A new study finds religion helps lonely people find greater purpose in life.
Research published in the Journal of Personality last month found that “religious beliefs can compensate for the purpose in life that social relationships would otherwise provide.”
Researchers analyzed three studies on whose data included over 19,000 respondents, which found that socially disconnected people who were religious, compensated for their lack of social ties through faith because their beliefs provided “greater purpose to turn to” and “divine figures that can substitute for social relationships.”
Researchers concluded that their findings indicated that while “people primarily derive purpose from social relationships, socially disconnected individuals may leverage their religious beliefs for purpose and social comfort until they can reconnect.”
Todd Chan, one of the study’s authors, told PsyPost.org in an interview last week that religious beliefs “may benefit people who are disconnected over time.”
“… our research here shows that having a belief system that ‘substitutes’ for some of the functions of human relationships, like feeling valued and supported by God, may allow people who feel disconnected to restore some of this purpose that social relationships would normally provide,”
Chan also warned that while religious beliefs may offer some compensation for social disconnection, “it did not restore purpose to a level comparable to that of people who feel socially connected.”