Title :Understanding the role of

religious beliefs in the subjective

well being of middle aged women .

Name : Isha Rani

Supervisor : Dr.Saumya

M.A PSYCHOLOGY
Institute of Integerated Learning in Management University,
Gurugram

INTRODUCTION
The ability of religion to provide comfort and significance is particularly
noticeable in the context of coping with stress and major life events. The
relationship between religious beliefs and subjective well being are complex
and suggest the existence of meaning and purpose in internal structures. The
main reason why people turn to religion in time of crises and struggle is that
religious beliefs can provide individuals with an integrated set of beliefs, goal
and meaning which can be used in explaining the intricaces of the world and
dealing with personal situations and problems.The purpose of the study is to
understand the association between religious belief and subjective well being
among middle aged women. There are several reasons why many women
choose middle age as a time to deepen their practice of religious beliefs.

• Life CHANGES:

Middle age is a time when many women experience significant life changes,
such as children leaving home, career shifts or health concerns. These change
may promt a reevaluation of priorities and a search for meaning and purpose,
which can lead to deeper engagement with religious beliefs.

• Support and Community:

Middle age is also a time when women may seek more social connections and
support systems. Religious communities can offer a sense of belonging,
friendship and shared values, making this period an attractive time to engage
with religious practices.

• Transition and Reflection:

Middle age is often a period of transition, where women may reflect on their
lives, values and beliefs. The introspection can lead to seek spiritual guidance
and a deeper connection with their faith.

Theme1: Role of Religion:

The ability of religion to affect the coping process lies in the
observation that religion is more than a defence mechanism as it
was suggested by Freud.[Pargament, Anto & Wachholtz, 2005].
Research indicates that religion has been connected with several
functions in coping that extend beyond anxiety reduction,
personal mastery & growth and the search for the sacred.
[Pargament , Magyar-Russell & Murray-Swank, 2005].
The sense of being in connection with a higher power, with
others and in general with life represents an effective way to
maintain a positive evaluation of one's life , despite all the
possible negative circumstances that one may encounter.
Additionally being religious may benifit individual lives through
empowering both internal(eg. feeling of self worth) & social(eg.
sense of belonging to a network)[Lim & Putnam,2010].

Theme2: Role of Well Being:

To better understand the role of religiousity on subjective well
being, it is also important to consider how religiousity is
concerned within the specific background culture. For eg.
Graham and Crown, 2014 used a large scale data set including
about 160 nations and they found an overall positive relation
between religiousity and subjective well being moderated by
culture.
Furthermore, another mechanism that can explain the
relationship between religiousity and well being is that of
emotional regulation, which consists in the modulation of
emotional states functionally to the environment's demands. To
the extent that religion constantly trains people to reassess
emotional events, religious individuals may become more used to
cognitive appraisal.
Another important perspective in understanding late well being
is social connectedness. Older adults who maintain ties with
other people have betterv well being outcomes