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Toward a Global and Multidisciplinary Understanding of Place, Religion/Spirituality, and Well-Being
Abstract
A global and multidisciplinary approach to place, religion/spirituality, and well-being could contribute to improving our understanding of how place is related to religion/spirituality, well-being, and the intersection between these two fundamental aspects of human life. Re-establishing the centrality of place to human life, this chapter highlights place as a common thread that connects religion/spirituality and well-being. We draw on multiple spheres of human life—personal, social, and cultural—to discuss some of the dynamic and complex ways in which place, religion/spirituality, and well-being are interconnected. Following this illustration, we outline the structure of this global and multidisciplinary volume in three parts, and briefly summarize the collection of chapters within it. As a first step toward building a comprehensive body of knowledge on place, religion/spirituality, and well-being across various disciplines, the contributions in this volume collectively underscore how place inherently intertwines with personal spiritual encounters, societal adaptability, and cultural expressions of spirituality. We hope that this book provides a useful foundation for subsequent theory, research, and practice that recognizes the centrality of place to religion/spirituality, well-being, and the relationship between them.
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How do spiritual ties to place (i.e., place spirituality) contribute to a meaningful spiritual life? Previous work has focused on sacred places, but a proposal is put forward for examining the spiritual connections people develop with many types of places in their search for meaning. The proposed theory examines spiritual ties to place across three dimensions—affective, cognitive, and behavioral—that may be a critical way in which people satisfy spiritual yearnings and fulfill spiritual needs due to (1) the sacred in a place, (2) social activities in sacred places, and (3) spiritual realities in a place. Furthermore, a proposal is put forward for a measure of spiritual ties to place that can be adapted to numerous specific individual, environmental, and community-level contexts. Adaptation of the measure for a variety of contexts is provided so that the proposed approach can be used across cultures. Discussion is also given to the psychology of religious places, and the broader implications for well-being. This could be useful for tracking and reflection purposes, and it might ultimately be used for assessing religious/spiritual realities experienced within the milieu of place.
In this longitudinal study, we examine changes in psychological distress and multidimensional well-being from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic among South African adults. As a secondary purpose, we explore whether pre-pandemic flourishing is protective against subsequent psychological distress during the public health crisis. The analytic sample (n = 293; Mage = 44.27, SD = 14.28; female = 65.19%) completed measures of anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and well-being shortly before the stringent nationwide lockdown started in South Africa (T1). A follow-up assessment was completed approximately 6 months later (T2). Paired samples t-tests supported very small improvements in anxiety (d = -0.09) and depression symptoms (d = -0.13). For domains of well-being, small increases were found in close social relationships (d = 0.25) and financial and material stability (d = 0.19). Positive changes in the domains of character and virtue (d = 0.10) and meaning and purpose (d = 0.07) were very small. Changes in physical and mental health (d = -0.03) and life satisfaction and happiness (d = 0.02) were more negligible. Results from the generalized linear models indicated that continuous scores of secure flourishing assessed before the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with lower subsequent psychological distress (particularly depression symptoms) during the public health crisis. We discuss the implications of the findings for the development and delivery of interventions to promote and sustain human flourishing during public health crises, especially in contexts of social-structural vulnerability.
Suffering is an experiential state that every person encounters at one time or another, yet little is known about suffering and its consequences for the health and well-being of nonclinical adult populations. In a pair of longitudinal studies, we used two waves of data from garment factory workers (Study 1 [T1: 2017, T2: 2019]: n = 344) and flight attendants (Study 2 [T1: 2017/2018, T2: 2020]: n = 1402) to examine the prospective associations of suffering with 16 outcomes across different domains of health and well-being: physical health, health behavior, mental health, psychological well-being, character strengths, and social well-being. The primary analysis involved a series of regression analyses in which each T2 outcome was regressed on overall suffering assessed at T1, adjusting for relevant sociodemographic characteristics and the baseline value (or close proxy) of the outcome assessed at T1. In Study 1, associations of overall suffering with worse subsequent health and well-being were limited to a single outcome on each of the domains of physical health and mental health. Overall suffering was more consistently related to worse subsequent health and well-being in Study 2, with associations emerging for all but two outcomes. The pattern of findings for each study was largely similar when aspects of suffering were modeled individually, although associations for some aspects of suffering differed from those that emerged for overall suffering. Our findings suggest that suffering may have important implications for the health and well-being of worker populations.
We discuss certain critiques of the research literature on flourishing. We fully agree with calls for greater attention to qualitative work, to cultural differences, and to questions of power and justice concerning flourishing. We argue, however, that in spite of notable differences in understandings of flourishing across cultures, there is also a great deal that is held in common, including on topics considered by some as more controversial, such as character and virtue. We also argue that while qualitative research and understanding is important, it is likewise important not to be dismissive of rigorous quantitative research even if certain groups find its results to be unappealing. We further propose that the best way to navigate diverse understandings of flourishing in pluralistic contexts is to identify those aspects of flourishing which are in fact held in common, and to promote these together, but then to acknowledge that certain understandings of flourishing will vary by culture or religious tradition, and to allow and enable each community to exposit, study, and promote flourishing, as it understands it, in critical dialogue with others.
This paper examines demographic differences in flourishing, defined as “complete well-being” and consisting of six domains: emotional health, physical health, purpose, character strengths, social connectedness, and financial security. Results are based on a random, cross-sectional sample of 2363 survey respondents drawn from employees of a large, national, self-insured employer based in the United States. We found that well-being across domains tends to increase with age, although there are some variations. Results are similar across most domains for men and women, although women score higher on character strengths, while men had higher scores on financial security. Racial and ethnic differences were striking. Black employees score higher than the reference group (White employees) on the emotional, purpose, and character strengths domains, but considerably lower on financial security. Hispanics also score lower on financial security (though not as low as Blacks), but higher than Whites on purpose, character strengths, and social connectedness. Asians reported higher well-being than Whites across all domains except purpose.
Religiosity and spirituality are intimately connected concepts. Numerous studies have jointly assessed religiosity and spirituality, but the causal associations between them have seldomly been examined. With six waves of data from a sample of n = 212 Pakistani Muslim students, we used random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling to examine the reciprocal associations of religiosity and spirituality from before to after Ramadan in 2020. We observed three key findings. First, we demonstrated the strong measurement invariance of the recently refined and revalidated measures of Muslim religiosity and spirituality. Second, we observed increases in religiosity and spirituality during Ramadan. Third, the results supported a bidirectional link between religiosity and spirituality, but the timing of the directional associations varied. Whereas religiosity was associated with higher subsequent spirituality during Ramadan, spirituality near the end of Ramadan was associated with higher subsequent religiosity after Ramadan. This study provides important insight into temporal linkages between religiosity and spirituality among non-Western adherents of Islam. More generally, these findings highlight the potential for research designs that leverage naturally occurring religious events to enrich our understanding of the psychology of religion and spirituality.
A systems perspective explains dynamics of human flourishing based on the relations between its constituents. Using cross-sectional data from emerging adults (ages 18–29) in 10 countries (N = 7221), this study explored the interrelatedness among constituents of flourishing – happiness & satisfaction with life, mental & physical health, meaning & purpose, character & virtue, close social relationships, and financial & material stability – within and across countries. Each country’s sample was characterized by a unique flourishing network, although there were similarities. Except for financial & material stability, all constituents were positively related across samples. Financial & material stability showed the highest cross-country heterogeneity in its relations. Happiness & satisfaction with life and meaning & purpose showed the strongest interrelations. A higher level of one constituent was associated with lower network connectivity. This systems perspective extends existing knowledge about the conceptualization of flourishing and how people can be supported to achieve and maintain complete well-being.
This study explored the extent to which perceived changes in religiosity from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with flourishing. Participants from a diverse set of faith communities in two United States metropolitan regions (N = 1,480) completed an online survey between October and December 2020. The survey included items capturing perceived changes in four dimensions of religiosity (i.e., importance of religion, frequency of prayer, frequency of religious service attendance, and sense of connectedness to one’s faith community) and a multidimensional measure of flourishing. Based on multilevel regressions, results indicated that self-reported decreases in each dimension of religiosity were associated with lower overall flourishing. This pattern of findings was largely similar for the domains of flourishing, with some variation in the strength of associations that emerged. An increase in frequency of religious service attendance was associated with lower overall flourishing and lower scores on selected domains of flourishing (e.g., mental and physical health), indicating possible evidence of religious coping. Faith communities might have to find ways of supporting members during the challenging COVID-19 period to prevent long-term declines in flourishing.
Introduction
Human flourishing is a multidimensional concept characterized by a state of complete wellbeing. However, much of the prior research on wellbeing has principally focused on population averages assessed using a single item of wellbeing. This study examined trends in population averages and inequalities for a multidimensional index of wellbeing and compared emergent patterns with those found for Cantril's ladder, a measure of life satisfaction commonly used as a unidimensional index of wellbeing.
Methods
Data were from the Gallup World Poll from the years 2009 to 2019, a repeated cross-sectional survey of nationally representative samples comprising ~1.2 million individuals from 162 countries. We assessed five domains of flourishing: (1) happiness, (2) health, (3) purpose, (4) character, and (5) social relationships. We used the Gini Index to estimate inequalities in wellbeing within populations. We examined and compared country ranking, global and region-specific trajectories of mean and inequality, and relationships with age for flourishing and Cantril's ladder.
Results
Although all trends were highly correlated across the two metrics of wellbeing, we identified distinct patterns in flourishing concerning geography, time, and age relationships that were not observed for Cantril's ladder. Temporal trends and age relationships were different across domains of flourishing. Evidence of changing inequalities in wellbeing was also found, even when population averages were high or stable over time.
Conclusion
Comprehensive measures of wellbeing are needed to capture the complex and changing patterns of wellbeing both within and across populations.
We used two waves of longitudinal data from a sample of South Africans (n = 274) to examine whether religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles following an interpersonal transgression might lead to both pain (i.e., depression) and gain (i.e., perceived posttraumatic growth) six months later. We also explored the role of positive R/S coping in modifying each of these associations. After adjusting for a variety of covariates and prior values of the respective outcome assessed at baseline, the results indicated that R/S struggles were associated with a small increase in depression and perceived posttraumatic growth six months later. Positive R/S coping moderated the association between R/S struggles and perceived posttraumatic growth (but not depression), with R/S struggles yielding a stronger positive association with perceived posttraumatic growth at lower levels of positive R/S coping. We discuss some implications of our findings for supporting people who encounter R/S struggles in the aftermath of interpersonal transgressions.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its sequelae have had significant consequences for many people around the world, precipitating loss of resources in various domains. To date, few studies have reported on how resource loss during the public health crisis has contributed to subjective experiences of suffering, especially among vulnerable populations. Using data from a prospective cohort of U.S. adults living with chronic illness (n = 184), we examine longitudinal associations between domains of resource loss (i.e., economic, interpersonal, physical, and psychological) assessed one month into the COVID-19 pandemic and self-reported suffering two months later. We also explored the role of religious coping in modifying relations between each type of resource loss and suffering. After adjusting for a number of sociodemographic covariates, chronic health conditions, religious/spiritual factors, psychological characteristics, and prior values of suffering assessed one wave earlier, economic, interpersonal, and psychological (but not physical) resource loss one month into the COVID-19 pandemic were each associated with higher levels of subsequent suffering. Religious coping moderated the associations of physical, interpersonal, and psychological resource loss on suffering, such that each domain of resource loss evidenced a stronger positive association with suffering at higher levels of religious coping. Hence, whilst religious coping can be a gain, it can sometimes be problematic and may not always provide relief in the ways needed. Implications of the findings for managing pandemic-related resource loss and suffering are discussed.
This book rekindles the well-known connection between people and place in the context of a global pandemic. The chapters are divided into two sections. In the first section, “Place Attachment During a Pandemic,” we review the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent of its impact on place attachment and human-environment interactions. We examine how restrictions in mobility and environmental changes can have a significant psychological burden on people who are dealing with the effect of place attachment disruption that arises during a pandemic. In the second section, “Adjusting to Place Attachment Disruption During and After a Pandemic,” we focus on adaptive processes and responses that could enable people to adjust positively to place attachment disruption. We conclude the book by discussing the potential for pro-environmental behavior to promote place attachment and flourishing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic by introducing an integrative framework of place flourishing and exploring its implications for theory, research, policy, and practice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has plagued the world, bringing everyday activities to a standstill. Many people are wrestling with the impact of the public health crisis on the connections they have with their environment (e.g., neighborhoods, cities), specific places (e.g., workplaces, places of worship), and people (e.g., loved ones, faith community) that are part of their daily lives. In this paper, we introduce the phenomenon of place attachment disruption as a common challenge for people who have been disconnected from their environment since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2. We conceptualize place as a relational object and argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the attachment that people have with the physical elements of their environment, the lifeforms of the environment, and to some extent the ‘soul’ of their cities. We then consider defensive responses that may be triggered by disruptions to place attachment during the public health crisis, including the emergence of spiritual/religious struggles. The experience of place attachment disruption is discussed as an opportunity to transcend place-related COVID-19 loss by detaching from ‘what no longer serves us’ in a way that builds resilience. We conclude by highlighting some practical approaches that could facilitate psychospiritual transformation (e.g., meaning-making) to disrupted place attachment during the public health crisis, as well as those that could support the formation of new (or renewed) connections to place in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant consequences for Americans’ daily lives. Many people are spending more time in their homes due to work from home arrangements, stay at home orders, and closures of businesses and public gathering spaces. In this study, we explored how one’s attachment to their home may help to buffer their mental health during this stressful time. Data were collected from a three-wave, longitudinal sampling (n = 289) surveyed at baseline, two, and four weeks after. We found a clear relationship between an individual’s attachment to home and positive mental health. Across all three waves, home attachment was negatively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, participants’ home attachment at baseline was predictive of subsequent mental health two weeks after, which suggests that one’s relationship to their home was particularly important during the initial onset of the national response to the outbreak. Predictors of home attachment included conscientiousness, agreeableness, and restorative ambience. Over the course of the study, kinship ambience also emerged as a predictor of home attachment. In the midst of increased mental health concerns and limited resources due to COVID-19, the home may buffer some individuals from depressive and anxiety-related symptoms by functioning as a source of refuge, security, and stability.
To identify potential protective mechanisms that might buffer the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being, the current set of studies (NStudy 1 = 1172, NStudy 2 = 451) examined the roles of hope and religious coping (positive and negative) in promoting well-being during stay-at-home orders that were implemented in Colombia and South Africa. After controlling for relevant sociodemographic characteristics (Study 1), subjective health complaints, and sleep quality (Study 2), hope was positively associated with well-being and the relation between hope and well-being was moderated by religious coping. Whilst well-being was highest when levels of hope were high (irrespective of positive or negative religious coping levels), when reported hope was low, well-being tended to be higher when positive religious coping was high (Study 1) and negative religious coping was low (Study 2). Implications of the findings for maintaining well-being during a public health crisis are discussed.
Background:
Religious-service attendance has been linked with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, suicide and depression. Yet, its associations with other health and well-being outcomes remain less clear.
Methods:
Using longitudinal data from three large prospective cohorts in the USA, this study examined the association between religious-service attendance and a wide range of subsequent physical health, health-behaviour, psychological distress and psychological well-being outcomes in separate cohorts of young, middle-aged and older adults. All analyses adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, prior health status and prior values of the outcome variables whenever data were available. Bonferroni correction was used to correct for multiple testing.
Results:
Estimates combining data across cohorts suggest that, compared with those who never attended religious services, individuals who attended services at least once per week had a lower risk of all-cause mortality by 26% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65 to 0.84], heavy drinking by 34% (95% CI: 0.59 to 0.73) and current smoking by 29% (95% CI: 0.63 to 0.80). Service attendance was also inversely associated with a number of psychological-distress outcomes (i.e. depression, anxiety, hopelessness, loneliness) and was positively associated with psychosocial well-being outcomes (i.e. positive affect, life satisfaction, social integration, purpose in life), but was generally not associated with subsequent disease, such as hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.
Conclusions:
Decisions on religious participation are generally not shaped principally by health. Nevertheless, for individuals who already hold religious beliefs, religious-service attendance may be a meaningful form of social integration that potentially relates to greater longevity, healthier behaviours, better mental health and greater psychosocial well-being.
This book examines the role of religious and spiritual experiences in people’s understanding of their environment, and how their place experiences are transformed in the process. The contributors consider how understandings and experiences of religious and place connections are motivated by the need to seek and maintain contact with perceptual objects, so as to form meaningful relationship experiences. The purpose is not to engage in comparative religion or analyse different religious traditions in relation to place, but rather to understand how people's perceptions of physical, imaginary and transpersonal objects shape their religious and place experiences. This book is one of the first scholarly attempts to discuss the psychological links between place and religious experiences. The chapters provide insights for understanding how people’s experiences with geographical places and the sacred serve as agencies for meaning-making, pro-social behaviour, and psychological adjustment in everyday life.
The expression of attachment to the divine in certain places among different groups has been documented by anthropologists and sociologists for decades. However, the psychological processes by which this happens are not yet fully understood. This paper focuses on the concept of “place spirituality” (PS) as a psychological mechanism which allows the religious believer or non-believer to achieve an organized attachment strategy, involving the interplay of place and spiritual attachment. First, PS is considered as an experience which satisfies the attachment relationship criteria, in that geographic places and divine entities can be perceived as “objects” of attachment. Secondly, it is proposed that the maturational aspects of attachment repertoire in adults make the PS experience possible since adults’ cognitive abilities are much wider than those of children and can include relationships to geographical spaces and invisible divine entities. Finally, the theme of PS is explored to further position the concept as a relational paradigm for understanding the relationship between place experiences and spiritual attachment.
Background:
When patients are facing the ends of their lives, spiritual concerns often become more important. It is argued that effective, integrated palliative care should include addressing patients' spiritual wellbeing. In 2002 the EORTC Quality of Life Group began an international study to develop an spiritual wellbeing measure for palliative patients (SWB). Spiritual wellbeing is a complex construct, which comprises multiple contributory components. While conducting the EORTC SWB validation study with Dutch palliative cancer patients we also conducted an exploratory side study to examine the relationship between their spiritual wellbeing, images of God, and attitudes towards death.
Methods:
Patients with incurable cancer who were able to understand Dutch and were well enough to participate, completed the provisional SWB measure and two scales assessing "Images of God" and "attitudes towards death and afterlife". Linear stepwise regression analysis was conducted to assess the relation between SWB and other factors.
Results:
Fifty two Dutch patients, 28 females and 24 males, participated. The whole SWB measure validation identified four scoring scales: Existential (EX), Relationship with Self (RS), Relationships with Others (RO), Relationship with Something Greater (RSG) and Relationship with God (RG, for believers only). Adherence to an image of an Unknowable God and a worse WHO performance status were negatively associated with the EX scale. The image of an Unknowable God was also found to be negatively associated with the RS scale. Higher education correlated positively with the RO scale. Adherence to a Personal or Non-Personal Image of God was not found to be positively influencing any of the domains of SWB.
Conclusions:
For our participants, an Unknowable Image of God had a negative relationship with their SWB. Furthermore, specific images of God (Personal or Non Personal) are not associated with domains of SWB. Together, these findings suggest that spiritual wellbeing surpasses traditional religious views. The development of a new language which more naturally expresses different images of a higher being amongst patients in western late-modern societies may further aid our understanding and subsequently lead to an improvement in patients' spiritual wellbeing.
Participation in religious services is associated with numerous aspects of human flourishing, including happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. Evidence for the effects of religious communities on these flourishing outcomes now comes from rigorous longitudinal study designs with extensive confounding control. The associations with flourishing are much stronger for communal religious participation than for spiritual-religious identity or for private practices. While the social support is an important mechanism relating religion to health, this only explains a small portion of the associations. Numerous other mechanisms appear to be operative as well. It may be the confluence of the religious values and practices, reinforced by social ties and norms, that give religious communities their powerful effects on so many aspects of human flourishing.
This paper examines the role of place attachment in religious life by analyzing various significant place events in the Bible, using analysis of biblical discourse. The paper looks at various biblical places, and explores the implications of approaching these sacred settings in terms of place attachment theory. In the Old Testament we focus on Mount Sinai, Canaan, and Jerusalem, and in the New Testament on Galilee, Jerusalem, and on view that Christianity, to some extent, transcends place attachment. The nature of the attachments to these places is diverse and varied. The claim is that place attachment theory can make a valuable theoretical contribution to an analysis of the role of place in the Bible, as an addition to the growing literature on the psychological interpretation of the Bible.
The article is an attempt to make sense of the different interdisciplinary perspectives associated with people’s attachment to places with a view to construct a holistic template for understanding people-place relationships and experiences. The author took note of the theoretical contributions of Jorgensen & Stedman (2001), Scannell & Gifford (2010), and Seamon (2012, 2014) to construct an integrative framework for understanding emotional links to places and people’s perception and experience of places. This was done with the intention of illuminating the meaning of place and the different “places” people get attached to. The paper concludes by incorporating different place frameworks with the intention of establishing a holistic model for understanding the various attributes and perceptions of people-place relationships and experiences.
The primary objective of the paper is to revisit the concept of place in order to ascertain its possible use as an interface for siting the multi-referential perspective coveted in integrated conservation (IC) planning. A second is to discuss why the concept of place may be seen as closely intertwined with urban conservation studies. The traditional concept of place is a theoretical construct that implies on a created environmental form, imbued with symbolic significance to its users. The author's actual rethinking of place favors the envisioning of the concept under an interdisciplinary light, emphasizing the identification of places as they are expressed by their social, physical and psychological representations. Place studies in today's postmodern cities admit new conceptual issues, among which, the concepts of placemaking and placemarketing. Increasingly, placemaking projects are including conservation areas in their actions, promoting their development by employing placemarketing strategies. Therein seems to lie a possibility for bridging IC planning to place studies, since place may be seen as an appropriate mediator to establishing communication between disciplines in IC planning. It is speculated that from this merging, one can expect that an adequate practical methodological interface will be generated. The paper describes two research projects carried out in the city of Porto Alegre, employing environmental perception techniques. The projects managed to identify places by means of the perceived meanings, memories, and values people attribute to urban structural components, and which may be useful to illustrate the point.
Research has established nature connectedness as a reliable correlate of well-being. In the current research, we examined whether meaning in life mediated the association between nature connectedness and well-being. In Study 1, 311 undergraduates completed multiple measures of nature connectedness, multiple measures of meaning in life, and multiple measures of well-being. Mediational analyses revealed that meaning in life fully mediated the association between nature connectedness and well-being. In Study 2, we
examined whether mediation of the association between nature connectedness and well-being by meaning in life could be demonstrated alongside a previously documented mediation of the association between religiousness and well-being by meaning in life. Undergraduates (N = 227) completed measures of nature connectedness, religiousness, meaning in life, and well-being. Mediational analyses revealed that meaning in life fully mediated both the association between nature connectedness and well-being and the asso-
ciation between religiousness and well-being.
Proposes a broader approach to research in human development that focuses on the progressive accommodation, throughout the life span, between the growing human organism and the changing environments in which it actually lives and grows. The latter include not only the immediate settings containing the developing person but also the larger social contexts, both formal and informal, in which these settings are embedded. In terms of method, the approach emphasizes the use of rigorously designed experiments, both naturalistic and contrived, beginning in the early stages of the research process. The changing relation between person and environment is conceived in systems terms. These systems properties are set forth in a series of propositions, each illustrated by concrete research examples. (1¼ p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper examines issues arising from the involuntary relocation of Turkish Cypriot refugees from the southern to the northern portion of the island of Cyprus. After the ceasefire in 1974, participants in this study were relocated into homes originally built and occupied by Greek Cypriots. Using data obtained from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and drawings, the study analyses their place attachment under the unusual circumstances of their own forced relocation coupled with their occupation of homes abandoned by residents also displaced by war and interethnic hostility. The study compares the place attachment of refugees to their children, who were born and brought up in the new community. The results of this study suggest that participants' future expectations shaped their attachment to their new homes and community, whilst their degree of attachment to their previous environments also played an important role in the attachment process. Younger generations, on the other hand, were more attached to their current environment than older generations; however they did not wish to be identified with their current environment.
Objectives:
Examine differences in multidimensional well-being from before (January 2020) to three timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020, January 2021, January 2022).
Study design:
Repeated cross-sectional design.
Methods:
Nationally representative cross-sectional cohorts of US adults completed the Secure Flourish Index before (January 2020 cohort: N = 1010) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 cohort: N = 3020; January 2021 cohort: N = 3366; January 2022 cohort: N = 2598). We estimated differences in indicators, domains, and composite well-being between the January 2020 cohort and each of the subsequent cohorts. We also explored whether changes in well-being between January 2020 and January 2022 varied based on age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
Results:
Initial declines in well-being observed by June 2020 were largely followed by a return to prepandemic levels in January 2022, with some exceptions. Notably, general declines in mental health have persisted through to January 2022. On the other hand, there was evidence of general improvements in character & virtue that exceeded prepandemic levels in January 2022. Young adults and racial/ethnic minorities reported lower financial & material stability in January 2022 compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions:
Although there are promising signs that the well-being of US adults has mostly recovered to prepandemic levels, a coordinated response is urgently needed to support population mental health and the financial security of vulnerable groups. As society continues the journey toward postpandemic recovery, continued tracking of multidimensional well-being will be important for making informed decisions about public health priorities.
The COVID-19 pandemic instigated a remarkable range of stressors that have impacted people all around the world (Cowden et al., 2021b). Those stressors have affected economic (e.g., financial security), interpersonal (e.g., social connectedness), physical (e.g., health), psychological (e.g., mental well-being), and religious/spiritual (e.g., in-person religious services) domains of human life (Blustein et al., 2020; Dein et al., 2020; O’Connor et al., 2020; Xiong et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020). Pandemic-related stressors constitute different forms of resource loss, due in large part to the widespread community mitigation strategies (e.g., stay-at-home orders, physical distancing requirements) that have been enacted in countries and territories around the world to prevent or limit transmission of SARS-CoV-2. One form of pandemic-related resource loss that is primarily attributable to the implementation of public health control measures is place attachment disruption, which arises when people are separated from a place of significance (Scannell et al., 2021). Drawing on an integrated resource theory, this chapter explores place attachment disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic as a form of resource loss that evokes psychological distress. It discusses the potential for resource acquisition and facilitation to buffer the negative effects of pandemic-related place attachment disruption, including some emphasis on the role of religion/spirituality in building resources that could guard against future loss.
Objective:
This study tested three conceptual explanatory models that have been theorized to account for the linkages between religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles and psychological distress: the primary model (i.e., R/S struggles lead to psychological distress), the secondary model (i.e., psychological distress leads to R/S struggles), and the complex model (i.e., R/S struggles and psychological distress reciprocally exacerbate each other).
Methods:
Using prospective data from a sample of US adults living with chronic health conditions (n = 302), we performed a cross-lagged panel analysis with three timepoints to test for evidence of potential causal relations between R/S struggles and psychological distress.
Results:
Consistent with the complex conceptual model of R/S struggles, we found evidence of positive reciprocal associations between R/S struggles and psychological distress.
Conclusion:
The findings highlight the importance of attending to the dynamic interplay between R/S struggles and psychological distress when working with adults who have chronic health conditions.
Problem, research strategy, and findings
Residential relocation is a way for older adults to cope with income changes, health changes, and other life cycle events such as the loss of a partner. The number of movers aged 60 and older increased by 1.4 million from 2010 to 2019 in the United States. Therefore, it is timely to examine older adults’ recent relocation patterns. Using multiple national-level data sources, we asked two questions: First, who are movers among older adults, and why are they moving? Second, what are their destination regions and neighborhoods? Results show that movers tend to be renters, those with lower incomes, those with higher housing cost burdens, and those who live alone. Although older adults’ primary reason for relocation is to live closer to their families, baby boomers younger than 70 have more heterogeneous moving reasons than older cohorts. We classify older adult movers into three types: aging adapters (56.9% of movers), suburb lovers (37.5% of movers), and long-distance movers (5.6% of movers).
Takeaway for practice
Our findings suggest short- and long-term strategies for planners to help older adults meet their heterogeneous residential needs. Practitioners should take steps to increase housing affordability for older adults, such as through changes in land use controls, by creating more age-restricted and age-inclusive communities to accommodate the diverse needs of movers among older adults, and by promoting age-friendly ride-hailing and public transit systems.
Based on theorization on the four basic dimensions of religiousness, Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging, and corresponding cognitive, emotional, moral, and social motives and functions of religion, we developed a measure and investigated cross-cultural consistency of the four dimensions as well interindividual and cross-cultural variability. Data were collected from 14 countries varying in religious heritage: Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism/Taoism ( N = 3,218). Beyond their high interrelation and common personality correlates, that is, agreeableness and conscientiousness, the four dimensions were distinct across cultures and religions, less interrelated in Eastern Asia compared to the West, differentially preferred across cultural zones, and characterized by distinct features. Believing and bonding, to which spirituality was primarily related, were preferred in Western secular societies. Behaving and belonging, valued in religious societies, were importantly related to fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and low openness. Bonding and behaving were primordial in, respectively, Israel and Turkey. Furthermore, belonging (marked by extraversion) and bonding were uniquely associated with increased life satisfaction, whereas believing was uniquely related to existential quest and decreased life satisfaction. Thus, the multidimensionality of religiousness seems deeply rooted in distinct psychological dispositions evident at both the individual and the cultural levels.
A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action presents a comprehensive and detailed theory of early human development based on the principles of dynamic systems theory. Beginning with their own research in motor, perceptual, and cognitive development, Thelen and Smith raise fundamental questions about prevailing assumptions in the field. They propose a new theory of the development of cognition and action, unifying recent advances in dynamic systems theory with current research in neuroscience and neural development. In particular, they show how by processes of exploration and selection, multimodal experiences form the bases for self-organizing perception-action categories.
Thelen and Smith offer a radical alternative to current cognitive theory, both in their emphasis on dynamic representation and in their focus on processes of change. Among the first attempt to apply complexity theory to psychology, they suggest reinterpretations of several classic issues in early cognitive development.
The book is divided into three sections. The first discusses the nature of developmental processes in general terms, the second covers dynamic principles in process and mechanism, and the third looks at how a dynamic theory can be applied to enduring puzzles of development.
Cognitive Psychology series
Bradford Books imprint
In public health, it has long been observed that "place"-specifically, where one lives-affects individual health, with the main research question distinguishing between the effects of "context" (defined as area characteristics) and "composition" (the characteristics of inhabitants) on health outcomes. There have been many studies in which the spatial patterning of disease has been explored, but they were often ecological in design, used broad census geographic levels, lacked individual-level data, or when available, did not simultaneously analyze community- and individual-level risk factors using appropriate modeling techniques. The paper by Diez-Roux et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 1997;146(1):48-63) represents an important expansion of the literature in terms of analytic methods used and level of geography studied. The authors demonstrated that both neighborhood- and individual-level measures of socioeconomic status work together to play an important role in shaping disease risk. Analyses incorporating both levels of data have the potential to provide epidemiologists with a deeper understanding of the divergent pathways via which neighborhood affects health.
Place attachment, the cognitive-emotional bond that forms between individuals and their important settings, is a common human experience with implications for their well-being. It has often been described and defined, but few studies have examined the range of psychological benefits it provides. This study investigated the experienced psychological benefits of place attachment by content analyzing community members' descriptions of places to which they consider themselves attached. Using an inductive approach, their responses were coded for themes of reported psychological benefits. Thirteen categories of benefits were revealed: memories, belonging, relaxation, positive emotions, activity support, comfort-security, personal growth, freedom, entertainment, connection to nature, practical benefits, privacy, and aesthetics. Variations in the reported benefits were explored as a function of place type, geographical scale, and demographic characteristics. This study provides heuristic insights into the experienced psychological benefits of place attachment.
This chapter begins by presenting a small sample of the vast body of available evidence that shows a clear relationship between poverty, deprivation, and health. It then discusses how and why poverty affects health. It presents evidence of the persistence of poverty and social exclusion in western Europe and deepening poverty in eastern Europe, as well as the implications of this for health. The chapter then turns to the concept of 'social exclusion' in Europe and focuses on the evidence of the detrimental effect on health for particular 'minority' groups: the unemployed, refugees, poorer migrants, ethnic minorities, and homeless people. Finally, it offers short- and long-term policy suggestions for the reduction of health problems resulting from poverty, relative deprivation, and social exclusion.
This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge about religion and coping. It begins with a definition and theoretical model of religion, and then addresses several themes that have emerged from this rapidly growing body of study: (1) Religion can be embedded in every part of the coping process; (2) Religion adds a distinctive dimension to the coping process; (3) The role of religion in coping is determined by the availability of religion and perceptions that it offers compelling solutions; (4) Religion can be both helpful and harmful; and (5) Religion can be integrated more fully into the process of treatment. Overall, it has become clear that religion is an integral, rich, and multidimensional part of the coping process, one that should not be overlooked in studies of people experiencing major life stressors. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions for research in this area of inquiry.
Even though it is argued that intuition has ‘come of age’ in the behavioral sciences, there are still unresolved issues regarding self‐report assessment of intuitive and analytical styles of information processing (cognitive styles). The unitary view proposes that intuition and analysis are opposite ends of a single continuum. The dual view proposes that intuition and analysis are independent (orthogonal) constructs. Moreover, within the dual view, it has been proposed that intuition and analysis can be further subdivided into ability and engagement subcomponents. The aim of this article was to test both of these claims and thereby move discussions regarding the assessment of cognitive styles further forward. This research is important given that much intuition research in organizations is predicated on self‐report methods of assessment. Using data from a sample of police officers and police staff from a large police organization in the United Kingdom, we found that the adoption of a dual (rather than unitary) perspective when assessing experiential and rational cognitive styles is warranted, whereas adopting an ability and engagement refinement is not (hence a simpler formulation is to be preferred). We also observed a number of main effects and interactions with respect to job type, job level, gender, and experience. We offer guidelines for the self‐report assessment of intuition and analysis cognitive styles and discuss a typology of styles. The article concludes by outlining a number of practical implications for cognitive styles assessment in organizational settings.
This paper reviews research in place attachment and organizes the material into three sections: research, method, and theory. A review of several hundred empirical and theoretical papers and chapters reveals that despite mobility and globalization processes, place continues to be an object of strong attachments. The main message of the paper is that of the three components of the tripartite model of place attachment (Scannell & Gifford, 2010a), the Person component has attracted disproportionately more attention than the Place and Process components, and that this emphasis on individual differences probably has inhibited the development of a theory of place attachment. Suggestions are offered for theoretical sources that might help to fill the gaps, including theories of social capital, environmental aesthetics, phenomenological laws of order, attachment, and meaning-making processes that stem from movements and time-space routines.
We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.
Theorized that place-identity is a cluster of positively and negatively valenced cognitions of physical settings. The substantive and valuative natures of these cognitions help to define who and of what value the individual is both to him/herself and in terms of how he/she thinks others view him/her. Three factors are seen as underlying the influence of physical settings on the development of place-identity in the individual: the physical settings of the home, school, and neighborhood. It is in the home, school, and neighborhood settings that the child learns some of his/her most significant social roles (e.g., sex, peer-group membership, ethnic group membership). (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Policy prescription in most Western societies has increasingly favoured urban intensification policies in order to ensure a more sustainable development pattern. In particular, it is now widely felt that residential decisions concerning where to live profoundly affect, among other things, environmental pollution, resource use and land and habitat loss. Using the central area of Dublin city as a case study, this paper focuses specifically on garnering a better understanding of the residential behaviour of residents who have moved into new relatively high-density residential environments. This is a group who have made the choice to move into a relatively high-density urban area and hence it will be revealing to assess the motives, preferences and future intentions of this residential population. Findings suggest that the ultimate residential preference of the majority of residents in these areas is for lower density locations which call into question the long term success of urban intensification efforts. Results from a logit model of residential mobility indicate that stage in their life cycle, satisfaction with both the dwelling and the neighbourhood emerge as significant predictors of respondents intended future mobility patterns.
Place attachment has been researched quite broadly, and so has been defined in a variety of ways. The various definitions of the concept are reviewed and synthesized into a three-dimensional, person–process–place organizing framework. The person dimension of place attachment refers to its individually or collectively determined meanings. The psychological dimension includes the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attachment. The place dimension emphasizes the place characteristics of attachment, including spatial level, specificity, and the prominence of social or physical elements. In addition, potential functions of place attachment are reviewed. The framework organizes related place attachment concepts and thus clarifies the term. The framework may also be used to stimulate new research, investigate multidimensionality, create operational definitions for quantitative studies, guide semi-structured interviews for qualitative studies, and assist in conflict resolution for successful land-use management.
Previous research has indicated that, while large parts of Middlesbrough and Sunderland appear to be equally severely deprived, premature mortality in the early 1980s was substantially worse in Middlesbrough. Postcoded mortality data from 1975 to 1986 were assembled, to ascertain whether this disparity reflected a temporary or consistent difference between these two towns. In addition, to enable detailed consideration of the differentials in premature mortality, data on cause of death for 23 cause-groups were assembled for the 6-year period 1978 to 1983. The results show that, throughout the 12-year period, death rates below the age of 65 years in Middlesbrough's poorer areas consistently exceeded death rates in comparable areas of Sunderland by a large margin. This disparity is demonstrated to affect both sexes and all age-groups below 65. Middlesbrough's excess mortality was evident for most causes of death (19 out of 22 causes among men, and 16 out of 23 causes among women), with cerebrovascular disease and genitourinary malignancy among women being the only major exceptions. Possible explanations for this wide difference are considered. The conclusions of research in Lancashire, suggesting that the antecedents of present differences may be found in infant health disparities from the 1920s and 1930s, do not seem to apply in this instance. The possibility that unmeasured differences in levels of poverty or the suddenness of its onset may be contributory influences remains problematic. Individual lifestyle is not considered a plausible explanation, but possible differences in the provision and use of health services between the two towns are thought worthy of closer investigation. It is also suggested that environmental differences, in terms of the built environment and atmospheric pollutants require closer scrutiny.
PIP
The elderly tend to make 3 kinds of moves when they migrate: 1) When they retire, 2) When they experience moderate forms of disability, and 3) when they have major forms of chronic disability. In the 1st type of move, the migrant's support needs do not require nearness of kin. These migrants tend to be younger, healthier, wealthier, and more often have intact marriages than migrants in the counter streams. The 2nd type of move is typically compounded when deficits from widowhood and disability are combined. They generally move nearer to their children. Older persons moving to retirement destinations like Florida should typify the 1st move, whereas those moving from Florida to northern urban areas should typify the 2nd and 3rd moves. Those moving from northern states to Florida tend to be younger than those moving from Florida to northern states. 15.5% of those moving to Florida are over 75 years old whereas 40.6% of those moving north from Florida are over 75. 47.8% of those moving north are widowed, but only 17% of those moving to Florida are widowed. Limited kin resources is the motive for the 3rd move. Most 3rd-stage moves are local rather than long distance. There are 2 groups who do not follow the same migration pattern despite facing similar social pressures to make the 3 basic moves: 1) those moving between metropolitan and non-metropolitan places and 2) migrants from abroad who join their families. Migrants from abroad tend to live with their children more and live independently less frequently than any of the migration comparison groups. They also have the highest proportion of persons receiving welfare income.
Studies of socioeconomic gradients in mortality in wealthy societies reveal that they have been persist, and included most of the principal causes of death, even during the era when these principal causes of death have entirely changed. This observation has led to an interest in the ways in which the diversity of conditions of life, unfolding over the life cycle, can become embedded in human biology and subsequently affect health status and vitality. There is evidence that childhood experiences affect subsequent health status (as well as well-being and competence) in profound and long-lasting ways. Conflicting explanatory models of the impact of childhood experiences have been advanced, whose conflicts are political in nature, in that the reflect divergent beliefs about how human potential expresses itself, and, also, about the nature of the obligations which members of society have to one another. Notwithstanding these conflicts, a body of evidence derived from intervention studies in the post-neonatal, preschool, and school age periods suggest that performance in two basic domains of child development, the cognitive and the social-emotional, can be modified in ways which improve health, well-being, and competence in the long-term.
In order to expand our knowledge of how health inequalities are generated, a broader range of possible mechanisms has to be studied. Two mechanisms of potential importance here are childhood conditions and sense of coherence. Drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical findings in these two research fields, a conceptual model of the relationships between childhood conditions, sense of coherence, adult social class and adult health is presented. On the basis of this model, this paper sets out to analyse (1) the degree to which a low sense of coherence is based in childhood experiences, (2) the degree to which the impact of childhood conditions on adult health is mediated through sense of coherence, and (3) the importance of sense of coherence for class differences in ill health. The analyses are carried out on both cross-sectional data (n = 4390) and panel data (n = 3773) from the Swedish Level of Living Surveys in 1981 and 1991. The analyses indicate that childhood family size and the experience of a broken home are unrelated to sense of coherence later in life, while economic hardship has a small and indirect effect, mediated via class position in adulthood. Only dissension in the childhood family was found to have a direct, although fairly modest, effect on sense of coherence. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that sense of coherence does not mediate the effect of childhood factors on adult health. Rather, childhood conditions and adult sense of coherence appear to be complementary and additive risk factors for illness in adulthood. The results presented here also suggest that sense of coherence may be a factor involved in the shaping of class inequalities in health.
This study investigated the influence of an aggregate measure of the social environment on racial differences in all-cause mortality.
Data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study were analyzed.
After adjustment for family income, age-adjusted mortality risk increased with increasing minority residential segregation among Blacks aged 25 to 44 years and non-Blacks aged 45 to 64 years. In most age/race/gender groups, the highest and lowest mortality risks occurred in the highest and lowest categories of residential segregation, respectively.
These results suggest that minority residential segregation may influence mortality risk and underscore the traditional emphasis on the social underpinnings of disease and death.
It is generally agreed that social ties play a beneficial role in the maintenance of psychological well-being. In this targeted review, we highlight four sets of insights that emerge from the literature on social ties and mental health outcomes (defined as stress reactions, psychological well-being, and psychological distress, including depressive symptoms and anxiety). First, the pathways by which social networks and social supports influence mental health can be described by two alternative (although not mutually exclusive) causal models-the main effect model and the stress-buffering model. Second, the protective effects of social ties on mental health are not uniform across groups in society. Gender differences in support derived from social network participation may partly account for the higher prevalence of psychological distress among women compared to men. Social connections may paradoxically increase levels of mental illness symptoms among women with low resources, especially if such connections entail role strain associated with obligations to provide social support to others. Third, egocentric networks are nested within a broader structure of social relationships. The notion of social capital embraces the embeddedness of individual social ties within the broader social structure. Fourth, despite some successes reported in social support interventions to enhance mental health, further work is needed to deepen our understanding of the design, timing, and dose of interventions that work, as well as the characteristics of individuals who benefit the most.