Monday, November 14, 2011

Going to Church Regularly Might Be Correlated With This Interesting Mental State

Do you attend any religious services? A recent study has found a possible link between people who go to church (or other religious service) more than once a week and their outlook on life...

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The study, in the Journal of Religion and Health, found that they were "56 percent more likely to be above the median score in a measure of optimism." Glass half-full types, basically.
The researchers caution that the findings may show a correlation, but not causality: "The person who says, 'I guess if I go to services, that will make me more optimistic'--while a possibility, that may not be true," says Eliezer Schnall, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Yeshiva University in New York. 

And the correlation could simply have something to do with the fact that regularly scheduled social interaction can boost your feelings of wellbeing (the study also found that service-goers were "28 percent more likely to report having positive social support").

So what do you think? Are you an optimistic person?

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