Psychological research - Atheists, Christians and quality of life

[paulpablo]

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

[rozle27]

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.

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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.

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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?

[Faith No More]

Maybe it is in fact the journey of finding this that is the problem?

What are you referring to when you say "this?"

[rozle27]

What are you referring to when you say "this?"

If one questions their faith...for many people I suppose it involves a journey trying to "find themselves", find out how to live independently of a belief support system, and generally come to terms with living life without religion, without feeling guilt or feeling lost? I suppose? I'm not particularly good at explaining myself.

[rozle27]

I'm going to be quite cheeky and see if I could possibly find any more participants for my study.

It would be awesome if I could recruit a few more people to complete my questionnaire - participants are always hard to come by, and the higher the numbers, the more solid the research. Here is the link again:

http://hfrg.ucc.ie/lifestyle/

Also, if anyone has any further views on the topic of religiosity (or lack of) and the effects on quality of life, I'm happy to hear about and discuss them.

[Angrboda]

Oh, my bad. I thought it was a survey for atheists. *ding* Another angel got her wings!

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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.

I can't help but wonder if vocal atheists and many dedicated religionists don't trend toward the same end of the scale in their tolerance of ambiguity (or lack thereof).

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As to CD worrying about his illness skewing the results: not to worry. I've done an outstanding job of skewing the results for the theist side in the same direction.

[NoMoreFaith]

My only critique of the survey is it's focus on the last 4 weeks - which means the answers are based upon recent experience as opposed to an average of lifetime experience.

One would think that your principles and attitudes is something that affects you on an average level throughout your life as opposed to the last few weeks. Personally I've had a tough few weeks with illness and stress - which biases my answers down a little, whereas if I consider the same question over my lifetime, or over years, substantially different answers.

Any reason why you focus on recent experience? Seems to have a greater propensity for variation (and therefore error margin) than an "on average" question.

[rozle27]

Any reason why you focus on recent experience? Seems to have a greater propensity for variation (and therefore error margin) than an "on average" question.

I have had a few people pointing out such problems with the survey. The only reason it asks about the last few weeks is simply that I used questions from an already-devised measure of quality of life. It is a measure which has been supposedly tested and deemed both reliable and valid.

I do, however, understand your point completely! It would possibly make sense to try and get a more long-term look at quality of life. However, in this case, it might be that it could be difficult for people to remember accurate answers for a time longer than four weeks ago, I'm not really sure.

[paulpablo]

Where are the results?

[rozle27]

Where are the results?

I haven't finished carrying out the project yet. It's due for submission in April, so I should be able to put the results up after that.