Religion and aging in the global context of secularization: patterns, processes, consequences

Idler, Ellen L.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815970-5.00016-4

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Thus, our findings indicate that baby boomers are not experiencing elevated religiosity in later life, as some commentators maintain; instead, our findings reveal a trend that is more consistent with historical trends toward secularism (Voas & Chaves, 2016). Developmental and cohort-specific processes may also contribute to these results as baby boomers were part of a cohort that achieved higher education in substantial numbers, a status related to secularization (Idler, 2021), and loosened their connection to the religion of their upbringing in midlife (Roof, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Religious Transitions Among Baby Boomers From Young Adulthood to Later Life: Associations with Psychological Well-Being Over 45 Years

Hwang

Zhang

Brown

et al. 2021

Int J Aging Hum Dev

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We used classification analysis to examine change in religiosity among baby boomers from young adulthood to early old age and how religiosity transition patterns are associated with psychological well-being in later life. In addition, we tested the gender difference in the above association. We applied latent class and latent transition analysis to 392 baby boomers who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Generations in Wave-1 (1971) and Wave-9 (2016). We identified three classes describing religiosity at each wave (strongly religious, doctrinally religious, and weakly religious), and considered five types of change or stability in religious class membership from Wave-1 to Wave-9. Multiple regression with gender interactions revealed that men who stayed strongly religious over the period reported better psychological well-being compared to men who declined in their religiosity; no such pattern was found for women. Our findings suggest that maintaining strong religiosity over the life course was beneficial for baby boom men in later life.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Religious Transitions Among Baby Boomers From Young Adulthood to Later Life: Associations with Psychological Well-Being Over 45 Years

Hwang

Zhang

Brown

et al. 2021

Int J Aging Hum Dev

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“…Additionally, mental and physical health were each measured using a single, self-reported item (notwithstanding the documented predictive value of these single-item measures; [103]). Likewise, (non)religious group identity and affiliation was based on a single question as part of the demographic questionnaire, but without a related measure to evaluate the strength of this non(religious) identity.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Medicine for the soul: (Non)religious identity, coping, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Peneycad,

Ysseldyk,

Tippins

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Although the threat and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant source of distress, using religion to cope may be associated with more positive health. Given the severity and chronicity of the pandemic, religious individuals may also have relied on a variety of non-religious coping methods. Much of the existing COVID-19 research overlooks the role of religious group membership and beliefs in relation to coping responses and associated mental health, with an additional lack of such research within the Canadian context. Thus, this cross-sectional study investigated relations among religiosity, stressor appraisals, (both religious and non-religious) coping strategies, mental and physical health in a religiously-diverse Canadian community sample (N = 280) during the pandemic’s 2nd wave from March to June 2021. Numerous differences were apparent in appraisal-coping methods and health across five (non)religious groups (i.e., Atheists, Agnostics, “Spiritual but not religious”, Christians, and those considered to be religious “Minorities” in Canada). Religiosity was also associated with better mental health, appraisals of the pandemic as a challenge from which one might learn or grow, and a greater reliance on problem-focused, emotional-engagement, and religious coping. Moreover, both problem-focused and emotional-engagement coping mediated the relations between religiosity and health. Taken together, this research has implications for individual-level coping as well as informing culturally-sensitive public health messages promoting targeted self-care recommendations with integrated religious or spiritual elements during times of threat and uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…Activities such as prayer, meditation, and other private spiritual practices can elicit positive emotions that may support physical health (McFadden and Levin 1996). Public religious participation implies social connectedness, which according to sociologist Ellen Idler (2021) is the most health protective variable identified in decades of research.…”

Section: Gerontological Insights About Religion Spirituality and Covi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic Disruptions of Older Adults’ Meaningful Connections: Linking Spirituality and Religion to Suffering and Resilience

McFadden

2022

Religions

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The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of persons of all ages throughout the world. Older adults have been particularly susceptible to the virus and have died at higher rates than any other age group. Starting from the early days of the pandemic, gerontologists rallied to address a wide variety of issues affecting older people’s lives. This paper reviews gerontological research that began shortly after the pandemic was declared and examines how a model of meaningful connectedness undergirding spiritual and religious experiences sheds light on the suffering and the resilience of older people during the pandemic. It notes that despite over four decades of research on the role of religion and spirituality in older people’s lives, there has been little mention in major gerontology journals of the role of elders’ religiousness and spirituality in their responses to the pandemic. The paper concludes with a call for gerontologists to pay closer attention to elder religiousness and spirituality and the many questions that need to be addressed regarding older people’s experiences during the pandemic.

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Religion and aging in the global context of secularization: patterns, processes, consequences

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Religious Transitions Among Baby Boomers From Young Adulthood to Later Life: Associations with Psychological Well-Being Over 45 Years

Religious Transitions Among Baby Boomers From Young Adulthood to Later Life: Associations with Psychological Well-Being Over 45 Years

Medicine for the soul: (Non)religious identity, coping, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Pandemic Disruptions of Older Adults’ Meaningful Connections: Linking Spirituality and Religion to Suffering and Resilience

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