Spiritual Well-Being and the Consequential Dimension of Religiosity

Abstract

Previous studies utilizing the consequential dimension of religiosity have had mixed results, with no clear conclusion about the worth of including this dimension in studies of religious behavior. We argue for a distinction between the correlates of religiosity and the consequences of religion. To study the consequential dimension, we mailed a questionnaire to a national sample of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and obtained 1384 usable returns. Factor analysis identified seven religiosity factors, including three factors frequently studied in the past (public and private devotion and belief) and four possibly new consequential factors which we called the Beatitudes, integrity, loving service, and spiritual well-being factors. The consequential factors, especially the Beatitudes factor, are as influential as other religiosity factors in determining marital satisfaction and global happiness. Interrelationships among factors were explored. Our findings suggest a weak relationship between several measures of intrinsic religiosity, especially between the prayer factor and the consequential factors. Spiritual well-being is more closely related to extrinsic than to intrinsic religiosit~.