Religiosity and Spiritual Well-Being of Senior High School Students of a Catholic College in the Philippines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2008.01.06Keywords:
religiosity, spiritual well-being, religious well-being, existential well-being, senior high school students, descriptive-correlational, Catholic school, PhilippinesAbstract
This study examined the religiosity and spiritual well-being of Catholic senior high school students of a rural Catholic school. Using the descriptive-comparative and correlational research design, data collection involved the survey questionnaires and hypotheses-testing used the Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Pearson r. In general, the students demonstrated a very high extent of religiosity, but they significantly differ when compared by grade level, church involvement, mass attendance, and Catholic identity. They had moderate spiritual well-being, but a significant difference was noted between males and females. Nevertheless, a significant relationship exists between religiosity and spiritual wellbeing, which suggests that the more the students observe Catholic teachings and practices, the more they mature in God's personal experience and achieve a sense of satisfaction and purpose in life. This study provides baseline data for developing the religious education curriculum and enhancing the campus ministry programs and activities of the said school.
References
Abu-Raiya, H., Pargament, K. I., Krause, N., &
Ironson, G. (2015). Robust links between
religious/spiritual struggles, psychological
distress, and well-being in a national sample
of American adults. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 85(6), 565.
Agoncillo, R.L. (2015). Understanding Catholic
youth religiosity in a developing country. In
the International Conference on Language,
Education, Humanities, and Innovation
(pp.127-134). Retrieved from https://icsai.
org/procarch/1iclehi/1iclehi-47.pdf
Altemeyer, B. (2004). Perspectives: The decline of
organized religion in western civilization.
The International Journal for the Psychology
of Religion, 14(2), 77-89.
Andrade, A. (2014). Using Fowler's faith
development theory in student affairs
practice. College Student Affairs Leadership, 1(2), 2.
Asiones, Noel. (2018). The National Filipino
Catholic Youth study of 2014.Retrieved
from https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/327745391_The_National_
Filipino_Catholic_Youth_Study_of_2014
Baring, R. V., Lee, R., Maria, M., & Liu, Y. (2016).
Configurations of student Spirituality/
Religiosity: evidence from a Philippine
university. International Journal of Children's
Spirituality, 21(3-4), 163-176.
Barna Group. (2017 April 6). Meet the “spiritual but
not religious.†Retrieved from http://www.
barna.com/research/meet-spiritual-but-notreligious
Barrett, M. C. S. (2016). Dimensions of spirituality
fostered through the PULSE Program
for Service Learning. Journal of Catholic
Education, 20(1), n1.
Bryant, A. N. (2007). Gender differences in spiritual
development during the college years. Sex
roles, 56(11-12), 835-846.
Buchko, K. J. (2004). Religious beliefs and practices
of college women as compared to college
men. Journal of College Student Development,
45(1), 89-98.
Bufford, R. K. (1984). Empirical Correlates of the
Spiritual Well-Being and Spiritual Maturity
Scales.
Cornelio, J.S. (2016) Being Catholic in the
Contemporary Philippines, Young people
reinterpreting religion. London and New
York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Cornelio, J. S. (2018). Young people and the
challenges of religious education in the
Philippines. In M. Fabrizio (Ed.), Youth, the
Catholic Church, and religions in Asia. Italy:
Urbaniana University Press. Pp. 79-112.
Cornelio, J. S., & Sapitula, M. J. (2014, November
20). Are we losing Faith? An invitation to
the Sociology of Religion in the Philippines.
Retrieved from https://socialstudiescorner.
wordpress.com/2014/11/20/are-we-losingfaith-an-invitation-to-the-sociology-ofreligion-in-the-philippines/
Davison, S. N., & Jhangri, G. S. (2010). Existential and
religious dimensions of spirituality and their
relationship with health-related quality of
life in chronic kidney disease. Clinical Journal
of the American Society of Nephrology, 5(11),
1969-1976.
Debien, N., & Calderwood, K. (2016, August 08).
'Spiritual but not religious': What the census
won't say about Australians' beliefs. ABC.
Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://
www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/
religionandethicsreport/spiritual-butnot-religious-what-the-census-wontsay/7699694
Ellison, C. W. (1983). Spiritual well-being:
Conceptualization and measurement.
Journal of psychology and theology, 11(4),
330-338.
Ellison, C. W. & Paloutzian, R. F. (2009).The spiritual
well-being scale. Life Advance. Retrieved from
https://www.lifeadvance.com/spiritual-wellbeing-scale.
Fisher, J. (2011). The four domains model:
Connecting spirituality, health and wellbeing. Religions, 2(1), 17-28.
Galen, L. W., & Kloet, J. D. (2011). Mental wellbeing in the religious and the non-religious:
Evidence for a curvilinear relationship.
Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(7), 673-689.
Hage, S. M. (2006). A closer look at the role of
spirituality in psychology training programs.
Professional Psychology: Research and
Practice, 37(3), 303.
Hatchman, D. J. (2013). Family and school influences
on the religious practice and spiritual lives of
Catholic adolescents [Doctoral dissertation,
Southern Cross University]. Southern Cross
University. Retrieved from https://epubs.scu.
edu.au/theses/371/
Herzog, P. S. (2014). Are emerging adults “spiritual
but not religious� Institute for Faith and
Learning, (pp. 65-72). USA: Baylor University.
Retrieved from www.baylor.edu//content/
services/document.php/224506.pdf
Hill, P. C., & Hood, R. W. (Eds.). (1999). Measures of
religiosity (pp. 119-58). Birmingham, AL:
Religious Education Press.
Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003). Advances in
the conceptualization and measurement
of religion and spirituality: Implications
for physical and mental health research.
American psychologist, 58(1), 64.
Holdcroft, B. B. (2006). What is religiosity. Catholic
Education: A Journal of inquiry and practice,
10(1).
Kim, S., & Esquivel, G. B. (2011, June 15). Adolescent
spirituality and resilience: Theory, research,
and educational practices. Psychology in
the Schools, 48(7), 755-765. doi:10.1002/
pits.20582
Kim-Prieto, C., & Miller, L. (2018). Intersection
of religion and subjective well-being.
Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT:
DEF Publishers.
Kitchens, M. B., & Phillips III, R. E. (2018). A curvilinear
relationship between clear beliefs about
God and self-concept clarity. Psychology of
Religion and Spirituality.
Koenig, H. G., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Religion and
mental health: Evidence for an association.
International Review of Psychiatry, 13(2), 67-
78.
Krause, N. (2015). Religious doubt, helping others,
and psychological well-being. Journal of
Religion and Health, 54(2), 745-758.
Legada, E. L., Madrigal, D. V., & Maravilla, M. W. M.
(2020). Spiritual Well-Being and Resiliency
of the Diocesan Seminarians of Antique.
Philippine Social Science Journal, 3(1), 53-69.
Retrieved from https://philssj.org/index.
php/main/article/view/124
Lippman, L. H., & McIntosh, H. (2010). The
demographics of spirituality and religiosity
among youth: International and US Patterns.
Child Trends Research Brief, 2010-21.
Lituañas, C. R. A. (2007). An inquiry at the Millennial
youth spiritual identity: Experiences of DLSU
students. In DLSU arts Congress (pp. 1-12).
Lucenion, M. (2019, July 22). Young Catholics
search for 'supportive' Church. Union of
Catholic Asian News. Retrieved from https://
www.ucanews.com/news/young-catholicssearch-for-supportive-church/85694
Lun, V. M. C., & Bond, M. H. (2013). Examining
the relation of religion and spirituality
to subjective well-being across national
cultures. Psychology of Religion and
Spirituality, 5(4), 304.
Macasaet, M. (2009). The spiritual journey of young
Filipinos. In G. Leung (Ed.), The Y Factor:
2009 Yearbook on the Filipino Youth. Makati:
Salesians Missions, 10-15.
Madrigal, D. V. (2016, August 3-5). Understanding
and practices of the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist. Paper presented at the 1st
Recoletos Research Congress, University of
San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu City, Philippines.
Madrigal, D. & Oracion, E. (2018.). Religiosity
and spiritual well-being of students in
a Philippine Catholic University. Book of
Abstracts of the 2018 PSS National Conference,
(p. 37). Siquijor: Philippine Sociological Society.
Mak, M. C. K., Han, Y. M. Y., You, J., Jin, M., & Bond, M.
H. (2011). Building life satisfaction through
attachment to mother and beliefs about the
world: Social axioms as mediators in two
cultural groups. Mental Health, Religion &
Culture, 14(3), 223-239.
Mansukhani, R., &Resurreccion, R. (2009).
Spirituality and the development of positive
character among Filipino adolescents.
Philippine Journal of Psychology, 42(2).
Maramba, A. D. (2013, April 25). Spiritual but
not religious. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved from
https://opinion.inquirer.net/51425/spiritualbut-not-religious
Martin, J. (2012, November 16). Spiritual and
religious: The benefits of being both. Thinking
Faith: The online journal of the Jesuits
in Britain. Retrieved from https://www.
thinkingfaith.org/articles/20121116_1.htm
Mayhew, M. J., & Bryant, A. N. (2013).Achievement
or arrest? The influence of the collegiate
religious and spiritual climate on students’
worldview commitment. Research in Higher
Education, 54(1), 63-84.
National Social Science Congress. (2003). The
Filipino youth: Some findings from research.
Quezon City: Technical Services and
Information Section, Philippine Social
Science Council.
Oracion, E., & Madrigal, D. (2019). Catholic Identity
and Spiritual Well-Being of Students in a
Philippine Catholic University. Recoletos
Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 7(2), 47-60.
https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1907.02.04
Paloutzian, R. F., Bufford, R. K., & Wildman, A. J.
(2012). Spiritual well-being scale: Mental
and physical health relationships. Oxford
textbook of spirituality in healthcare, 353-358.
Paloutzian, R. F., & Ellison, C. W. (1991). Manual for
the spiritual well-being scale. Nyack, NY: Life
Advance.
Philippine Statistics Authority . (2015). 2015 Census
of Population. Republic of the Philippines:
Philippine Statistics Authority Retrieved from
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/census/2015-
census-of-population
Ramsay, J. E., Tong, E. M., Chowdhury, A., & Ho,
M. H. R. (2019). Teleological explanation
and positive emotion serially mediate the
effect of religion on wellâ€being. Journal of
personality, 87(3), 676-689.
Reese, T. (2017, October 3). More Catholic than
the pope. Religion News Service. Retrieved
from https://religionnews.com/2017/10/03/
more-catholic-than-the-pope/
Rich II, A. (2012). Gender and spirituality: Are women
really more spiritual?. Liberty University
Digital Commons. Retrieved from https://
digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/281
Shimabukuro, G. (2008). Toward a pedagogy
grounded in Christian spirituality. Journal of
Catholic Education, 11(4), 8.
Social Weather Stations (2018). Attendance at
religious services among adults, Philippines,
1991-2017 [Table]. Fourth Quarter 2017
Social Weather Survey: Minorities of Filipino
adults attend religious services weekly since
2013; 75% said religion is very important, 9%
somewhat important. Retrieved from https://
www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?a
rtcsyscode=ART-20180328121738
Spilka, B., & McIntosh, D. N. (1996, August).
Religion and spirituality: The known and
the unknown. In American Psychological
Association annual conference, Toronto,
Canada.
Stolz, J. (2009). Explaining religiosity: towards
a unified theoretical model 1. The British
journal of Sociology, 60(2), 345-376.
Vishkin, A., Bigman, Y. E., Porat, R., Solak, N.,
Halperin, E., & Tamir, M. (2016). God rest our
hearts: Religiosity and cognitive reappraisal.
Emotion, 16(2), 252.
Yoon, D. P., & Lee, E. K. O. (2004). Religiousness/
spirituality and subjective well-being among
rural elderly Whites, African Americans, and
Native Americans. Journal of Human Behavior
in the Social Environment, 10(1), 191-211.
Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., Cole, B., Rye, M. S.,
Butter, E. M., Belavich, T. G., ... & Kadar, J. L.
(1997). Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying
the fuzzy. Journal for the scientific study of
religion, 549-564.
Ironson, G. (2015). Robust links between
religious/spiritual struggles, psychological
distress, and well-being in a national sample
of American adults. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 85(6), 565.
Agoncillo, R.L. (2015). Understanding Catholic
youth religiosity in a developing country. In
the International Conference on Language,
Education, Humanities, and Innovation
(pp.127-134). Retrieved from https://icsai.
org/procarch/1iclehi/1iclehi-47.pdf
Altemeyer, B. (2004). Perspectives: The decline of
organized religion in western civilization.
The International Journal for the Psychology
of Religion, 14(2), 77-89.
Andrade, A. (2014). Using Fowler's faith
development theory in student affairs
practice. College Student Affairs Leadership, 1(2), 2.
Asiones, Noel. (2018). The National Filipino
Catholic Youth study of 2014.Retrieved
from https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/327745391_The_National_
Filipino_Catholic_Youth_Study_of_2014
Baring, R. V., Lee, R., Maria, M., & Liu, Y. (2016).
Configurations of student Spirituality/
Religiosity: evidence from a Philippine
university. International Journal of Children's
Spirituality, 21(3-4), 163-176.
Barna Group. (2017 April 6). Meet the “spiritual but
not religious.†Retrieved from http://www.
barna.com/research/meet-spiritual-but-notreligious
Barrett, M. C. S. (2016). Dimensions of spirituality
fostered through the PULSE Program
for Service Learning. Journal of Catholic
Education, 20(1), n1.
Bryant, A. N. (2007). Gender differences in spiritual
development during the college years. Sex
roles, 56(11-12), 835-846.
Buchko, K. J. (2004). Religious beliefs and practices
of college women as compared to college
men. Journal of College Student Development,
45(1), 89-98.
Bufford, R. K. (1984). Empirical Correlates of the
Spiritual Well-Being and Spiritual Maturity
Scales.
Cornelio, J.S. (2016) Being Catholic in the
Contemporary Philippines, Young people
reinterpreting religion. London and New
York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Cornelio, J. S. (2018). Young people and the
challenges of religious education in the
Philippines. In M. Fabrizio (Ed.), Youth, the
Catholic Church, and religions in Asia. Italy:
Urbaniana University Press. Pp. 79-112.
Cornelio, J. S., & Sapitula, M. J. (2014, November
20). Are we losing Faith? An invitation to
the Sociology of Religion in the Philippines.
Retrieved from https://socialstudiescorner.
wordpress.com/2014/11/20/are-we-losingfaith-an-invitation-to-the-sociology-ofreligion-in-the-philippines/
Davison, S. N., & Jhangri, G. S. (2010). Existential and
religious dimensions of spirituality and their
relationship with health-related quality of
life in chronic kidney disease. Clinical Journal
of the American Society of Nephrology, 5(11),
1969-1976.
Debien, N., & Calderwood, K. (2016, August 08).
'Spiritual but not religious': What the census
won't say about Australians' beliefs. ABC.
Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://
www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/
religionandethicsreport/spiritual-butnot-religious-what-the-census-wontsay/7699694
Ellison, C. W. (1983). Spiritual well-being:
Conceptualization and measurement.
Journal of psychology and theology, 11(4),
330-338.
Ellison, C. W. & Paloutzian, R. F. (2009).The spiritual
well-being scale. Life Advance. Retrieved from
https://www.lifeadvance.com/spiritual-wellbeing-scale.
Fisher, J. (2011). The four domains model:
Connecting spirituality, health and wellbeing. Religions, 2(1), 17-28.
Galen, L. W., & Kloet, J. D. (2011). Mental wellbeing in the religious and the non-religious:
Evidence for a curvilinear relationship.
Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(7), 673-689.
Hage, S. M. (2006). A closer look at the role of
spirituality in psychology training programs.
Professional Psychology: Research and
Practice, 37(3), 303.
Hatchman, D. J. (2013). Family and school influences
on the religious practice and spiritual lives of
Catholic adolescents [Doctoral dissertation,
Southern Cross University]. Southern Cross
University. Retrieved from https://epubs.scu.
edu.au/theses/371/
Herzog, P. S. (2014). Are emerging adults “spiritual
but not religious� Institute for Faith and
Learning, (pp. 65-72). USA: Baylor University.
Retrieved from www.baylor.edu//content/
services/document.php/224506.pdf
Hill, P. C., & Hood, R. W. (Eds.). (1999). Measures of
religiosity (pp. 119-58). Birmingham, AL:
Religious Education Press.
Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003). Advances in
the conceptualization and measurement
of religion and spirituality: Implications
for physical and mental health research.
American psychologist, 58(1), 64.
Holdcroft, B. B. (2006). What is religiosity. Catholic
Education: A Journal of inquiry and practice,
10(1).
Kim, S., & Esquivel, G. B. (2011, June 15). Adolescent
spirituality and resilience: Theory, research,
and educational practices. Psychology in
the Schools, 48(7), 755-765. doi:10.1002/
pits.20582
Kim-Prieto, C., & Miller, L. (2018). Intersection
of religion and subjective well-being.
Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT:
DEF Publishers.
Kitchens, M. B., & Phillips III, R. E. (2018). A curvilinear
relationship between clear beliefs about
God and self-concept clarity. Psychology of
Religion and Spirituality.
Koenig, H. G., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Religion and
mental health: Evidence for an association.
International Review of Psychiatry, 13(2), 67-
78.
Krause, N. (2015). Religious doubt, helping others,
and psychological well-being. Journal of
Religion and Health, 54(2), 745-758.
Legada, E. L., Madrigal, D. V., & Maravilla, M. W. M.
(2020). Spiritual Well-Being and Resiliency
of the Diocesan Seminarians of Antique.
Philippine Social Science Journal, 3(1), 53-69.
Retrieved from https://philssj.org/index.
php/main/article/view/124
Lippman, L. H., & McIntosh, H. (2010). The
demographics of spirituality and religiosity
among youth: International and US Patterns.
Child Trends Research Brief, 2010-21.
Lituañas, C. R. A. (2007). An inquiry at the Millennial
youth spiritual identity: Experiences of DLSU
students. In DLSU arts Congress (pp. 1-12).
Lucenion, M. (2019, July 22). Young Catholics
search for 'supportive' Church. Union of
Catholic Asian News. Retrieved from https://
www.ucanews.com/news/young-catholicssearch-for-supportive-church/85694
Lun, V. M. C., & Bond, M. H. (2013). Examining
the relation of religion and spirituality
to subjective well-being across national
cultures. Psychology of Religion and
Spirituality, 5(4), 304.
Macasaet, M. (2009). The spiritual journey of young
Filipinos. In G. Leung (Ed.), The Y Factor:
2009 Yearbook on the Filipino Youth. Makati:
Salesians Missions, 10-15.
Madrigal, D. V. (2016, August 3-5). Understanding
and practices of the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist. Paper presented at the 1st
Recoletos Research Congress, University of
San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu City, Philippines.
Madrigal, D. & Oracion, E. (2018.). Religiosity
and spiritual well-being of students in
a Philippine Catholic University. Book of
Abstracts of the 2018 PSS National Conference,
(p. 37). Siquijor: Philippine Sociological Society.
Mak, M. C. K., Han, Y. M. Y., You, J., Jin, M., & Bond, M.
H. (2011). Building life satisfaction through
attachment to mother and beliefs about the
world: Social axioms as mediators in two
cultural groups. Mental Health, Religion &
Culture, 14(3), 223-239.
Mansukhani, R., &Resurreccion, R. (2009).
Spirituality and the development of positive
character among Filipino adolescents.
Philippine Journal of Psychology, 42(2).
Maramba, A. D. (2013, April 25). Spiritual but
not religious. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved from
https://opinion.inquirer.net/51425/spiritualbut-not-religious
Martin, J. (2012, November 16). Spiritual and
religious: The benefits of being both. Thinking
Faith: The online journal of the Jesuits
in Britain. Retrieved from https://www.
thinkingfaith.org/articles/20121116_1.htm
Mayhew, M. J., & Bryant, A. N. (2013).Achievement
or arrest? The influence of the collegiate
religious and spiritual climate on students’
worldview commitment. Research in Higher
Education, 54(1), 63-84.
National Social Science Congress. (2003). The
Filipino youth: Some findings from research.
Quezon City: Technical Services and
Information Section, Philippine Social
Science Council.
Oracion, E., & Madrigal, D. (2019). Catholic Identity
and Spiritual Well-Being of Students in a
Philippine Catholic University. Recoletos
Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 7(2), 47-60.
https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1907.02.04
Paloutzian, R. F., Bufford, R. K., & Wildman, A. J.
(2012). Spiritual well-being scale: Mental
and physical health relationships. Oxford
textbook of spirituality in healthcare, 353-358.
Paloutzian, R. F., & Ellison, C. W. (1991). Manual for
the spiritual well-being scale. Nyack, NY: Life
Advance.
Philippine Statistics Authority . (2015). 2015 Census
of Population. Republic of the Philippines:
Philippine Statistics Authority Retrieved from
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/census/2015-
census-of-population
Ramsay, J. E., Tong, E. M., Chowdhury, A., & Ho,
M. H. R. (2019). Teleological explanation
and positive emotion serially mediate the
effect of religion on wellâ€being. Journal of
personality, 87(3), 676-689.
Reese, T. (2017, October 3). More Catholic than
the pope. Religion News Service. Retrieved
from https://religionnews.com/2017/10/03/
more-catholic-than-the-pope/
Rich II, A. (2012). Gender and spirituality: Are women
really more spiritual?. Liberty University
Digital Commons. Retrieved from https://
digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/281
Shimabukuro, G. (2008). Toward a pedagogy
grounded in Christian spirituality. Journal of
Catholic Education, 11(4), 8.
Social Weather Stations (2018). Attendance at
religious services among adults, Philippines,
1991-2017 [Table]. Fourth Quarter 2017
Social Weather Survey: Minorities of Filipino
adults attend religious services weekly since
2013; 75% said religion is very important, 9%
somewhat important. Retrieved from https://
www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?a
rtcsyscode=ART-20180328121738
Spilka, B., & McIntosh, D. N. (1996, August).
Religion and spirituality: The known and
the unknown. In American Psychological
Association annual conference, Toronto,
Canada.
Stolz, J. (2009). Explaining religiosity: towards
a unified theoretical model 1. The British
journal of Sociology, 60(2), 345-376.
Vishkin, A., Bigman, Y. E., Porat, R., Solak, N.,
Halperin, E., & Tamir, M. (2016). God rest our
hearts: Religiosity and cognitive reappraisal.
Emotion, 16(2), 252.
Yoon, D. P., & Lee, E. K. O. (2004). Religiousness/
spirituality and subjective well-being among
rural elderly Whites, African Americans, and
Native Americans. Journal of Human Behavior
in the Social Environment, 10(1), 191-211.
Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., Cole, B., Rye, M. S.,
Butter, E. M., Belavich, T. G., ... & Kadar, J. L.
(1997). Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying
the fuzzy. Journal for the scientific study of
religion, 549-564.
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Published
2020-06-30
How to Cite
Madrigal, D. V., Erillo, R. P., & Oracion, E. G. (2020). Religiosity and Spiritual Well-Being of Senior High School Students of a Catholic College in the Philippines. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 8(1), 79–95. https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj2008.01.06
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