Abstract
Psychological well-being, a situation whereby one achieves physical and mental health in accordance with the criteria for determining positive psychology functions, as explained in Maslow’s theory of self-actualization, is a multifaceted concept. The analysis explains the relationship between psychological well-being and four factors: spirituality, religion, transcendence, and self-growth. Evidence shows that spirituality is critical in achieving psychological well-being because it determines how people nurture their souls and guide their life decisions. Evidence in the essay also shows that religion plays a critical role in psychological well-being by guiding beliefs and perceptions about life. Religion also alleviates life situations by giving people hope for a better life after death. Also, transcendence has a directly proportional relationship with psychological well-being because it directs people to view life beyond their normal abilities, making it easy to endure challenging and life-threatening situations. Lastly, the analysis shows that self-growth gives emotional and psychological satisfaction because people have a natural propensity for greater personal growth. Thus, achieving personal growth leads to high satisfaction and well-being. As stated in the conclusion, the analysis proves that there is a positive relationship between psychological well-being and the four factors: spirituality, religion, transcendence, and self-growth.
Keywords: Psychological well-being, spirituality, religion, transcendence, self-growth.
Living a happy life is a multifaceted concept that revolves around psychological well-being. Whether hedonic well-being, which means finding satisfaction through contentment and happiness, or eudemonic well-being, which refers to seeking meaning and self-actualization, people strive to live a fulfilling life with minimal pains. There are numerous factors that one has to fulfill to achieve psychological well-being. Although there are contradictory views regarding the things one needs to achieve this goal, spirituality, religion, transcendence, and self-growth are among the key issues people pursue. Some people focus on one or a few of these factors, but a combination of the four could have a synergetic outcome that leads to more fulfillment than focusing on one. This assumption is anchored on the fact that each of these pillars has positive implications for a person, which means each of them contributes to a person’s well-being. In the current treatise, the focus is on how each of the four factors affects a person’s psychological well-being. The essay evaluates each of the factors individually and combines the results to show how they collectively influence a person’s psychological well-being. The analysis also delves into the counter-ideologies regarding the four concepts. The essay seeks to answer the following hypothesis: Does achieving excellence in spirituality, religion, transcendence, and self-growth guarantee psychological well-being?
Spirituality
A thoughtful empirical evaluation and theoretical acumen are necessary to determine the relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being. Psychological well-being has several aspects, which makes its definition complex. However, one universal definition is that psychological well-being refers to the mental health status of a person in accordance with the criteria for determining positive psychology functions, as explained in Maslow’s theory of self-actualization (Tentero et al., 2021). Thus, one achieves psychological well-being if one acquires psychological needs and mental health. According to Ryff (2021), one consideration in understanding spirituality is knowing the soul because being spiritual involves connecting the body and soul. The spiritual aspect of a human being involves detaching the physical part of being human from the soul-related aspects. As Ryff (2020) asserts, the soul is the spiritual part of a human being. Thus, satisfying the needs of the soul leads to spiritual nourishment and satisfaction, making it easy to achieve fulfillment in life. In Nichomachian Ethics, Aristotle asserts that the highest of all human good is the activity of the soul (Ryff, 2021). In this assertion, Aristotle referred to eudemonia, which means understanding the value of one’s life and what one lives for. In other words, Aristotle associated spirituality with knowing one’s life purpose, which involves directing one’s soul to that purpose and guiding the body toward the same trajectory (Ryff, 2021). When people know what they are meant to achieve, they develop a spiritual value that guides their actions and determines their satisfaction with life. If their actions align with their purpose in life, they achieve eudemonia, meaning they become psychologically satisfied.
Spirituality determines the overall well-being of individuals and communities. According to Sobirovich (2021), spirituality plays a critical role in societal development, human perfection, and life content. This assertion implies that having spiritual nourishment could allow a collective life fulfillment in a community. In other words, if all factors contribute to individual spirituality in a community, the community achieves collective psychological well-being. It is also important to acknowledge that spiritual needs are multifaceted and complex across communities and individuals. However, their overall outcomes lead to psychological well-being because spiritual success leads to successful engagement in all life aspects. For instance, a person who achieves their spiritual goals finds peace, which improves their social life, marriage, relationships, and professional sufficiency. To understand the relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being, it is crucial to evaluate its connection to the things that surround psychological well-being. First, spirituality influences how people relate to the universe. According to Sobirovich (2021), understanding the universe involves evaluating oneself from the reflection in the universe. This process helps one to align their life decisions with the goals of their spiritual fulfillment. Secondly, spirituality involves self-evaluation, creativity, and communication. Sobirovich (2021) explains that when people achieve their self-evaluation, creativity, and communication needs, they nourish their spirituality, making it possible to live a fulfilling life. Apart from the views associating spirituality with personal development, further research also shows that spiritual growth relates to outward relationships.
Spirituality success emanates from treating others right. Volunteering, helping others, and prosocial behavior give spiritual success and psychological well-being (Ryff, 2021). Religious teachings align their spiritual nourishment with the above values. For instance, the Bible teaches in Galatians 5:22-23 that people should show love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, and gentleness to achieve spiritual nourishment (Seid, 2023). This religious teaching explains that holing others leads to spiritual satisfaction, which implies that spiritual nourishment requires one to relate well with others. The explanation contradicts some of the ideas by Ryff (2021) that spiritual nourishment involves self-evaluation to determine one’s life value. However, as Bożek et al. (2020) assert, spirituality leads to a positive behavioral change, which leads to improved psychological well-being. Therefore, spirituality is a critical factor in psychological well-being.
Religion
Religion is critical to psychological well-being because it acts as a guide toward human behavior and thinking patterns. To achieve high psychological well-being, a person’s actions should align with the ethical standards in society, their internal desires, and the norms and principles that guide their behavior. Thus, when one has cognitive dissonance emanating from behaving in contradictory patterns to what they believe in, they cannot have psychological well-being. According to Unterrainer (2023), religion is a complex factor because people have varying views about the rational religious teachings to follow. However, the author explains that divine connection affects how people relate with each other and their perceptions about life. Consequently, religion contributes to satisfaction with life, which means religion determines how people relate to their environment. For instance, religion guides how people treat others. Thus, obeying religious teachings leads to positive relationships with others, and a peaceful coexistence with others leads to psychological well-being.
Religion guides people’s lifestyle, which leads to good decision-making and healthy lifestyles. One aspect of psychological well-being affected by religion is physical health. Through religious teachings, people learn self-control and how to control their human urges like sexual desires and consumption. According to Ransome (2020), religion shapes human public health by teaching people how to maintain safe sexual relationships and observe a healthy diet. Consequently, healthy persons have better psychological well-being emanating from living a mindful life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a similar trend emerged globally, whereby religious persons found it easier to observe restrictions and maintain their safety, as opposed to unreligious people who were unused to restricted lifestyles (Hart & Koenig, 2020). More so, religion affects people’s stress and depression levels. People with adequate religious belief are least affected by stress and depression because they transfer their stressful experiences to the supreme being (Bożek et al., 2020). Therefore, religion alleviates stress and depression, leading to better psychological well-being.
A religious lifestyle gives life a purpose. People who follow religion find a purpose for the things they do and also plan for life after death. For instance, Christianity teaches people that good people will end up in heaven while the bad ones will go to hell. Similar teaching can be traced in other religious groups, whereby religion encourages people to lead a purposeful life on earth as a way of securing a good life after death (Aldwinckle, 2022). These teachings give people hope for a better tomorrow and guide their actions today, which leads to a satisfying and hopeful lifestyle, contributing to psychological well-being.
Religion also enhances self-acceptance. According to Ng et al. (2020), self-acceptance is a critical factor contributing to psychological well-being because when one accepts who they are, they find satisfaction in life, leading to psychological satisfaction. Also, self-acceptance is a pillar in mental health, mostly in people who have extraordinary conditions like disabilities. Religion teaches people to accept their fate and thank the Supreme Being for everything. Consequently, religion contributes to higher psychological well-being because it shows people their worth at all times. Also, religion encourages people to support each other and appreciate others, regardless of their physical and demographic differences. Thus, apart from enhancing self-acceptance, religion increases overall acceptance in communities, which makes it possible for people to live a good and peaceful life with each other. Such a life enhances their psychological well-being.
Although evidence shows religion contributes to psychological well-being, there are arguments showing religion could be a source of stress and depression. For instance, the fear of a bad outcome, as explained in religion, may surpass a person’s ability to live a fulfilling life. According to Upenieks (2023), religious teachings about hell and heaven cause anxiety among believers, preventing them from living a fulfilling life and suspending them in endless fear of the future. Thus, religion denies people psychological well-being by insisting on the possibility of an inevitable scary life after death. For instance, by constantly teaching people about hell, Christians may live a fearful and depressing life, which means their psychological well-being is compromised.
Transcendence
Acquiring experiences beyond the physical normal is critical in achieving psychological well-being. People who have high transcendence are mostly those who observe spiritual and religious nourishment because they understand life from a perspective beyond the physical realities. According to Haugan and Eriksson (2021), self-transcendence is a critical aspect of human well-being because it helps people overcome challenging, eventful, and life-threatening occurrences. In other words, during moments of highest vulnerability, people with a high self-transcendence are more likely to remain resilient than those with lower transcendence. Consequently, self-transcendence leads to a more fulfilling lifestyle and psychological well-being. Haugan and Eriksson (2021) underscore the importance of self-transcendence on wellbeing in that it affects one’s knowledge about vulnerability and how to respond to challenging encounters. Thus, transcendence leads to high psychological well-being because it reduces people’s fears when they are in vulnerable situations.
The nursing theory shows that self-transcendence leads to a more fulfilling life. According to Haugan and Eriksson (2021), the theory of self-transcendence uses two metatheories to show the relationship between transcendence and psychological well-being. The first one is lifespan developmental psychology, which explains life as a system of developmental systems and perspectives. The second one is the science of unitary human beings, whereby humans are viewed as open human-environment systems with complex relationships (Haugan & Eriksson, 2021). Based on this theory, the authors show that transcendence determines how people relate to the environment and respond to difficult issues affecting them, mostly challenging nursing experiences.
Transcendence could also enhance interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes. According to Liu et al. (2021), transcendence is among the most effective ways of relieving stress and improving relations among people. The author uses evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows that people with high self-transcendence were more equipped to relate with others during lockdowns and were least affected by the life-threatening possibilities, like the high risks of death associated with the virus. The rationale is that transcendence made people aware of the things affecting their existence beyond the normal life realms. Thus, transcendence leads to high psychological well-being by reducing depression and stress over the unknown.
Transcendence alleviates negative emotional trends, leading to a more fulfilling life. Research by Liu et al. (2021) shows that transcendence reduces negative emotions like depression and loneliness. As stipulated in Viktor Frankl’s theory of self-transcendence, well-being is directly proportional to transcendence. The authors associate transcendence with high levels of virtue, happiness, and meaning (Liu et al., 2021). As stated herein, happiness, life meaning, and happiness are associated with high psychological well-being. The rationale is that without psychological well-being, it would be impossible to be happy and satisfied with life. More so, transcendence enhances well-being by encouraging people to be mindful of the present moments with ideals of goodness, truth, and beauty, seeking ultimate goodness, truth, and beauty, and seeking one’s calling and striving to live a meaningful life (Liu e t al., 2021). As stated in the definition of psychological well-being, living a purposeful life is a critical part of living a fulfilling life. More so, as stated in Schwartz’s theory of human basic values, finding a purpose in life is critical to psychological satisfaction (Liu et al., 2021). Thus, transcendence is an indispensable part of psychological well-being.
Even with satisfactory research showing a close relationship between transcendence and psychological well-being. One theory that opposes the positive relationship between transcendence and psychological well-being is the theory of psychological egoism. This theory asserts that everything that people do is based on their selfish self-interests (Sun et al., 2022). The theory dismisses the relationship between transcendence and psychological well-being by associating well-being with achieving self-interests. However, this theory does exploit the theories and assumptions associated with transcendence and assumes the psychological implications of self-transcendence associated with achieving self-interests.
Self-Growth
Self-growth is a critical factor in psychological well-being because almost everyone acquires a certain satisfaction when they achieve a desired growth in life. To understand the relationship between self-growth and psychological well-being, the current research uses the student lifestyle as an example. One fact about students is that succeeding in classwork gives satisfaction and psychological well-being. As stated in self-determination theory, students who succeed in their tasks acquire higher self-satisfaction and psychological well-being, as opposed to those who get lower grades (Guay, 2022). The relationship is that when students get good results, they feel alleviated and appreciate themselves. Consequently, they acquire a good psychological belief about themselves and their abilities. In a school setting, good educational results imply self-growth because good results imply students have succeeded at their level.
The other evidence showing a relationship between self-growth and psychological well-being is based on Carl Rogers’ theory of therapeutic change for well-being. According to Maurer (2023), Carl Rogers’ theory asserts how people relate to the environment to pursue well-being. The theory explains that when people are in the right environment, they achieve psychological well-being because they have a natural proclivity for greater personal growth (Maurer, 2023). Thus, since people are always focused on achieving higher self-growth, achieving it leads to high satisfaction, which leads to an increase in psychological well-being. As stated in the case of a student, acquiring a higher grade leads to higher satisfaction and psychological well-being. Similarly, in life situations, achieving growth leads to a feeling of satisfaction and self-worth, leading to psychological health. For instance, business expansion is a sign of self-growth and has a positive implication on the entrepreneur’s psychological well-being.
Therapeutic change is also a product of self-growth and is associated with a higher psychological well-being. According to Maurer (2023), therapeutic changes are sources of psychological satisfaction. For instance, when one learns to live in an authentic connection with their inner communication, finds a purpose for their life, gains autonomy with their actions, and becomes self-driven towards their life decisions, their psychological well-being improves (Maurer, 2023). This intrinsic motivation implies one has a positive drive towards a desired life trajectory. Therefore, since the intrinsic drive is a component of self-growth, it is rational to associate self-growth with psychological well-being.
One counterargument to this explanation is that people always resist change and always seek to lessen their rigidity. Maurer (2023) explains Rogers’ model of change, whereby people are likely to resist change even if it gives them psychological growth or wellness. This argument is anchored on the fact that many people focus on maintaining a status quo. However, this argument ignores the fact that resistance to change is relative and differs with various factors like the type of change, the expected outcomes, the information available, and personality traits. For instance, if changes are expected to induce higher psychological well-being, resistance is low, and vice versa. Also, the argument that humans always seek to reduce rigidity and increase flexibility ignores the factors of context and the nature of flexibility. Thus, self-growth is a critical factor in achieving psychological wellness.
Conclusively, the analysis shows that spirituality, religion, transcendence, and self-growth are critical factors affecting psychological well-being. The evaluation highlights theories and models that relate the factors and the argument in the hypothesis. The discussion shows that each of the factors considered has a positive relationship with psychological well-being because none of the counterarguments give adequate canceling evidence. The pros of this analysis are that it shows the relationships, assumptions, and counter views, gives comprehensive coverage of each factor, and gives adequate evidence to support the arguments. The cons are that the analysis does not incorporate case studies from different fields like health, manufacturing management, and education, and there are limited theoretical comparisons. By proving the relationship between the four factors, spirituality, religion, transcendence, self-growth, and psychological well-being, the current analysis provides adequate evidence to ascertain that attaining each of the factors guarantees higher psychological well-being.
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