Abstract
Durkheim argued that religion’s emphasis on the supernatural combined with its unique ability to foster strong collective bonds lent it power to confer distinctive social benefits. Subsequent research has confirmed these propositions with respect to religion and mental health. At the same time, meditation has been linked to mental health benefits in intervention-based studies. Our investigation offers a unique test of two comparable inhibitors of anxiety-related symptoms in the general population, namely, prayer versus meditation. Using data from the 2010 wave of the Baylor Religion Survey, we find that frequent communal prayer is correlated with an increased incidence of anxiety-related symptoms whereas worship service attendance is negatively associated with reported anxiety. Attendance also combines with communal prayer to yield anxiety-reducing benefits. Meditation, measured as a dichotomous indicator, is unrelated to reported anxiety in our sample of American adults. Our study underscores the selective efficacy of collective forms of religious expression, and points to several promising directions for future research.
Highlights
For several decades social scientists have recognized the mental health benefits associated with religiosity
Formal religious participation has been shown to have different effects on mental health than spiritual perceptions, and important distinctions have been drawn between religion and spirituality (Ellison and Fan 2008; Greenfield et al 2009; see Hill and Pargament 2008)
We develop an omnibus measure of anxiety-related symptomology, and this construct exhibits excellent internal reliability
Summary
Social scientists have recognized the mental health benefits associated with religiosity (see Bonelli and Koenig 2013; Koenig 1993, 2009, 2015; Moreira-Almeida et al 2006; Schieman et al 2013; Unterrainer et al 2014 for reviews). Religion’s positive association with robust mental health is, in one sense, explainable by the role of religious beliefs in providing comfort, in times of distress (Moreira-Almeida et al 2006). Religious networks cultivated through attendance at worship services, prayer groups, and scripture study fellowships can serve as a structural vehicle for the dissemination of essential coping strategies (Krause et al 2001). Such coping strategies may entail guidance on the nature, tenor, and substance of prayer, among other aspects of religious life. Formal religious participation has been shown to have different effects on mental health than spiritual perceptions, and important distinctions have been drawn between religion and spirituality (Ellison and Fan 2008; Greenfield et al 2009; see Hill and Pargament 2008)
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