21st December, 2004

Christians are happier and have a greater sense of purpose in their life than others, according to a recent report.

The report - Spirituality and Wellingbeing in Australia - suggests that people with a spiritual orientation tend to have a greater sense of purpose in life, a greater openness to personal growth and are more optimistic about life.

“Those with a spiritual orientation tend to score higher on many of the wellbeing measures included in the study,” says Dr Peter Kaldor, the report’s principal author.

He says the report also shows that while people with alterative spiritualities are linked to a positive sense of purpose in life, Christians were found to have a stronger sense of purpose than those involved in alternate spiritualities.

And while people with a spiritual orientation are more likely to help others whether helping out informally during their daily life, giving money to charities or performing voluntary service with community groups, Christians are even more likely to do so.

“These results suggest that exploration of spirituality and wellbeing may be important to a healthy society,” Dr Kaldor says.

The report was based on a wellbeing and security study undertaken by researchers at Australia's Edith Cowan and Deakin Universities in conjunction with the National Christian Life Survey and ANGLICARE (Sydney) in 2002-03. It involved a survey of a random sample of about 1,500 adults.

- DAVID ADAMS