Abstract
This study reports on analyses of Jewish respondents (N = 6,056) from the 2009 Israel Social Survey. Multivariable methods were used to investigate whether religiously observant Jews have greater physical and psychological well-being. After adjustment for age and other sociodemographic correlates of religion and well-being and for a measure of Israeli Jewish religious identity (i.e., secular, traditional, religious, ultra-Orthodox), two findings stand out. First, greater Jewish religious observance is significantly associated with higher scores on indicators of self-rated health, functional health, and life satisfaction. Second, there is a gradient-like trend such that greater religiousness and life satisfaction are observed as one moves “rightward” across religious identity categories. These findings withstand adjustment for effects of all covariates, including Israeli nativity and Jewish religious identity.
Highlights
The past 20 years or so have seen a rapid expansion of empirical research on religious determinants of well-being, broadly defined, including both physical and psychological dimensions
The present study aims to address these concerns through analyses of data from a large national probability survey of the adult Israeli Jewish population conducted recently and containing three indicators of well-being and several measures assessing expressions of Jewish religious observance
Israeli nativity is significantly associated with 11 study variables, such that native-born Israelis report better well-being and are more religious, younger, proportionately more male, and better educated than immigrants
Summary
The past 20 years or so have seen a rapid expansion of empirical research on religious determinants of well-being, broadly defined, including both physical and psychological dimensions. Thousands of studies, reviews, and conceptual and theoretical papers have been published in sociology, psychology, and medical journals, and elsewhere, most pointing to a generally salutary religious influence (see [1]). This overall finding, is greatly nuanced, and has a tendency to be overstated and misinterpreted, as researchers in this field have long noted (e.g., [2]). There has been considerable research on North American samples of White Protestants, especially on the impact of regular attendance at church services, and a plethora of studies which focus on just one or another measure of global self-assessed health status or psychological well-being. Measures, and population groups have been less represented, as have studies which investigate multiple outcomes
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