A meta-analysis of 34 recent studies published between 19 found that religiosity has a salutary relationship with psychological adjustment. These same studies revealed a positive correlation between religious involvement and lower levels of hypertension, depression, and clinical delinquency. A review of 498 peer-review academic studies revealed that a large majority of them showed a positive correlation between religious commitment and higher levels of perceived well-being of self-esteem. Those same studies associate religious involvement with reports of higher satisfaction with sex life and a sense of well-being. ![]() An analysis of over 200 studies contends that high religiousness predicts a lower risk of depression, a lower risk of drug abuse, fewer suicide attempts. ![]() Surveys by Gallup, the National Opinion Research Center and the Pew Organization conclude that spiritually committed people are twice as likely to report being “very happy” than the least religiously committed people. A 1993 study by Kosmin & Lachman indicated that people without a religious affiliation appeared to be at greater risk for depressive symptoms than individuals affiliated with a religion. People who report that God is very important in their lives are on average more satisfied with their lives, after accounting for their income, age and other individual characteristics that might bias results. The Legatum Prosperity Index reflects the research that suggests that there is a positive link between religious engagement and well-being. Scientific Studies of Religion and Health Catholic Church Gathering for Mass: Congregation Gathering Service for the Virgin Mary For instance, the social cohesion among the members of a terrorist group is high, but in a broader sense, religion is obviously resulting in conflict without questioning its actions against other members of society. In one sense, this still fits the structural-functional approach as it provides social cohesion among the members of one party in a conflict. Religion has often been the justification of, and motivation for, war. For instance, religion can be used to justify terrorism and violence. The primary criticism of the structural-functional approach to religion is that it overlooks religion’s dysfunctions. However, as the division of labor makes the individual seem more important, religious systems increasingly focus on individual salvation and conscience. As societies come in contact with other societies, there is a tendency for religious systems to emphasize universalism to a greater and greater extent. The more complex a particular society is, the more complex the religious system. It follows, then, that less complex societies, such as the Australian Aborigines, have less complex religious systems, involving totems associated with particular clans. Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our individual consciousness, which then creates a reality of its own. We then express ourselves religiously in groups, which for Durkheim makes the symbolic power greater. We perceive as individuals a force greater than ourselves and give that perception a supernatural face. ![]() Religion is very real it is an expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have religion. Religion, for Durkheim, is not imaginary, although he does deprive it of what many believers find essential. Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion. He was deeply interested in the problem of what held complex modern societies together. ![]() Further, Durkheim placed himself in the positivist tradition, meaning that he thought of his study of society as dispassionate and scientific. Given this approach, Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions. Durkheim argued that religion is, in a sense, the celebration and even (self-) worship of human society. The structural-functional approach to religion has its roots in Emile Durkheim’s work on religion.
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