Religious Attendance and Life Satisfaction in the Finnish General Population

Abstract

In this study we investigated whether there were associations between religious attendance and life satisfaction in the Finnish general population. Furthermore, we examined whether social support could explain these associations. The nationwide sample included 869 women and 773 men. The respondents were asked during telephone interviews about sociodemographic variables, their household category, social and family support, and the frequencies of religious attendance and other social contacts. Life satisfaction was assessed by means of a scale developed by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan. Women were religious attenders more often than men (62% versus 50%). There was no gender difference in life satisfaction. Positive associations were found between life satisfaction and both social support and religious attendance. In multivariate logistic regression analysis an independent positive association was found between religious attendance and the absence of severe life dissatisfaction. Hierarchical loglinear modeling suggested that social support did not mediate the association between religious attendance and life satisfaction.