What Is Religion?

Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to belief and worship of a controlling force such as a personal God or another supernatural being. While this is a basic definition, there are many different understandings of what religion is and not all religions are centered on a belief in a god, gods, or supernatural forces.

Religion often involves cultural beliefs, worldviews, texts, prophecies, revelations, and morals that have spiritual meaning to members of the particular faith, and it can encompass a range of practices including sermons, rituals, prayer, meditation, holy places, symbols, trances, and feasts.

The famed psychologist Sigmund Freud described religion as a form of wish fulfillment. However, modern psychology recognizes that religion can play an important role in an individual's life and experiences and can even improve health and well-being. In fact, studies have shown that religion can help people develop healthy habits, regulate their behaviors, and understand their emotions—all factors that can affect your health.﻿﻿

According to an estimate by the Pew Research Center, 84% of the world's population has some type of religious affiliation.﻿﻿

Types of Religion

There are many different types of religions, including the major world religious traditions that are widely known as well as much lesser-known belief systems of smaller populations. Some of these represent monotheism or the belief in a single god while others are examples of polytheism or the belief in multiple gods.

Some of the types of religions include but are certainly not limited to:

Baha'i

Buddhism

Christianity

Confucianism

Hinduism

Indigenous American religions

Islam

Jainism

Judaism

Rastafarianism

Shinto

Sikhism

Taoism

Traditional African religions

Zoroastrianism

Related to religion, animism is the belief in divine non-human beings, while totemism involves the belief in a divine connection between humans and the natural world. On the other end of the religious spectrum is atheism, which involves a belief in no god or gods, and agnosticism, which holds that the existence of god or gods is unknown or unknowable.

Purpose of Religion

Religion can serve a wide range of purposes. Religion can be a source of comfort and guidance. It can provide a basis for moral beliefs and behaviors. It can also provide a sense of community and connection to tradition. Some research even suggests that it may have an effect on health.

The impact of religion on health and life expectancy has always been a tricky area of research. It seems (to some) that religious people—defined here as people who go to religious services regularly—seem to be healthier than those who don't attend.

This has led to a line of research looking into the impact of religion on health to determine what, if any, positive benefit religion could have on life expectancy. This research is tricky, however, because of several factors that are difficult to control for, including:

People who attend religious services may simply be healthier than those who cannot attend.

The benefits may have more to do with social contact than religion itself.

Certain religions may encourage behaviors that are healthy.

As researchers look into the impact of religion, all these factors must be considered along with the possibility that religion itself influences health.

Impact of Religion

Religion can contribute to a sense of community, provide support, and offer guidance. It has also been shown to have an impact on both physical and mental health.

Religion and Physical Health

A study of more than 92,000 participants from the Women's Health Initiative found that women aged 50 and up were 20% less likely to die in any given year if they attended religious services weekly (15% reduction if they attended less than weekly) compared to those who never attend religious services.﻿﻿

This analysis was controlled for age, ethnicity, income level, and most importantly, current health status. The data was collected through surveys and an annual review of medical records.

What was interesting was that the religion effect applied to the overall risk of death, but not to the risk of death from heart conditions. There is no explanation for why that may have been.

The fact that the study controlled for overall health status makes it more possible that attending religious services has a positive impact on health (not just that healthier people go to services more often).

Another study also found a health-related benefit of attending religious services, this time expressed in added years of life.﻿﻿ Researchers have found that weekly attendance at religious services is associated with two to three additional years of life. These findings were controlled for other factors such as the amount of physical exercise and taking statin-type cholesterol medications.

The same study also examined the costs of physical exercise, statin-type drugs, and religious attendance. Physical exercise was the most cost-efficient way to add years to your life, followed by weekly religious attendance and statin-type drugs.

Years of Added Life Expectancy Religion: 2 to 3 additional years

Exercise: 3 to 5 additional years

Statin-type drugs: 2.5 to 3.5 additional years Cost Per Year Religion: $2,000 to $14,000 (donations and contributions)

Exercise: $2,000 to $6,000 (gym memberships, equipment, etc.)

Statin-type drugs: $4,000 to $14,000

Religion and Mental Health

Religion can also influence mental health in both positive and negative ways. Religion can serve as a source of comfort and strength when people are under stress. At other times, this connection may be less helpful—or even harmful—if it creates stress or acts as a barrier to treatment.

Studies suggest that religion has both the potential to help and harm mental health and well-being.﻿﻿ On the positive side, religion and spirituality can help promote positive beliefs, foster community support, and provide positive coping skills. On the other hand, negative religious coping, miscommunication, and harmful negative beliefs that actually be detrimental to mental health.

Key Mental Health Benefits Some mental health benefits of religion include: Giving people structure

Building a community with a group

Creating a sense of belonging

Helping people cope with stressful events

Can encourage forgiveness, compassion, and gratitude

Religion can also play a role in helping people cope with mental health conditions. People often turn to their religious beliefs in order to cope with symptoms of mental illness and to help manage stress.

Research has also shown that religious people often first turn to religious clergy when they need treatment for mental health conditions.﻿﻿ Religious and pastoral counseling can be an important resource for people of faith who want to incorporate their religious and spiritual beliefs into their treatment. Twelve-step addiction treatment programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) also sometimes take a faith-based approach to treatment.

Pastoral counseling is provided by religious clergy who have been psychologically trained to provide therapy services.﻿﻿ These counselors integrate modern psychological practices with theological teaching to address problems that their clients are experiencing.

Tips

If you are interested in exploring some of the potential benefits of religion or spiritual traditions, there are some things that may help:

Find a community that you connect with. Social support is an important part of well-being, so feeling a sense of connection with others in your religion can be beneficial.

Social support is an important part of well-being, so feeling a sense of connection with others in your religion can be beneficial. Explore practices often utilized by religion. Meditation and mindfulness have been shown to have a number of wellness benefits.

Meditation and mindfulness have been shown to have a number of wellness benefits. Search for things that inspire you. Whether it is reading inspirational books, listening to beautiful music, or spending time enjoying nature, finding things that give you a sense of peace and inspiration can help improve your mental clarity and well-being.

The observation is real: People who attend religious services regularly tend to live longer and often experience better mental well-being. The tough question to answer is, why?

It may simply be that people who attend religious services tend to have more social and financial resources than non-attendees, or it could be that something about attending religious services (like making connections with others, prayer, or spiritual reflection) helps people to live longer and feel better. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Potential Pitfalls

Because these studies are observational (researchers watch what happens in the real world without actively controlling any of the conditions or randomizing the participants), it cannot be said with certainty that religious attendance increases life expectancy or that it doesn't.

We can only conclude that there is an association between religious attendance and increased life expectancy. They are linked, but we don't know why.

There could be a different reason to explain the life expectancy outcome in the study. In fact, other studies have shown that people who regularly attend religious services:

May be more likely to be employed

Tend to have larger social networks

Tend to be more positive

Are more likely to live in intact families

Are less likely to be experiencing disabling illness

Any of these factors could explain the difference in life expectancy observed in these studies. Another study suggested that religious involvement on its own should not be automatically assumed to improve health.﻿﻿ People who share religious beliefs also usually share other characteristics including ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Research also suggests that religion can sometimes become a barrier to mental health treatment.﻿﻿ Religious attitudes toward mental health and treatment can play a role in whether people seek help when they are experiencing symptoms.

Some religious traditions instill the idea that problems are moral or spiritual failings rather than mental health issues.

According to this perspective, mental problems can be overcome simply through willpower or "heroic striving." Because of this, people from such backgrounds may simply be less likely to seek professional help and support when they are having mental health problems.