How Does Religious Commitment Affect Satisfaction with Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Examining Depression, Anxiety, and Stress as Mediators

Abstract

The effect of religiosity on individuals is seen more in stressful situations. Religion strengthens people in coping with the issues given rise by COVID-19 due to its contributions, such as reducing death fear and giving hope. The impact of religious commitment on COVID-19 fear, psychological consequences, and satisfaction with life levels in the COVID-19 period is investigated. To measure this impact of religious commitment, a cross-sectional study was designed with 2810 adults in Turkey. For this purpose, religious commitment, COVID-19 fear, DASS-21, and satisfaction with life scales were used. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to test the formed hypotheses. First, the impact of religious commitment on satisfaction with life with depression, anxiety, and stress was tested. Then, the moderating impact of COVID-19 fear in terms of the effect of religious commitment on satisfaction with life was analyzed. Finally, the role of depression’s mediation and COVID-19 fear’s moderation in terms of the impact of religious commitment on satisfaction with life was found. It was found that satisfaction with life decreased more in those with high COVID-19 fear than those with low COVID-19 fear; additionally, religious commitment increased satisfaction with life by reducing depression.

Does Emotional Intelligence Increase Satisfaction with Life during COVID-19? The Mediating Role of Depression

“…This concept is related to subjective well-being, which is defined as individuals' emotional and cognitive evaluations of their lives [12,74,75]. Thus, life satisfaction is the state of taking pleasure from life, finding life meaningful, and evaluating people's lives positively in accordance with their own criteria [75][76][77]. Life satisfaction differs from person to person.…”

“…In some studies, there is no significant relationship between age and satisfaction with life and depression while there is a significant relationship in others. A person may have different expectations, activities, and challenges that may influence life satisfaction and depression in each period [75,77,104]. Therefore, it is possible to have different life satisfaction and depression in different life periods.…”

“…In the literature, different results were found between age and depression in different periods. Especially during the COVID-19 period, young people have higher levels of depression compared to the elderly due to problems such as career, employment, education, and inability to socialize [77,90]. However, it has been seen that depression increases in the elderly when they are exposed to physical problems, lack of social support, and exclusion [108,109].…”

“…A negative relationship between life satisfaction and depression was also found [86,87]. Many studies determined that depression reduces satisfaction with life, and a negative relationship was revealed between them [77,86,88,89]. Moreover, the current literature has confirmed that the level of satisfaction with life decreased with the increase of depression of all segments of society, especially during extraordinary periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic [90][91][92].…”

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Interest in Prayer and Spirituality in Poland According to Google Trends Data in the CONTEXT of the Mediatisation of Religion Processes

“…According to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, a significant number of Americans said the pandemic had strengthened their personal religious beliefs (Pew Research Center 2021). Among the citizens of Turkey, during the COVID-19 pandemic, religious commitment increased satisfaction with life by reducing depression (Koçak 2021). As far as Poland is concerned, studies show that the pandemic, in its initial phase, contributed to the strengthening of religiosity of some Poles, especially those who had already shown above-average religious commitment.…”