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Religiosity Reduces the Negative Influence of Injustice on Subjective Well-being: A Study in 121 Nations

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Abstract

National injustice has been linked to lower national happiness. We predict that national religiosity will mitigate this negative influence of injustice on happiness. We test this hypothesis analyzing national-level data from 121 nations, using a single-level moderated regression analysis. To capture various aspects of national injustice, we combine four national measures associated with injustice, namely: indexes of group grievances, political terror, rule of law, and corruption perceptions. The results show that national religiosity has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between injustice and happiness, such that higher levels of religiosity mitigate more of the negative effects of injustice on happiness than lower levels do. The results hold when religious affiliation and indexes of economic prosperity, education, and social support are controlled for. These results indicate that people in religious cultures may successfully utilize religious faith to deal with adverse conditions.

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Notes

  1. Although data related to the United States were not available in this source, we included the United States in the analysis as a majority Christian nation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 361-763, South Korea

    Mohsen Joshanloo

  2. Department of Philosophy, Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Dan Weijers

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  1. Mohsen Joshanloo
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  2. Dan Weijers
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Correspondence to Mohsen Joshanloo.

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Joshanloo, M., Weijers, D. Religiosity Reduces the Negative Influence of Injustice on Subjective Well-being: A Study in 121 Nations. Applied Research Quality Life 11, 601–612 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9384-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9384-5

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