JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: , Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

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1 ASSESSMENT OF SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING AND BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH READING SCRIPTURES AMONG ADULTS FARHAT JAHAN* AKBAR HUSAIN** * Research Scholar, Dept. of Psychology, A.M.U. Aligarh, India ** Professor, Dept. of Psychology, A.M.U. Aligarh, India ABSTRACT The main objectives of the present study were: (a) to examine differences between the mean scores of Hindu and Muslim adults on spiritual well- being and its dimensions (religious and existential well-being), (b) to examine differences between the mean scores of male and female adults on spiritual well-being and its dimensions (religious and existential well-being), and (c) to explore positive behavior associated with reading scriptures among Hindu and Muslim, male and female adults. Results revealed that male scored significantly higher than female adults on spiritual well-being (t= 3.23, p <.01). Significant differences were found between male and female on existential dimension of spiritual well-being scale (t= 2.83, p <.01). Hindus and Muslims did not differ significantly on spiritual well-being. Significant differences were found between Hindu male and Hindu female in terms of percentages on reading more than one religious book (i.e. Bhagwad Gita, Ramayana, Puran, Bhagwad Katha, Ramcharitramanas) (CR=2.07, p <.05) and Hanuman Chaleesa (CR=2.23, p <.05). Female adults as compared to male adults scored significantly higher on reading scripture everyday (CR=3.7, p<.01), whereas male adults scored significantly higher on reading scripture most days (CR= 2.9, p<.01) than their counterparts. KEYWORDS: Spiritual Well- Being, Religious Scripture, Reading Habits, Bhagwat Geeta, Qur an. INTRODUCTION The concept of well-being is very important for overall human development. There are so many dimensions of well-being like emotional, physical, social, mental/psychological, and spiritual but the overall well-being of a person depends on congruence between all the dimensions. Spiritual well-being is a very important dimension of holistic well-being. It is an expression about the spiritual health of an individual about what his inner thinking leads him to do and how he performs in his life. In the same way reading religious scriptures also bring changes in our behavior. By reading scriptures we can purify our mind and soul. 103

2 The construct of spiritual well-being officially came into light in the year 1975 at National Council on the Aging (NICA). In this council spirituality is viewed as it is the relationship with God, self, community and environment that nurtures and celebrates wholeness (Ellison, 1983; Fisher, Francis, & Johnson, 2000, Gomez & Fisher, 2003; 2005a; 2005b). Spiritual well-being is a state of being healthy in the very core of the person and it is present in a person similar to other important aspects for example, physical development and health. It is viewed as spiritual birth, growth and maturity (Ellor, 1997). It is a degree to which a person achieves sense of well-being from his/her own spiritual attitudes (e.g., meaning, purpose and zest for life). Spiritual well-being is a kind of inner harmony, peace, feeling of being healthy and an inward relation with God, community, nature and the environment and it is related to personal growth, life purpose, life satisfaction and meaning in life throughout a person s life (Ellison, 1983; Ellor, 1997). Gomez and Fisher (2003) defined spiritual well-being as a state of being, reflecting positive feelings, behaviors, cognitions of relationships with oneself, others, the transcendent and nature that in turn provide the individual with a sense of identity, wholeness, satisfaction, joy, contentment, beauty, love, respect, positive attitudes, inner peace, harmony, purpose and direction in life. Spiritual well-being can be defined in terms of two components i.e. religious and existential well-being. Religious well-being is the relationship with God or higher power and existential well-being is the individual s ethical, moral beliefs and behaviors which affects his/her interactions with his world and human beings (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982; ). On the other hand reading religious scriptures is very important to provide us strength and it helps in living harmoniously and peacefully. Scripture are among the foundation of the religion. Reading religious scripture is utmost necessary for the self-realization and Godconsciousness. Reading scripture helps in enhancing spiritual well-being and it has positive effects on our behavior. Scriptures communicate us different massages which helps in enhancing our positive behavior; for example, Bhagwad Gita gave the wonderful massage of peace, hope, consolation and divinity of man which lifts the person to eternal bliss. In the same way reading Qur an brings eternal happiness. Qur an is the word of God to guide humanity to the right and straight path, to awaken the human conscience and to enlighten the human mind. In Indian society reading religious scriptures and reading sacred books is considered very virtuous behavior, irrespective of the religion. The scriptures are the excellent ways of 104

3 keeping the religion save from deterioration and modifications. Scriptures are very effective and constructive for well-being of the community (Chang, 2005). Pargament, Smith, Koenig, and Perez (1998) hypothesized that the use of scriptures in an Asian Christian stress- coping support group may be helpful and effective for church attendees living in this stress- ridden society. Durkheim (1965; 1897) concluded that religious groups make rules for life and these rules have effects on our behavior (for e.g. lower rate of substance abuse). Involvement in religious practices such as reading religious scriptures is positively correlated with longevity (McCullough, Hoyt, Larson, Koenig, & Thoreson, 2000). Reading scripture can be a good way for effective self change because religious scriptures provides behavioral guidelines which are more likely to be followed as a result of the fact that they emerged from a sacred source (Rachlin, 2000). In the light of above literature we can conclude that previous researches were conducted to the Western populations and it was found that spiritual well-being is an important aspect of our spiritual self and reading religious scriptures helps us in bringing cognitive and behavioral changes in the positive direction. Hence, it will be very fruitful to explore the spiritual well- being and behavior associated with reading scripture among Hindu and Muslim adults. Objectives: To examine differences between Hindu and Muslim adults on composite scores and dimensions of spiritual well-being. To examine differences between male and female adults on composite scores and dimensions of spiritual well-being. To find out differences between the percentages scores of Muslim male and female adults in reading scriptures. To find out differences between the percentages scores of Hindu male and female adults in reading scriptures. To find out differences between the percentages of Muslim Male and Female, and Hindu Male and Female participants on reading scripture habits. To find out differences between the percentages of Muslim Male and Female, and Hindu Male and Female on behavior associated with reading scripture. 105

4 Hypotheses There will be no differences between Hindu and Muslim adults on composite scores and dimensions of spiritual well-being. There will be no differences between male and female adults on composite scores and dimensions of spiritual well-being. There will be no differences between the percentages scores of Muslim male and female adults in reading scriptures. There will be no differences between the percentages scores of Hindu male and female adults in reading scriptures. There will be no differences between the percentages of Muslim Male and Female, and Hindu Male and Female participants on reading scripture habits. There will be no differences between the percentages of Muslim Male and Female, and Hindu Male and Female on behavior associated with reading scripture. Method Participants The present study comprised of 200 adults. Of these, there were 45 Muslim male, 55 Muslim female, 51 Hindu male and 49 Hindu females. They were drawn from different areas of district Aligarh. The age range for the present sample was from 21 to 70 years. Tools Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS) developed by Ellison and Poloutzian (1982) was used in this study. This scale measures two dimensions of spiritual well-being i.e. existential and religious well-being. It is a 20 item scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Test-retest reliability of the SWBS is 0.93, 0.96 for religious well-being and 0.86 for existential well-being. Coefficient alphas are: 0.89 for spiritual well-being, 0.87 for religious well-being and 0.78 for existential well-being. This scale contains good face and content validity. Correlation between religious and spiritual well-being is 0.90 and between existential and spiritual well-being is

5 Biographic data sheet A biographic data sheet was prepared by the researchers to collect information regarding age, gender, religion along with questions related to reading scripture preferences, habits and behaviors associated with reading scriptures. Procedure Hindu and Muslim male and female were contacted individually and proper rapport was established. Purpose of the study was explained to each and every participant. Participants were assured that their responses will be used for the research purpose only. All participants were educated. Data analysis The obtained data was analyzed by means of t-test and Critical Ratio of percentages. Result and Discussion Table1: Indicating difference between the mean scores of male and female on spiritual well-being scale. Gender N Mean SD t-value p Male <.01 Female Table 2: Indicating difference between the mean scores of male and female on religious and existential dimensions of spiritual well-being scale. Dimension Gender N Mean SD t-value p Religious Male >.05 Female Existential Male <.01 Female

6 Table 3: Indicating difference between the mean scores of Muslim and Hindu on composite scores of spiritual well-being scale Religion N Mean SD t-value p Muslim >.05 Hindu Table 4: Indicating difference between the mean scores of Muslim and Hindu on religious and existential dimensions of spiritual well-being scale. Dimension Religion N Mean SD t-value p Religious Muslim >.05 Hindu Existential Muslim Hindu >.05 Table 5: Indicating preferences of Muslim male- female adults for Scripture reading. Scripture reading Muslim Percentage Muslim Percentage Female Male Qur an Hadith Qur an & Hadith both

7 Table 6: Indicating percentages of Hindu male and female adults preferences for reading Scriptures. Scripture reading Hindu Female Percentage Hindu Male More than one scripture Percentage Bhagwad Gita Hanuman chaleesa More than one chaleesa Religious magazines Table 7: Indicating difference between Muslim male-female and Hindu male-female on reading scripture habits Habit Religion Gender N Percentage Once in a while Muslim Male Female Hindu Male Female Everyday Muslim Female Male Hindu Male Female Most days Muslim Male Female Hindu Female Male

8 Table 8: Indicating difference between Muslim male-female and Hindu male-female on behavior associated with reading scripture Behavior Associated to Scripture Reading Male N=45 Muslim Female N=55 Male N=51 Hindu Female N=49 Peace and strength Feeling good, control over stress and worries Discipline and balance Away from bad deeds Satisfaction and happiness Mercy and sympathy Confidence and optimism Role model and positivity Significant differences were found between male and female on composite scores (t= 3.23, p<.01) and existential dimension of spiritual well-being (t= 2.83, p<.01). From this finding it can be inferred that both the groups have different levels of well-being. Men as compared to women may have more in touch with the environment and nature; this may be reason of scoring high on existential well-being dimension. Moreover, in the present study it was found that Hindu and Muslim did not differ on spiritual well-being (t= 1.03, p>.05). This finding suggests that both people of both religious groups experienced the same level of spiritual well-being. Significant differences were also not found between the mean scores of Muslim and Hindu on dimensions of spiritual well-being scale i.e. religious and existential. Significant differences were not found on Qur an reading (CR= 0.74, p>.05), Hadith reading (CR=0.69, p >.05), and reading of both Qur an and Hadith (CR= 0.45, p>. 05). These findings suggest that both the groups attach importance on reading religious scriptures. On the other hand, significant differences were found among Hindu adults on reading more than one scripture (Bhagwad Gita, Ramayana, puran, Bhagwad Katha, Ramcharitramanas (CR= 2.07, p<.05), and on reading Hanuman Chaleesa (CR= 2.23, p<.05). These findings suggest that both the groups differ with each other on reading these scriptures. In contrast, Significant differences were not found on reading Bhagwad Gita (CR=0.99, p>.05), reading more than one Chaleesa (CR= 1.23, p>.05), reading religious magazines e.g. 110

9 Sandhya etc. (CR= 0.62, p>.05). This finding shows that both the Hindu male and female adults did not differ on reading these religious texts. Significant differences were found between Muslim male and Muslim female on punctuality dimension i.e. most days (CR=2.9, p<.01) and everyday (CR=3.7, p<.01) reading scripture. These findings imply that Muslim male as well as female differ in terms of punctuality in reading scripture. Significant difference was not found between Muslim male and Muslim female on once in a while reading scripture (CR= 1.26, p>.05). Significant differences were not found to exist between Hindu male and Hindu female on any of the punctuality dimension of reading scripture i.e. everyday (CR= 0.62, p>.05), most days (CR= 1.19, p>.05) and once in a while (CR= 0.71, p>.05), which shows that these groups does not differ on punctuality of reading scriptures. Significant differences were not found between Muslim male and Muslim female on associated behavior with reading scripture such as peace and strength (CR= 0.23, p>.05), feeling good, control over stress and worries (CR= 1.00, p>.05), discipline and balance (CR= 0.32, p>.05), away from bad deeds (CR= 0.30, p>.05), satisfaction and happiness (CR= 0.38, p>.05), Mercy and sympathy (CR= 0.20, p>.05), confidence and optimism (CR= 0.67, p>.05) and role model and positivity (CR= 0.68, p>.05). These findings suggest that both Muslim male and Muslim females exhibit the same behavior associated with reading the religious scripture. Similarly differences were not found between Hindu male and Hindu female on any of the associated behavior dimension i.e. feeling good, control over stress and worries (CR= 1.00, p>.05), discipline and balance (CR= 0.80, p>.05) away from bad deeds (CR= 0.29, p>.05), peace and strength (CR= 0.57, p>.05), satisfaction and happiness (CR= 0.76, p>.05), role model and positivity (CR= 0.08, p>.05), Mercy and sympathy (CR= 0.04, p>.05) and confidence and optimism (CR= 1.06, p>.05). These results reveal that both the groups exhibits same behavior associated with reading religious scriptures. People can improve their spiritual well-being through contentment and developing a sense of purpose and meaning in life which is utmost importance for feeling of being healthy. People may cultivate peace and happiness in their lives by reading religious scriptures which purifies the mind, heart and soul. 111

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