Religiosity and well-being (self-reported health, happiness, and life satisfaction) among middle-aged and older adults in India: Results of a national survey in 2017-2018

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the associations between religiosity (affiliation, involvement, and intrinsic religiosity) and well-being indicators (self-rated health, happiness, and life satisfaction) among middle-aged and older adults in India. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 72,262 persons (45 years and older) from the 2017-2018 Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1. The prevalence of Hindu religious affiliation was 81.9%, followed Muslim 11.7%, Christian 3.0%, Sikh 1.8% and other or none 1.7%. More than half of the participants (57.0%) do pooja or prayer every day, 14.0% attend religious services more than once a week or every day, 21.5% were involved in religious gatherings at least once a month, 34.9% had high spirituality or religiosity, and 79.2% considered religion as very important in their lives. The mean self-rated health status was 2.77 (range 1-5), mean happiness 2.48 (range 1-4), and mean life satisfaction 23.66 (range 5-35). In the adjusted ordered logistic regression analysis, daily pooja or prayer, higher spirituality/religiousness, and religious importance were significantly positively associated with self-rated health, happiness, and life satisfaction. Medium or high attendance of religious services was positively associated with self-rated health or with life satisfaction. Medium or high involvement in religious gatherings was positively associated with self-rated health or happiness. Compared to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs had lower odds of self-rated health, Sikhs had higher odds of happiness, and Christians lower odds of life satisfaction. Daily pooja or prayer, higher spirituality/religiousness, and religious importance were significantly positively associated with self-rated health, happiness, and life satisfaction.