What is it about?
Myriad measures for measuring religiosity have been constructed and used extensively by health researchers employing scientific methods of inquiry.Most of the studies in the scientific study of religion use self-reported type of instruments for the measurement of religiosity. However, there is evidence that its real effect on certain behaviors may be misrepresented because survey respondents may interpret the meaning of survey items tapping religiosity differently, give socially desirable answers, or they may be affected by dispositional factors such as conscientiousness or embarrassment. This phenomenon should warrant even more concern in the Taiwanese context because there are significant differences in ways Taiwanese and westerners express their religious beliefs as commonly observed in election campaigns: Americans in particular are more likely to participate in routine religious activities taking place outside their homes and more outspoken about their religious beliefs. In contrast, most Taiwanese people carry out their routine religious activities at home, which are often perceived not as religious but as an unremarkable component of their culture. With all this in mind, this study was designed to assess the effect of religious piety on quality of life in the population of older people in association with its role as a potential mediator in the relationships among cognitive dissociation, paranormal belief, and older people’s quality of life.
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Why is it important?
Albeit the psychological functions of paranormal belief have been extensively documented, there has not been as much empirical research aimed at uncovering the underlying relationships between paranormal belief and cognitive dissociation. In light of recent discovery that the mental processes of dissociation may be the missing link for explaining how paranormal beliefs come about (McClenon, 2005), this study intends to contribute to the current literature by applying ritual healing theory as suggested by McClenon to the formulation of hypotheses concerning the relationships among dissociation, paranormal belief, religious piety, and quality of life for older people.
Perspectives
The measurement of religiosity in current health-related literature is mostly based on the traditional Christian belief system. It has been argued that such a measurement approach may misrepresent the true degree of religiosity in Taiwanese people. Does the efficacy of religiosity reported in western research literature hold in a society like Taiwan where the religious fabric is vastly non-Christian? Is religiosity related to the health-related psychosocial variables in much the same way in Taiwan as in their western counterparts? In this study religiosity was measured in two ways: self-reported religion type and a qualitatively derived index of religious piety based on principles as suggested by Gries, Su, & Schak (2012) to be used in the Taiwanese context. Their effects on dissociation, paranormal belief, and quality of life were juxtaposed for comparison.
Dr Tungshan Chou
National Donghua University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dissociation, Paranormal Belief, and Quality of Life in Older People, SAGE Open, December 2015, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/2158244015621347.
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