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Religious Attendance, Stress, and Happiness in South Korea: Do Gender and Religious Affiliation Matter?

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  • Jong Jung

Abstract

Is religious attendance positively associated with happiness in South Korea? If yes, can religious attendance buffer against the harmful effect of stress on happiness? Moreover, do gender and religious affiliation modify these associations? This study addresses these questions with data from 2009 Korean General Social Survey which is a nationally representative survey (N = 1,599). Ordinal least square regression analyses reveal that although the effect size is relatively small, religious attendance is associated with a higher level of happiness in South Korea. However, this positive effect holds only for women and only for Protestants. In addition, an interaction effect between religious attendance and stress is observed for women only; the negative association between stress and happiness is weakened among those women who report more frequent church attendance. In this regard, a high level of church attendance buffers against the deleterious effects of stress on happiness for women. I discuss the implications of the findings with regard to theories about religion, mental health, and gender in South Korean context. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Jong Jung, 2014. "Religious Attendance, Stress, and Happiness in South Korea: Do Gender and Religious Affiliation Matter?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 1125-1145, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:118:y:2014:i:3:p:1125-1145
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0459-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abbott Ferriss, 2002. "Religion and the Quality of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 199-215, September.
    2. Andrew Kim, 2003. "Religious Influences on Personal and Societal Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 149-170, April.
    3. Ellison, Christopher G., 1995. "Race, religious involvement and depressive symptomatology in a southeastern U.S. community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 1561-1572, June.
    4. Lim, Chaeyoon & Putnam, Robert David, 2010. "Religion, Social Networks, and Life Satisfaction," Scholarly Articles 11105537, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Shoko Yamane & Hiroyasu Yoneda & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2019. "Is irrational thinking associated with lower earnings and happiness?," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 18(1), pages 87-104, June.
    4. Sutirtha Bandyopadhyay, 2020. "Gendered Well-Being: Cross-Sectional Evidence from Poor Urban Households in India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 281-308, August.
    5. Mariano Rojas & Karen Watkins-Fassler, 2022. "Religious Practice and Life Satisfaction: A Domains-of-Life Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2349-2369, June.
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    8. Emiko Takagi & Yasuhiko Saito & Angelique Chan, 2020. "Gender differences in the association between social relationships and loneliness among older adults in Singapore," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 243-263, September.

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