People who believe that there is a deeper meaning to everything tend to be happier, study states
| Updated: Sep 3, 2018, 12:21 IST
It's always comforting to tell yourself that something 'happened for a reason', even though you may not exactly know what that reason is. Sometimes even the smallest of the things make you happy if you believe that they are part of a larger plan. As part of the research conducted, around 230 people from a diverse mix of Christians, Buddhists or Taoists, Muslims and people with no religious affiliation even were surveyed. Dr. Ramsay, head of the research team, said that all the religions believe that the universe has an underlying order and structure that gives greater meaning or significance to events and circumstances.
"What we were interested in is if the believer interprets events in this fashion, does it influence their emotional reaction to those events, and eventually their general sense of well-being?" Ramsay added. The research shows that all people, but religious people specifically, assign significance to unremarkable events. "The relationship between religion and well-being is well-known. Our results tentatively suggest that the positive effect of religious belief on well-being via the giving of meaning to events and the resulting positive emotions is a general phenomenon that holds across religious and ethnic groups," Ramsay explained.
"What we were interested in is if the believer interprets events in this fashion, does it influence their emotional reaction to those events, and eventually their general sense of well-being?" Ramsay added. The research shows that all people, but religious people specifically, assign significance to unremarkable events. "The relationship between religion and well-being is well-known. Our results tentatively suggest that the positive effect of religious belief on well-being via the giving of meaning to events and the resulting positive emotions is a general phenomenon that holds across religious and ethnic groups," Ramsay explained.