Assessing Whether Practical Wisdom and Awe of God Are Associated With Life Satisfaction

摘要

Although emotion figures prominently in religious life, there has been little research on one of the strongest religious emotions-awe of God. The purpose of this study was to embed this key religious emotion in a wider latent-variable model that contains the following core hypotheses: (a) more frequent church attendance is associated with greater practical wisdom; (b) people with more practical wisdom are more likely to experience awe of God; (c) individuals who experience awe of God are more likely to say they feel a deep sense of connectedness with others; and (d) those who feel more closely connected with others will be more satisfied with their lives. New measures were developed to assess awe of God and practical wisdom. Findings from a recent nationwide survey (N = 1,535) of middle-aged and older adults provided support for each of these relationships.