
I particularly appreciate the biblical texts reading because it helps me in my personal
reflection.
J’apprécie particulièrement la lecture des textes bibliques, car elle m’aide dans ma
réflexion personnelle.
Social aspect:
The mass allows me to be a part of the great family of believers.
La messe me permet de faire partie de la grande famille des croyants.
During the mass, I feel that I maintain strong bonds with the members of my parish.
Durant la messe, je sens que j’entretiens des liens forts avec les membres de ma
paroisse.
During the mass, I feel closer to the other believers.
Durant la messe, je me sens plus proche des autres croyants.
I particularly appreciate the moment when we all say the Our Father because I feel that we all
belong to one great family.
J’apprécie particulièrement le moment où nous disons tous le Notre Père car je sens
que nous appartenons à une même grande famille.
I particularly appreciate collective gestures and speeches because they allow me to feel closer
to others.
J’apprécie particulièrement les gestes et les paroles collectifs, car ils me permettent de
me sentir proche des autres.
Emotional aspect:
During the mass, I feel gratitude.
Durant la messe, je ressens de la gratitude.
During the mass, I feel love.
Durant la messe, je ressens de l’amour.
During the mass, I feel peace.
Durant la messe, je ressens de l’apaisement.
During the mass, I feel awe.
Durant la messe, je ressens de l’émerveillement.
During the mass, I feel pride.
Durant la messe, je ressens de la fierté.
During the mass, I feel amusement.
Durant la messe, je ressens de l’amusement.
Running head: RELIGION, WELL-BEING, AND POSITIVE EMOTIONS
45
I particularly appreciate the beauty of the church and the emotions I feel when I contemplate
it.
J’apprécie particulièrement la beauté de l’Église et les émotions que je ressens en la
contemplant.