Effects Of Religious Beliefs Research Articles

Do markets overcome repugnance? Muslim trade response to anti-Muhammad cartoons

What is the effect of religious beliefs on economic choices? And in light of this effect, what is the cost of free speech? After Danish newspapers published anti-Muhammad cartoons, the religious status of trade with Denmark changed exogenously in Muslim countries. Exports from Denmark to Muslim countries decreased by 31%, while close substitute countries like Finland gained export share. Final goods were more affected than intermediate goods, as were more religious Muslim countries. Denmark did not shift exports to other countries, but trade quantity rebounded in 20 months. Notably, Muslim exports to Denmark were unaffected, which is consistent with money overcoming repugnance.

How Do Religious and Political Beliefs Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Behavior Among U.S. College Students? A Study Using the Health Belief Model.

Predicting COVID-19 vaccination behavior among U.S. college students using the Health Belief Model (HBM). Cross-sectional survey. Online. A convenience sample of students in a public university in the U.S. (N = 411). Demographics; COVID-19 vaccination behavior as outcome variable; HBM variables (perceived threat of COVID-19, perceived individual benefit of vaccination, perceived community benefit of vaccination, perceived vaccine-safety barrier, perceived vaccination-cost barrier [time and effort], self-efficacy), and fear of COVID-19 as proximal predictors; religious beliefs and political beliefs as distal predictors. Questions/items measuring all variables in the survey data collection were taken from relevant and peer-reviewed publications and were modified to reflect the context of COVID-19. Structural equation modeling (SEM). The model fit the data very well (χ2/df = 2.27/5 = .45, p = .810; RMSEA = .000). Perceived individual benefit (β = .489, p < .001), perceived vaccine-safety barrier (β = -.151, p = .001), perceived vaccination-cost barrier (β = -.152, p < .001), and political beliefs (β = -.094, p = .029) are significant predictors of vaccination behavior. Effects of religious beliefs are completely, and effects of political beliefs are partially mediated by perceived individual benefit and the two barrier variables. Perceived individual benefit, the two barrier variables, and political beliefs are direct predictors, while religious beliefs are an indirect predictor, of COVID-19 vaccination behavior, suggesting that the HBM can effectively inform strategies to promote vaccination. Political beliefs are a much stronger predictor than religious beliefs. Students who are more religious or conservative tend to perceive less individual benefit and greater barriers to vaccination, making them less likely to get vaccinated. A limitation of this study is the disproportionate number of female participants (77.9%).

What it is important to know about the effect of religious beliefs on entrepreneurial intention: The case of university students

AbstractEntrepreneurial Intention (EI) is one of the dimensions most studied and validated scientifically in the literature associated with entrepreneurship. This study intends to go one step further in developing the literature by presenting little studied dimensions as direct antecedents of EI. Its aim is to analyse the influence of the dimensions of Religious Beliefs, Psychological and Cognitive Factors, and Social Influence on the EI of students in higher education institutions (HEI). Five hundred and eight questionnaires were collected from higher education students, 32% of them male and 68% female. The results show that the model proposed has good explanatory power and confirms its robustness in forecasting students' EI, validating all the research hypotheses with very robust and statistically significant factor loadings. This corroborates the scarce literature on the subject, especially concerning the influence of Religious Beliefs on EI.

The Problem of Affective Nihilism in Nietzsche: Thinking Differently, Feeling Differently

The Problem of Affective Nihilism in Nietzsche: Thinking Differently, Feeling Differently

Effect of religious beliefs on bone graft selection for oral and maxillofacial surgery in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundAs a plethora of graft materials have become available in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery to replace bony defects, there is an increased demand to understand different patients' preferences towards various graft materials and other contributing variables that led to their decision. ObjectivesTo evaluate the influence of religious beliefs on the selection of different grafts used in oral and maxillofacial surgery and to deliver a better, more specific, and individualized treatment plan considering various religious backgrounds. Material and methodsA self-administered anonymous questionnaire with a cross-sectional design was completed by 563 of 577 participants. It was a sociodemographic questionnaire concerning the acceptance and rejection of all types of bone grafts, including intraoral autografts, extraoral autografts, allografts, porcine xenografts, bovine xenografts, and alloplasts. The data included predisposing factors such as gender, age, and religion, as well as enabling factors such as education level and employment status. ResultsThe porcine xenograft (63.1%) had the highest percentage of rejection, followed by bovine xenograft (41%), allografts (13.5%), alloplasts (10.5%), extraoral autografts (6.2%), and intraoral autografts (5.7%). Xenografts were rejected due to conflicts with the participants' religious beliefs. Sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, age, education level, and employment status had no statistical influence. ConclusionXenograft selection was found to have a statistically significant relationship with religious beliefs, unlike other types of bone grafts.

The Effect of Religious Beliefs and Attitudes in Intrinsic and Extrinsic Optimism and Pessimism in Players of Games of Chance

Games of chance usually make people feel a whirlwind of emotions, especially in gambling. While those games depend more on luck than on individuals’ skills, optimism should be a distinctive feature. Considering the classic literature of the effects of religiosity on risk behaviors, the issue of the influence of religiosity on optimism in players of games of chance has been less studied, especially when we considered optimism as a multidimensional concept comprising intrinsic and extrinsic optimism and pessimism. Aims: To analyze the effect of religious beliefs and attitudes in optimism and pessimism dimensions in players of games of chance and gambling. Method: The sample consists of 271 recurring players of games of chance and gambling, who answered a questionnaire composed of measures of religious beliefs and attitudes, optimism, pessimism, and estimates of future occurrences, evidencing good psychometric properties. Results: Players are moderately religious and more optimistic than pessimistic, estimating a chance of 36% of highly unlikely desirable events. The structural model showed an overall influence of religious beliefs and attitudes higher on optimism (R2 = 44%) than on pessimism (R2 = 5%). However, the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic optimism has shown that the players anchor their optimism in different kinds of beliefs. Extrinsic desirable events, like winning the lottery, were more predicted by religious beliefs and attitudes in comparison with intrinsic desirable events. Inversely, religious beliefs and attitudes tend to predict more intrinsic pessimism in comparison with intrinsic optimism. Conclusions: Optimism is not a one-dimensional construct, should be analyzed considering the dichotomies of optimism/pessimism and intrinsic/extrinsic. In recurring players of games of chance and gambling, religious beliefs and attitudes predicted more optimism than pessimism, being more associated with extrinsic than intrinsic desirable events. More intrinsically pessimistic players seem to recur to religiosity to anchor their positive expectations.

An ethical perspective to using bone grafts in dentistry

An ethical perspective to using bone grafts in dentistry

Exploring the treatment effect of religious belief toward mental health with propensity score matching

PurposeAmong the research studies related to the relevance between religious belief and mental health, most of them highlight people with religious belief who tend to obtain mental comforting more easily. However, the research studies mentioned above were cross-sectional studies, and they only verified that religious beliefs and mental health are relevant, but they did not prove their cause-and-effect relationship. That is, they do not identify “due to people's religious beliefs, they have healthier mind” or “due to people's healthier minds, they have religious beliefs.” Therefore, the study aims to explore the benefit evaluation of religious belief affecting mental health.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses propensity score matching (PSM) and treatment effect (ATT) to carry out the causal inference between religious beliefs and mental health. First, the propensity score (PS) is calculated from the impact factors that affect people's religious belief before establishing counterfactual analysis based on the PS to analyze the effect of religious beliefs to further understand the difference of mental health index between people with religious belief and without it, and confirm the cause-and-effect relationship between them.FindingsReligious beliefs and participation are ubiquitous within and across populations. The associates between religious participation and health are considerably in great magnitude. Most of the research in the past related to religious beliefs and mental health only verified that religious beliefs and mental health are relevant but not proved its cause-and-effect relationship. This paper aimed to explore the causal relationship between religious belief and mental health. The experimental results showed religious belief has treatment effect toward “daily functioning,” “feeling affect,” “spirituality” and “mental health.” On a whole, religious belief can promote mental health.Originality/valueIn academic and practical circles, there are a lot of research studies exploring the relationship between religious belief and mental health. However, there is no research investigating the cause-and-effect relationship between religious belief and mental health. It also causes some questioning toward the relevant research studies. Therefore, the outcome of this study not only can clarify the legitimacy, importance, and practicality on the researches in the past but also provide the practical support for psychology and counseling.

Death of a child, religion, and mental health in later life

Background and Objectives The death of a child may be one of the most stressful events for parents to experience. This study aims to assess how the death of a child prior to midlife is associated with the mental health of parents in later life, and how this association is contingent upon religious belief in a divine plan. Research Design and Methods Using data from aging parents (aged 65 and older) in the six waves (2006-2016) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we conducted negative binomial regression analyses to examine the main effects of the death of a child prior to midlife on late-life depressive symptoms, and the buffering effect of religious beliefs on this main effect (N = 8,248). Growth curve modeling was used to analyze the trajectories of depressive symptoms (Obs. = 31,088). Results Experiencing the death of a child prior to midlife is positively associated with depressive symptoms among older adults. Yet, the association is mitigated among respondents who exhibit a high level of belief in a divine plan at baseline. Further, a gradual decline in the number of depressive symptoms over time was observed among the bereaved parents who reported a high level of belief in a divine plan. Discussion and Implications Belief in a divine plan has a protective effect on older adults who cope with the aftermath of child loss. The findings in the study advance our knowledge about the complex interrelationships among stress, religion, and mental health in later life.

Effect of Religious Beliefs on Bone Graft Selection for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Saudi Arabia

Effect of Religious Beliefs on Bone Graft Selection for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Saudi Arabia

Collection of Non-Timber Forest Products in Chinese Giant Panda Reserves: The Effect of Religious Beliefs

Religious belief play an irreplaceable role in the protection of natural resources. This paper explores the influence of religious beliefs on the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) collection behaviors of farmers, in order to provide new ideas on how to rationally use natural resources for nature reserves. Based on survey data of giant panda reserves in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces in China, we analyze the differences of NTFPs collection between farmers with or without religious beliefs and those with different religious beliefs. Our results show that: (i) The SUR-Probit method can be used to overcome the endogeneity problem of the model and test the causal effect between religious belief and NTFPs collection; (ii) farmers with religious beliefs collect NTFPs to a lesser extent; and (iii) the collection of NTFPs by farmers with different religious beliefs can be distinguished. The important role of religious belief in the use of natural resources has often been neglected in previous studies. In our research, we find that religious belief can indeed guide the individual choice of resource utilization behavior, to a certain extent, ultimately achieving the mutual co-ordination of ecological protection and economic development, which can also be used as a reference for policy-making.

Spiritual Aspects of Breastfeeding: A Narrative Review

Context: Although positive outcomes of breastfeeding on both mothers and infants are well documented, few studies have investigated the spiritual aspects of breastfeeding. This study conducted a narrative review of the research on spiritual and religious beliefs for breastfeeding. Evidence acquisition: All papers from 2000 to 2018 about the study subject were searched in the international databases. The measured outcome included different breastfeeding behaviors in mothers with different religions. Results: In this study, 69 related studies were reviewed and finally 9 articles were selected. One article was about the influence of breastfeeding on the spiritual status of mothers and 8 articles were about the effect of religious beliefs on different breastfeeding behaviors. Conclusion: The results of this review showed that spirituality can influence the management of breastfeeding behavior. More attention should be paid to spirituality interventions to acknowledge the high priority in breastfeeding because it may allow public health officials to more effectively promote breastfeeding policies.

Islam, institutions and entrepreneurship: evidence from Muslim populations across nations

PurposeThe paper is grounded in a comparatively unexplored but growing research interest, which seeks to explain the effect of a country’s religious composition on its economic activity. As an extension of that, this study aims to examine the relationship between Muslim populations and the prevalence of entrepreneurial activity across nations. Integrated with institutional theory, the authors also consider formal and informal institutional variables as contingency factors in this milieu. So, it further investigates if the strategic intervention of formal and informal institutions moderates the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses multi-source data sets from the association of religious data archive, global entrepreneurship monitor and the World Bank. The sample includes 88 countries for analysis, aggregated from 2012 to 2014. The ordinary least squares regression using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) Statistics Version 26 is used for the analysis.FindingsThe findings show that Muslim populations are negatively associated with the rate of new business activities in a country, including the formal type of entrepreneurship. However, further analysis reveals that Muslims entrepreneurship is actually driven by necessity and not by opportunity.Practical implicationsThe regulatory environment and entrepreneurial culture are not enough to overcome resistance toward entrepreneurship among Muslims. One possible practical recommendation is to empower religious institutions to preach a clear message supporting participation in economic activities.Social implicationsThis research sheds light on the discrepancy between Islamic religious teaching and eventual behavior of the followers.Originality/valueThis research contributes to both academics and practitioners in several ways. First, it responds to the recent call for more studies on the effect of religious beliefs toward secular organizations by providing empirical evidence on how the prevalence of Muslims in a particular country is associated with levels of entrepreneurship. Second, it adds to the theoretical understanding of the mechanism that explains the relationship between the two. As institutional theory has not been applied extensively in the study of religion and entrepreneurship, it proposes that dynamic institutions play major roles to accelerate or attenuate the effect of Islam on entrepreneurship.

Religious belief as a resilience factor in a long-term refugee setting at the Thai-Myanmar Border, Southeast Asia

Abstract Religion has always had an influence on the causal attribution of people, i.e. how is your own destiny, happiness and misfortune interpreted? Since religious belief is not static, it is strongly influenced by the experiences that sufferers have gained in their past. It therefore plays an important role in dealing with trauma and stress in humanitarian crises – especially in vulnerable populations (such as refugees) and can be a source of power in difficult times. There are systematic studies on psychological implications of trauma in the context of war and forced migration on affected populations, especially regarding the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, but the effects of religious beliefs are not well understood yet. This study examines the role of religion in the daily lives of Karen refugees in long-term refugee settings along the Thai-Myanmar border and the possible influence that religion can have on dealing with crisis situations and one's own destiny. Resilience is a factor that is easily overlooked by mental health services, especially in situations where people are dependent on third party help. Psychosocial health care should take into account the role of religious beliefs in terms of expectations and causal attribution.

A Survey of “Knowledge, Attitudes &amp; Practices” of Islamic Banking Clients: An Evidence from FATA and PATA, Pakistan

Islamic banking &amp; Finance and conventional banking are described as having the "same purpose but the essence and operations of Islamic banking are in accordance with Shariah law and have same "basic objectives" as other business and financial entities, i.e. "maximization of shareholder wealth". The speedy development of an Islamic banking system may improve financial insertion by providing an alternative to faith sensitive Muslims who are willingly excluded themselves from the system of conventional finance due to the nature of interest based. In Pakistan, the Islamic banking system eroding the growth of conventional banking so it’s worthy to explore the effect of religious belief the occurrence of a financial exclusion. The target population is from FATA and PATA maintain accounts at Islamic banks and conventional banks and a sample size of one hundred and fifty customers were picked up. The methodology focuses on the KAP Model (knowledge, attitude, practices), which indicates if attitude influences the association among “knowledge and practice” of an “Islamic banking”. Looking into KAP Analysis survey, through study result we find out that knowledge about Islamic banking and practices of Islamic banking are closely related. People having information about Islamic Banking and Products are more inclined towards Islamic Banking and people who don’t have much information are less interested in Islamic banking and Islamic products. KAP survey suggested that customers of conventional and Islamic banks are driven by the same motivating factors that have impact on their attitude. However, there have some likable factors that could be valued by “Islamic bank account holders only such as “variety of products &amp; services, reliability, confidence in bank’s management, reputation and most important compliance with the Shariah rules in finance &amp; investment.”. Low-cost services are some factors result in non-Muslims prefer Islamic Banking over the conventional banking.

The effect of religious belief on Chinese elderly health

BackgroundWith the accelerated ageing of the population in China, the health problems of elderly people have attracted much attention. Although religious belief has been shown to be a key way to improve the health of elderly people in various studies, little is known about the causal relationship between these variables in China. This paper explores the effect of religious belief on the health of elderly people in China, which will provide an important reference for China to achieve healthy ageing.MethodsBalanced panel data collected between 2012 and 2016 from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) were used. Health was assessed using self-rated health, and religious belief was measured by whether the respondents believed in a religion. The DID+PSM method was employed to solve the endogeneity problem caused by self-selection and omitted variables. In addition, the CESD score (replacing self-rated health) and different matching methods (the method of PSM after DID method) were used to perform the robustness test.ResultsThe results show that religious belief has no significant effect on the health of elderly people. With the application of different matching methods (one-to-one matching, K-nearest neighbour matching, radius matching and kernel matching) and replacing the health indicator (the CESD score) with the above matching methods, the results are still robust.ConclusionIn China, religious belief plays a limited role in promoting “healthy ageing”, and it is difficult to improve the health of elderly people only via religious belief. Therefore, except for focusing on the guidance of religion with regard to healthy lifestyles, multiple measures need to be taken to improve the health of elderly people.

The Effect of Religious Beliefs on the Publication Productivity of Countries in Circumcision: A Comprehensive Bibliometric View.

Circumcision is one of the most common surgical operations in newborns, babies, and children due to cultural, religious, and medical reasons. Religious beliefs are known to have an important role in circumcision. Although bibliometric analyses have been performed about several topics with a lot of publications in literature, no studies in the literature were found to focus on male circumcision. This study aims to make a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of circumcision and investigate the relationship between publication productivity and religious beliefs of the countries. Web of Science was utilized to obtain the documents needed for bibliometric analyses. "Circumcision" keyword was used for search. The search included studies published between 1980 and 2018. The literature review indicated that there were 3694 publications about circumcision published between 1980 and 2018. Of these publications, 1770 (47.9%) were articles. This study provided a bibliometric summary of 1770 articles. The top five active countries about circumcision were the USA, England, South Africa, Turkey, and Kenya. The present study found that the religious beliefs of a country were directly related to publication productivity about circumcision. The top-cited study was the article entitled "Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya: a randomized controlled trial" written by Bailey et al. and published in the journal of Lancet. The keyword analysis results showed that HIV was the top keyword used in all articles about circumcision. This study is believed to help researchers interested in circumcision topic to access a summary of the literature, see contemporary and more important topics, and discover new ideas about the issue.

Intergroup tolerance leads to subjective morality, which in turn is associated with (but does not lead to) reduced religiosity

Although the effect of religious belief on morally relevant behavior is well demonstrated, the reverse influence is less known. In this research, we examined the influence of morality on religious belief. In the first study, we used two samples from Turkey and the United States, and specifically tested the hypothesis that intergroup tolerance predicts a shift in meta-ethical views toward subjective morality, which in turn predicts decreased religious belief. To examine the relationship between intergroup tolerance and religiosity via subjective morality, a structural equation model (SEM) was run. SEM results yielded good fit to the data for both samples. Intergroup tolerance positively predicted subjective morality, and in turn, morality negatively predicted religiosity. The bias-corrected bootstrap analysis confirmed the mediation, indicating that the association between intergroup tolerance and religious belief was mediated via subjective morality. In Study 2, we probed for the causal relationship, and the results showed that manipulating intergroup tolerance increases subjective morality, but does not influence religiosity. Therefore, we found only partial evidence for our proposed model that tolerance causally influences subjective morality, but not religiosity.

Do Markets Overcome Repugnance? Muslim Trade Response to Anti-Muhammad Cartoons

What is the effect of religious beliefs on economic choices? And in light of this effect, what is the cost of free speech? After Danish newspapers published Anti-Muhammad cartoons, the religious status of trade with Denmark changed exogenously in Muslim countries. Exports from Denmark to Muslim countries decreased by 23%, while close substitute countries like Finland gained export share. Final goods were more affected than intermediate goods as were more religious Muslim countries. Denmark did not shift exports to other countries, but trade quantity rebounded in 20 months. Notably, Muslim exports to Denmark were unaffected, consistent with money overcoming repugnance.

The Effect of Religious Beliefs and Spirituality Training on Family Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: A religious belief and spirituality training of women can have a significant impact on various dimensions of individual and family health, including mental health and quality of life. The aim of this study was to review and summarize the results of trials conducted on the effect of religious beliefs on marital satisfaction spirituality training on mother’s health with ill children. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, at first, English databases such as Medline, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Persian databases such as SID and Magiran were systematically searched without any time limitation up to May, 2019.The search keywords including: spirituality, spiritual, children religious, religion, religiousness, religiosity, marital satisfaction, marital status and marital relationship were used in order to find related studies. Study selection was done by two reviews. Results: Totally 19 related articles were found. Meta-analysis of the combination of the results showed that religious education is the factor increasing the marital satisfaction among those who had received this education system in comparison with ones who had not. The value of effects obtained from the mentioned studies was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.11 to 1.66: heterogeneity; = 0%, p=0.634), which is statistically significant (p <0.001). Spirituality training on mothers of mothers or caregivers with ill children resulted in a significant improvement in distress level, depressive symptoms, social functioning and some of components of spiritual resiliency such as patience, contentment, reliance and thanksgiving. Conclusion: Religious belief teaching is effective on marital satisfaction. Spirituality training can significantly improve mental health of mothers with ill children.