Recent Life Events, Religiosity, and Health: An Individual or Collective Effect

While recent life events (RLE) cause ill health and psychological distress, religiosity is positively associated with health. The adverse effect of RLE on health is usually explained in terms of stress theory; the positive religiosity-health association is explained by the nature of the religious network, or by the effect of religiosity on the internal environment of the individual. Using data collected from a sample (n = 230) of two Israeli kibbutzim, one religious and one non-religious, with similar ecology, demography, and social structure, the stress-deterrent effect of religiosity is studied. Self-administered questionnaires, including a list of RLE, five health measures, and five religiosity measures, were randomly distributed. Our findings show that whereas RLE adversely relate to health, belonging to a religious community counterbalances the negative health consequences of RLE. Individual religiosity (private praying, theodicity, and religious commitment) do not have the same stress-deterrent effect.