Relationship Between the Words of Prayer, Psychological Well‐being, and Sense of Coherence

要旨

Abstract Scientific studies on prayer provide little empirical evidence on the relationship between prayer and well‐being. Furthermore, although prayer was shown to be related to a sense of coherence, an ability concept for stress coping and health maintenance, studies have not examined the type of prayer linked to this association. Our study focused on words of prayer and clarified their association with psychological well‐being and sense of coherence. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 294 participants. No significant correlation was observed between words used in prayers and sense of coherence. However, specific words of prayer had different effects on psychological well‐being. Prayers of thanksgiving and vows consistently yielded positive outcomes regarding psychological well‐being and frequency and internal aspects of the prayer. Therefore, this study suggests that certain prayers may be more effective at improving well‐being than others. Nevertheless, in order to reach a definitive conclusion, it is necessary to focus on other aspects of prayer and to examine causal relationships in the future.

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