Religiosity and Self-Rated Health in India: Results from a National Study

• In Event: 41069 - Religion, Health, and Well-Being

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between religiosity and self-rated health in India, using data from a new nationally representative sample (n = 29,999). Although research indicates a positive relationship between religious involvement and health,the majority of them concentrate on high-income, predominantly Christian, Western societies. The purpose of this study is to determine whether these associations hold in a non-Western, lower-income, and predominantly non-Christian country like India.
This study extends previous research on religion and health in India by examining the general adult population (18 years and older) and using a multidimensional approach to religiosity. Five facets of religious involvement are examined: religious attendance, prayer, scripture reading, religious media consumption, and religious salience. This multidimensional approach provides a more comprehensive examination of how different aspects of religious involvement relate to health as compared to previous studies that usually focus on religious attendance and sometimes one additional aspect of religiosity.
India is a crucial case for studying the connection between religion and health. India is the world’s largest country and since the majority of India’s population is in the active workforce and will transition to mid-life and later in the coming decades, understanding the social determinants of health in India like education and literacy, socio-economic status, environmental factors, healthcare, cultural factors, and beliefs can have considerable policy significance.Examining the relationship between religiosity and health in India is important for understanding this relationship outside of Western and Christian cultural contexts, but also for developing effective policies around the social determinants of health in countries which are resource-constrained and home to a substantial part of the world’s population. Cross-national and cross-cultural studies can provide insight into the mechanisms driving the relationship between religion and health association in a non-western context.

Authors

• Harleen Sandhu, Louisiana State University

• Samuel Stroope, Louisiana State University