Spirituality, Meaning In Life and Subjective Well-Being: A Study of Selected Communities in Greater Accra and Volta Regions

Abstract

Well-being is thought to differ according to whether one resides in a rural or urban area. In addition, spirituality and religious support have been firmly established as important predictors of well-being in late adulthood. However, the mechanism through which they influence well-being is less known. Therefore, this cross-sectional study assessed the mediating roles of the presence of meaning and optimism in the relationships among the predictors, subjective well-being and the wish to die among older people. Additionally, the study examined rural and urban differences in subjective well-being and the wish to die. A sample of 215 older people who were at least 60 years from selected rural (N = 120) and urban (N = 115) settings participated in the study. The results of the study showed that rural residents scored lower levels of subjective well-being and higher levels of the wish to die than urban residents. The presence of meaning and optimism mediated the relationships between spirituality and the well-being indicators. For religious support, the presence of meaning and optimism mediated only its relationship with subjective well-being but not with the wish to die. The implications of the study to mental health professionals and faith communities have been discussed together with limitations and recommendations for future studies

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urban area, religious support, cross-sectional study, communities

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