Constructing a Causal Model of Subjective Well-Being by Religious Orientation Through Hope, Death Anxiety, and Meaning in Life as Mediators

Previous research has shown positive relations of religion, religiosity, and spirituality to happiness, life satisfaction, well-being and mental health. Current study investigates how religion relates to subjective well-being (SWB). This study addresses a causal model of SWB by religion in which religion indirectly through hope, purpose in life, and death anxiety affects indicators of SWB. 472 college students completed the following questionnaires: “Subjective Happiness Scale”, “Satisfaction with Life Scale”, “Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale”, “Religious Orientation Scale-Revised”, “Purpose in Life Test”, “Hope Scale”, and “Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale”. Results showed that religiosity scales were positively correlated to happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, hope, and purpose in life. Extrinsic personal religiosity was positively related to death anxiety. Path analysis confirmed the goodness of fit of the proposed model. Particularly the mediating roles of hope and purpose in life in the relations of religion to SWB were verified. Theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.