User:Communist-party-van/sandbox


 * These are our working edits on the Religion and Spirituality sections of the Positive Psychology page. As the old Religion section was highly inadequate, we decided to rewrite it, including the former material and its five sources as well as adding ten new sources and additional information. We made a few small changes to the Spirituality section as well. Changes to the Spirituality section have been implemented on the actual Wikipedia page, while the Religion section is being worked on here until its completion.
 * Our new sources are as follows:
 * [6] Frazier, Patricia (May 2013). "The relation between trauma exposure and prosocial behavior.". Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
 * [7] Sasaki, Joni Y.; Kim, Heejung S.; Xu, Jun (2011-11-01). "Religion and Well-being The Moderating Role of Culture and the Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Gene". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (in English) 42 (8): 1394–1405. . . Retrieved 2015-04-12.
 * [8] Reuter, Kirby K. (March 2014). "Religiosity and Spirituality as Resiliency  Resources: Moderation, Mediation, or Moderated Mediation?". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
 * [9] Graff, Ladd (October 1971). "POI CORRELATES OF A RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT INVENTORY". Journal of Clinical Psychology. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
 * [10] "Religion or spirituality has positive impact on romantic/marital relationships, child development, research shows". Retrieved 2015-04-13.
 * [11] Greggo, Stephen P (2012). "Clinical Appraisal of Spirituality: In Search of Rapid Assessment Instruments (RAIs) for Christian Counseling". Journal of Psychology and Christianity. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
 * [12] "Study finds being exposed to Buddhist concepts reduces prejudice and increases prosociality - The Mirror Post". www.themirrorpost.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
 * [13] Galen, LW (September 2012). "Does religious belief promote prosociality? A critical examination.". Psychol Bull. . . Retrieved 12 April 2015.
 * [14] Masters, KS (August 2006). "Are there demonstrable effects of distant intercessory prayer? A meta-analytic review.". Ann Behav Med. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
 * [15] Hodge, David R. (03/01/2007). "A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer". Research on Social Work Practice (in English) 17 (2): 174–187. . . Retrieved 2015-04-13.

Religion
OLD SECTION

"Spirituality" refers to a personal or group the individual or collective search for the sacred in life. "Religion" refers to a search for the sacred within a traditional context such as a formalized religious institution. It is commonly believed that people who are more religious in their behavior show better emotional well-being and lower rates of delinquency, alcoholism, drug abuse, and other social problems. Religion is thought to be related to well-being because of six separate factors: (1) religion provides social support, (2) religion supports healthy lifestyles, (3) religion promotes personality integration, (4) religion promotes generativity and altruism, (5) religion provides unique coping strategies, and (6) religion provides a sense of meaning and purpose. Emmons realized  argues  that many religious individuals experience emotions that create positive connections among people and allow us to express our highest values and potential. These four emotions are known as "sacred emotions." The four sacred emotions are  said to be  (1) gratitude and appreciation, (2) forgiveness, (3) compassion and empathy, and (4) humility.

OUR NEW SECTION

Overview:

Religiousness and spirituality are closely related but distinct topics. Religion is any organized, and often institutionalized, system of cultural practices and beliefs pertaining to the meaning of human existence. It occurs within a traditional context such as a formal religious institution. Spirituality, on the other hand, is a general term applied to the process of finding meaning and a better understanding of one's place in the universe. It is the individual or collective search for that which is sacred or meaningful in life. One may therefore be religious but not spiritual, and vice versa.

Major Theories:

Religiousness has often been found to correlate with positive health attributes. People who are more religious show better emotional well-being and lower rates of delinquency, alcoholism, drug abuse, and other social problems.

Six separate factors are cited as evidence for religion's effect on well-being: religion (1) provides social support, (2) supports healthy lifestyles, (3) promotes personality integration, (4) promotes generativity and altruism, (5) provides unique coping strategies, and (6) provides a sense of meaning and purpose. Many religious individuals experience emotions that create positive connections among people and allow them to express their values and potential. These four emotions are known as "sacred emotions," which are said to be (1) gratitude and appreciation, (2) forgiveness, (3) compassion and empathy, and (4) humility.

Major Empirical Findings:

Social interaction is necessarily a part of the religious experience. Religiosity has been identified to correlate positively with prosocial behavior in trauma patients, and prosocial behavior is furthermore associated with well-being. It also has stronger associations with well-being in individuals genetically predisposed towards social sensitivity in environments where religion prioritizes social affiliation. It has also been linked to greater resilience against stress as well as higher measures of self-actualization and success in romantic relationships and parental responsibilities.

Applications:

These benefits, while being correlational, may come about as a result of becoming more religiously involved. The benefit of having a secure social group likely plays a key part in religion's positive effects. One form of Christian counseling uses religion through talk therapy and assessments to promote mental health. In another instance, people who were not Buddhist, but were exposed to Buddhist concepts, scored higher on measures of outgroup acceptance and prosociality. This effect was found not only in Western countries, but also in places where Buddhism is prevalent, indicating a general association of Buddhism with acceptance. This finding seems to indicate that merely encountering a religious belief system such as Buddhism may allow some of its effects to be transferred to nonbelievers.

Controversies:

However, many disagree that the benefits the religious experience are due to their beliefs, and some find there to be no conclusive psychological benefits of belief at all. For example, the health benefit that the elderly gain from going to church may in fact be the reason they are able to go to church; the less healthy cannot leave their homes. Meta analysis has found that find studies purporting the beneficial results of religiosity often fail to fully represent data correctly due to a number of issues such as self-report bias, the use of inappropriate comparison groups, and the presence of criterion contamination. Other studies have disputed the efficacy of intercessory prayer positively affecting the health of those being prayed for. They have shown that, when scientifically rigorous studies are performed (by randomizing the patients and preventing them from knowing that they are being prayed for), there is no discernible effect.

Conclusion:

Religion has power as a cohesive social force, and whether or not it is always beneficial is debated. Irrespective of a group's beliefs, many find that simply belonging to a tight social group reduces anxiety and mental health problems. In addition, there may be a degree of self-selectivity amongst the religious; the behavioral benefits they display may simply be common aspects of those who choose to or are able to practice religion. As a result, whether or not religion can be prescribed scientifically as a means of self-betterment is unclear.

Spirituality
(bolded words are changes from the previous version)

Many people describe themselves as both  religious and spiritual, but spirituality represents a  just one particular operation  function of religion. Spirituality as related to positive psychology can be defined as “a search for the sacred”. What is defined as sacred can be related to God, life itself, or almost any other facet of existence. It simply must be viewed upon by the individua l as having spiritual implications which is derived  from personal experiences are transcendent of the individual. Spiritual well-being addresses the  this  human need for transcendence  (added link) and involves religious social as well as existential well-being. Spiritual well-being is associated with various positive outcomes such as better physical and psychological well-being, lower anxiety, less depression, self-actualization, positive relationships with parents, higher rates of positive personality traits and acceptance.

Reaching the sacred as a personal goal, also called spiritual striving, has been found to correlate highest with well-being compared to other forms or striving. This type of striving can improve a sense of self and relationships and creates a connection to the transcendent Additionally, multiple studies have shown that self-reported spirituality is related to lower rates of mortality and depression and higher rates of happiness.

Currently, most research  on spirituality  examines ways in which spirituality can help in times of crisis. Spirituality has been found to remain constant when experiencing traumatic events and/or life stressors such as accidents, war, sickness, and death of a loved one. When confronted with an obstacle, people might turn to prayer or meditation. Coping mechanisms involving spirituality include meditative meditation, creating boundaries to preserve the sacred, spiritual purification to return to the righteous path, and spiritual reframing which focuses on maintaining belief. One clinical application of spirituality and positive psychology research is the “psychospiritual intervention,” which represents the potential that spirituality has to increase well-being. (Moved sentence from the end of the last paragraph) These coping mechanisms that aim to preserve the sacred have been found by researchers to increase well being and return the individual back to the sacred.

Overall, spirituality is a process that occurs over a lifetime and includes searching, conserving, and redefining what is sacred in an extremely individualized manner. It does not always have a positive effect and in fact has been associated with very negative events and life changes. Research is lacking in spirituality but it is necessary because spirituality can assist in enhancing the experiences of the uncontrollable parts of life.