Topic 8 DQ 2
Select a scholarly article that discusses religion and happiness. Discuss the effect that religious belief
has on people's happiness or unhappiness as it relates to their behaviors and attitudes. What effect
does religion have on helping behavior, the prevalence of prejudice, and health of religious people?
Share your findings.
In an article by Post (2005) that examines the relationship between altruism and happiness.
Post talks about how religion/spirituality affects health in a positive way because those involved
in spirituality cultivate positive emotions and engage in helping/self-forgetting activities. Sixty-
nine percent of older individuals who volunteers through means of a religious organization
showed a lowered risk of death. A source of an individuals increased likelihood to help another
individual can come from religion because of how religious groups encourage helping
behaviors. Survivors of HIV-positive individuals were found more often to be also religious or
spiritual people. Health is seen to correlate strongly with how happy an individual is in life, and
since religion is also a social influence that increases altruism which increases the amount of
health an individual has, a religious person may then have a higher chance of being happy. The
only reason an individual would not benefit from altruistic behavior is if they took on more than
they fell they could handle. This would create stress which is not productive in good health
(Post, 2005).
Doehring (2013) looked at how religion affects the prevalence of prejudice in an individual. He
talks about how religion can be counteractive to prejudice. Though religion can be used in a
destructive manner by way of using religious concepts as a way to self-affirm prejudice, religion
cam be counteractive of prejudice by bringing up the religious theology that everyone has
shortcomings but everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, by finding a
religious motivation for eliminating prejudice, and by promoting the religious values like that of
“love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Doehring, 2013).
Doehring, C. (2013). An applied integrative approach to exploring how religion and spirituality
contribute to or counteract prejudice and discrimination. In K. I. Pargament, A.
Mahoney, E. P. Shafranske, K. I. Pargament, A. Mahoney, E. 0. Shafranske (Eds.), APA
handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol 2): An applied psychology of
religion and spirituality (pp. 389-403). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological
Association. doi:10.1037/14046-020
Post, S. G. (2005). Altruism, happiness, and health: It's good to be good. INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE, 12(2), 66-77.
Select a scholarly article that discusses religion and happiness. Discuss the effect that religious belief
has on people's happiness or unhappiness as it relates to their behaviors and attitudes. What effect
does religion have on helping behavior, the prevalence of prejudice, and health of religious people?
Share your findings.
In an article by Post (2005) that examines the relationship between altruism and happiness.
Post talks about how religion/spirituality affects health in a positive way because those involved
in spirituality cultivate positive emotions and engage in helping/self-forgetting activities. Sixty-
nine percent of older individuals who volunteers through means of a religious organization
showed a lowered risk of death. A source of an individuals increased likelihood to help another
individual can come from religion because of how religious groups encourage helping
behaviors. Survivors of HIV-positive individuals were found more often to be also religious or
spiritual people. Health is seen to correlate strongly with how happy an individual is in life, and
since religion is also a social influence that increases altruism which increases the amount of
health an individual has, a religious person may then have a higher chance of being happy. The
only reason an individual would not benefit from altruistic behavior is if they took on more than
they fell they could handle. This would create stress which is not productive in good health
(Post, 2005).
Doehring (2013) looked at how religion affects the prevalence of prejudice in an individual. He
talks about how religion can be counteractive to prejudice. Though religion can be used in a
destructive manner by way of using religious concepts as a way to self-affirm prejudice, religion
cam be counteractive of prejudice by bringing up the religious theology that everyone has
shortcomings but everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, by finding a
religious motivation for eliminating prejudice, and by promoting the religious values like that of
“love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Doehring, 2013).
Doehring, C. (2013). An applied integrative approach to exploring how religion and spirituality
contribute to or counteract prejudice and discrimination. In K. I. Pargament, A.
Mahoney, E. P. Shafranske, K. I. Pargament, A. Mahoney, E. 0. Shafranske (Eds.), APA
handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol 2): An applied psychology of
religion and spirituality (pp. 389-403). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological
Association. doi:10.1037/14046-020
Post, S. G. (2005). Altruism, happiness, and health: It's good to be good. INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE, 12(2), 66-77.
