USA Today: "A Spiritually Inclined Student is a Happier Student"

USA Today has reported results from a UCLA study, showing that spirituality is associated with mental health...

USA today has reported that "a spiritually inclined student is a happier student." In a study funded by the Templeton Foundation, a significant link was found between faith and mental health.

For decades, social scientists' thinking about religion was dominated by Freud, who considered religion to be the universal neurosis, and by Schopenhauer, who reduced it to mere wish fulfillment.

At the same time, it is the strong desire of most social scientists to see their theories supported by empirical research. In that light, it's most interesting to see that spirituality is associated not with delusion or neurosis but with mental health. I wonder how this will affect the way religious belief is viewed in the psychology and sociology departments.

I wonder, too, whether schools will pay attention to the report's recommendation that they give more support to religious belief. That would be a welcome change.

Posted: Tue - November 2, 2004 at 12:27 PM |

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USA Today: "A Spiritually Inclined Student is a Happier Student"

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson