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Religion and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Germany

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  • Elisabeth Sinnewe
  • Michael Kortt
  • Brian Dollery

Abstract

We examined the association between religious involvement and life satisfaction using data drawn from the 2003, 2007, and 2011 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel. Our study provides evidence of an association between attendance at religious services and life satisfaction for respondents residing in West Germany. While social networks partially mediate this relationship for West Germany, there appears to be a remaining direct impact of attendance on life satisfaction. On the contrary, we find no evidence of an association between attendance at religious services and life satisfaction for respondents residing in East Germany. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabeth Sinnewe & Michael Kortt & Brian Dollery, 2015. "Religion and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 837-855, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:123:y:2015:i:3:p:837-855
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0763-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Easterlin, Richard A. & Plagnol, Anke C., 2008. "Life satisfaction and economic conditions in East and West Germany pre- and post-unification," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 433-444, December.
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    1. Bryukhanov, Maksym & Fedotenkov, Igor, 2017. "Religiosity and life satisfaction in Russia: Evidence from the Russian data," MPRA Paper 82750, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Shuai Zhang & Binbin Liu & Dajian Zhu & Mingwang Cheng, 2018. "Explaining Individual Subjective Well-Being of Urban China Based on the Four-Capital Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Saibal Ghosh, 2020. "Access to and use of finance in India: does religion matter?," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 67-92, June.
    4. Jan-Philip Steinmann & Hannes Kröger & Jörg Hartmann & Theresa M. Entringer, 2024. "Did Religious Well-Being Benefits Converge or Diverge During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 1-35, October.
    5. La, Binh Thanh & Lim, Steven & Cameron, Michael P. & Tran, Tuyen Quang & Nguyen, Minh Thi, 2021. "Absolute income, comparison income and subjective well-being in a transitional country: Panel evidence from Vietnamese household surveys," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 368-385.

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