Religious Support and Emotional Functioning in India across Three Major Religions

ABSTRACT

We examined religious support and emotional functioning among 511 Indian university students who reported being either Christian, Muslim, or Hindu. The three-scale structure and internal consistency of the Multi-Faith Religious Support Scale (MFRSS) was supported. Christians’ support from God, fellow participants, and religious leaders was all related to more life satisfaction and less depression. Support from God and participants remained linked with life satisfaction even after controlling for social support. Muslims’ God support was linked to less depression after controlling for social support. Hindus’ religious support and emotional functioning were not related, but their social support was related to less depression. Group differences in religious support were found. Hindus reported the least God support, and Christians reported the most support from fellow religious participants. Overall, findings suggested that religious support functions differently across religious groups in India, with greatest emotional relevance for Christians and least for Hindus. Findings are discussed regarding variations due to faith and culture, implications, and future directions for research.

Acknowledgements

This article is based in part on research from the first author’s dissertation under the direction of the second author. Thanks go to the editor and the reviewers for helpful feedback on an earlier version of this paper. This article is in memory of Richard L. Gorsuch (5/14/37 – 2/14/16) who began this research as the principal investigator.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.