Abstract
The effects of religiosity on well-being appear to depend on religious orientation, with intrinsic orientation being related to positive outcomes and extrinsic orientation being related to neutral or negative outcomes. It is not clear, however, why intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity has the relationships they do. Self-determination theory may provide a useful framework of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that may help to answer this question. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity would be related to intrinsic and extrinsic life aspirations. We hypothesized that intrinsic religiosity would be positively related to intrinsic life aspirations and negatively related with extrinsic life aspirations, and that extrinsic religiosity would be positively related to extrinsic life aspirations and negatively related to intrinsic aspirations, and that life aspirations would partially mediate the relationships between religious orientation and outcome. To study these hypotheses, a random national sample (total number of 425, average age of 52, 59 % female) completed the measures of religious orientation, life aspirations, affect, and life satisfaction. It was found that intrinsic religiosity was positively related to positive affect, life satisfaction, and intrinsic life aspirations and was negatively related to negative affect and extrinsic life aspirations. Extrinsic religiosity was positively related to extrinsic life aspirations and was not related to the intrinsic life aspirations. When both religious orientation and life aspiration variables were included together in the model predicting outcome, both remained significant indicating that religious orientation and life aspirations are independent predictors of outcome. In conclusion, although religious orientation and life aspirations are significantly related to each other and to outcome, life aspirations did not mediate the effects of religious orientation. Therefore, self-determination theory does not appear to completely account for the effects of religious orientation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 423–443.
Andrews, F. M., & Robison, J. P. (1991). Measures of subjective wellbeing. In J. P. Robison, P. Shaver, & L. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes. San Diego: Academic Press.
Chida, Y., Steptoe, A., & Powell, L. H. (2009). Religiosity/spirituality and mortality. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 78, 81–90.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 109–134.
Donahue, M. J. (1985). Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: Review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 400–419.
Kahle, L. (1983). Social values and social change: Adaptation to life in America. New York: Praeger.
Kahle, L. R. (1996). Social values and consumer behavior: Research from the list of values. In C. Seligman, J. M. Olson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The psychology of values: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 8, pp. 135–151). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kasser, T., & Ahuvia, A. (2002). Materialistic values and well-being in business students. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 137–146.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410–422.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and intrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280–287.
Koenig, L. B., & Vaillant, G. E. (2009). A prospective study of church attendance and health over the lifespan. Health Psychology, 28, 117–124.
McCullough, M. E., Hoyt, W. T., Larson, D. B., & Koenig, H. G. (2000). Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review. Health Psychology, 19, 211–222.
Neyrinck, B., Lens, W., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2005). Goals and regulations of religiosity: A motivational analysis. In M. L. Maehr & S. Karabenick (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement, Vol. 14. Motivation and religion (pp. 77–106). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Neyrinck, B., Lens, W., Vansteenkiste, M., & Soenens, B. (2010). Updating Allport’s and Batson’s framework of religious orientations: A reevaluation from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Wulff’s Social Cognitive Model. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49, 425–438.
Nickerson, C., Schwarz, N., Diener, E., & Kahneman, D. (2003). Zeroing on the dark side of the American Dream: A closer look at the negative consequences of the goal for financial success. Psychological Science, 14, 531–536.
Pargament, K. I., Zinnbauer, B. J., Scott, A. B., Butter, E. M., Zerowin, J., & Stanik, P. (2003). Red flags and religious coping: Identifying some religious warning signs among people in crisis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 1335–1348.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303–316.
Rokeach, T. (1973). The nature of human values. New York: Free Press.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-Determination Theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
Ryan, R. M., Rigby, S., & King, K. (1993). Two types of religious internalization and their relations to religious orientations and mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 586–596.
Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., & Kasser, T. (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on wellbeing: It’s both what you pursue and why you pursue it. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 475–486.
Smith, T. B., McCullough, M. E., & Poll, J. (2003). Religiousness and depression: Evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stress life events. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 614–636.
Steffen, P. R. (2012). Approaching religiosity/spirituality and health from the eudaimonic perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 70–82. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00411.x.
Steffen, P. R. (2013). Perfectionism and life aspirations in intrinsically and extrinsically oriented individuals. Journal of Religion and Health,. doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9692-3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Steffen, P.R., Clayton, S. & Swinyard, W. Religious Orientation and Life Aspirations. J Relig Health 54, 470–479 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9825-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9825-3