RE: Psychological research - Atheists, Christians and quality of life
January 26, 2013 at 1:34 pm
(This post was last modified: January 26, 2013 at 1:42 pm by rozle27.)
(January 24, 2013 at 3:59 pm)Faith No More Wrote: It has been my observation that atheists tend to suffer a higher rate of depression, but take that for what it's worth, which is simply testimony based on personal experience.
This is actually the prevailing view in the literature, but there have been lots of problems with defining people with a definite lack of religion. A lot of research sort of "lumps together" people who have weak or unsure religious beliefs, with those who have none at all. Those two groups differ though in terms of their certainty of outlook, so I'm trying to separate them.
(January 24, 2013 at 5:08 pm)paulpablo Wrote: I filled it in, im not sure what it would tell you though because its all subjective, somone like bill gates whos obviously rich might still not be satisfied with his work capacity because hes like a hungry wolf who always wants more, but you couldnt say he has a bad job.
Also it might just tell you that religious people or spiritual people have a lot of fake optimism, especially when filling in surveys
It's definitely a problem with the survey thing, people aren't always honest in the hope of impressing the researcher, or like to make themselves feel better by answering questions positively. That's a flaw which is tricky to avoid in research.
And in relation to the first thing...just because someone is rich, or has a good job, doesn't necessarily mean they have a good quality of life in terms of mental or physical health, for example, which is what I'm hoping to tap into.
(January 24, 2013 at 4:40 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Oh, I am well aware that it's a false sense of security brought on by delusion, Min., but I think the important issue is that atheists do not have this false security to fall back on. Don't get me wrong, though. I think I am a much better person for having gone through my struggles without surrendering my intellectual integrity and taking the easy way out by deluding myself that I am special in a god's eyes. That journey, however, can be quite arduous. My original point, though, was that it has been my experience that the lack of such a delusion does make a person more likely to struggle severely with depression.
Maybe it is in fact the journey of finding this that is the problem? People who are secure in their religion have been found over and over to have higher overall wellbeing, less depression and more happiness (at least in the populations studied).
That being said, maybe those who have worked through questioning their faith, and have arrived at a certain, solid conclusion may feel differently than those feeling guilty or lost without their religion?
