Life Meaning, Spirituality, and Health Flashcards
What three components make up triad 1: human existence?
- Freedom of will
- Will to meaning
- Meaning of life
Self-transcendence
We should find meaning in something beyond ourselves – look out!
What three components make up triad 2: meaning of life?
- Creativity (creating a work; doing a deed)
- Experiential (experiencing goodness, truth, beauty; experiencing nature or culture; encountering another unique human being)
- Attitudinal (choosing to rise above negative circumstances)
What three components make up “tragic” triad 3: attitudinal values?
The stand we take to…
1. Pain (is a stand we take to our fate)
2. Guilt (is a stand we take to our self)
3. Death (is a stand we take to our transitoriness)
Tragic optimism (Frankl)
The ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life, despite its inescapable pain, loss, and suffering.
What are the essential components of tragic optimism? (Wong)
- Acceptance
- Affirmation
- Courage
- Faith
- Self-transcendence
Personal Meaning Theory (Wong)
- The will to meaning is universal in human beings (humans have 2 primary motivations: to survive, and to find meaning; human cultures are based on shared meanings)
- Finding and pursuing meaning heals and transforms
- Personal meaning transcends theoretical perspectives
- Responsibility for living a meaningful life rests with the individual
What are the four aspects of pursuing a meaningful life? (Wong)
- Purpose (motivational)
- Understanding (cognitive)
- Responsible action (moral/behavioural)
- Enjoyment/evaluation (affective)
What two components provide the basis for meaning?
- Religion
- Spirituality
What are the main differences between religion and spirituality? (Zinnbauer & Paragament)
- Religion: substantive, static, institutional, objective, and belief-based. Overall, seen negatively (according to one study)
- Spirituality: functional, dynamic, personal, subjective, and emotional/experiential-based. Overall, seen positively (according to one study)
Religiousity (Newberg and others)
- The search for sacred goals or for nonsacred goals in the context of spiritual criteria
- Nonsacred goal examples: identity, belonging, meaning, health
Spirituality (Newberg and others)
The subjective feelings, thoughts, experiences and behaviours that arise from a search or quest for the sacred.
Sacred (Newberg and others)
What the individual perceives as a divine being, ultimate reality, or ultimate truth.
How do spirituality relate to physical health?
- Positive correlation
- Problems with research
How does religion relate to longevity?
- Religious people live longer
- Many confounding factors
- Undetermined relationship
What are the physiological impacts of religious meditation/prayer? (Seeman; Dublin & Seeman)
- Lower blood pressure
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower stress hormones (cortisol)
- Cortisol reduction
- Modified brain activity
- Increased immunity
What are the reasons for the physiological impacts of religious meditation/prayer? (Oman & Thoresen)
- Enhanced coping
- Healthy behaviours encouraged
- Positive psychological states
- Social support counters stress
- Increased physical activity (older members)
How does spirituality relate to mental health?
- Positive correlation.
- Problems with research.
Why is there a correlation between spirituality and mental health?
- Religion moderates emotions
- Religion can improve self-esteem
- Religion promotes hope
- Religion promotes better coping
- Religion provides life meaning
How is religion linked to emotions? (Silberman)
- Religion enables people to experience powerful emotions (Eg. Worship and prayer)
- Religion determines the type of emotions experienced through Deity attributes
- Religion moderates emotional expression through moral teachings
How is religion linked to happiness? (Pollner)
- Sense of order and meaning in difficulties
- Counters negative feelings
- Positive self-esteem
- Positive world view
How is religion linked to self-esteem?
- Belief in God, church attendance, and prayer correlates with self-esteem and psychological well-being
- Positive God-image correlated with self-esteem and sense of control in life
- Controlling God image correlated with shame
What are the two religious orientations? (Allport & Ross)
- Extrinsic
- Intrinsic
Extrinsic (religious orientation)
- Utilitarian
- Serves my ends
- Use as needed
- Adapt belief to life
- Uses religion
