Salvation with fear and trembling? Scrupulous fears inconsistently mediate the relationship between religion and well-being

ABSTRACT

The positive association between religiosity and well-being is well supported in the literature. However, the documented relationship between religiosity and negative emotions such as fear, guilt, and shame suggest that religion may also suppress well-being via alternative mediational pathways. This study examined the possibility that scrupulous fears—a subclinical tendency to experience anxiety pertaining to sin—negatively mediate the otherwise positive relationship between religiosity and well-being. This hypothesis was tested in a cross-sectional analysis of data derived from an ethnically diverse, multi-religious sample in South East Asia. The hypothesis was partially supported. The negative indirect effect of religiosity on flourishing via scrupulosity was found to be significant, while the negative indirect effect of religiosity on satisfaction with life via scrupulosity was found to be non-significant. These results provide first evidence of religiosity exerting an indirect negative effect on aspects of well-being and affirm the importance of expanding research on this complex relationship.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion
• scrupulosity
• anxiety
• well-being
• satisfaction with life
• flourishing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jonathan E. Ramsay http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4634-9040

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.