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Spiritual Practices and Dispositional Optimism in an Underprivileged Population

Author

Listed:
  • Cid, Alejandro
  • Arrieta, Gonzalo
  • Ponce De León, María Mercedes
  • Stokes, Charles E.

Abstract

Optimism seems to foster the ability to manage adverse situations better - a finding especially relevant for disadvantaged populations. Employing a unique sample from a small underprivileged village, we study the association between spiritual practices and dispositional optimism. The village belongs to a developing country that is, by far, the most secular country in Latin America: this makes particularly interesting exploring the role of spiritual practices in this context. We find that spiritual practices are positively associated with higher optimism, measured by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R): those who practice spirituality, score, on average, 14.4 percentage points higher on the LOT-R than those who do not. And this association seems to be especially robust in the case of the poor and less educated: those with spiritual practices score 20 percentage points higher on the LOT-R. Thus, the role that spiritual practices may play in dispositional optimism in disadvantaged populations deserves more attention

Suggested Citation

  • Cid, Alejandro & Arrieta, Gonzalo & Ponce De León, María Mercedes & Stokes, Charles E., 2017. "Spiritual Practices and Dispositional Optimism in an Underprivileged Population," MPRA Paper 84642, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:84642
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    Keywords

    Dispositional optimism; spiritual practices; LOT-R; hope; religion; happiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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