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| Published: September 30, 2024
The Role of Education in Shaping Religious Orientation and Psychological Well-Being among Muslim individuals in Western Maharashtra
Department of Applied Psychology, School of Social Science, Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University, Solapur Google Scholar More about the auther
DIP: 18.01.305.20241203
DOI: 10.25215/1203.305
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the influence of educational attainment on intrinsic religious orientation and psychological well-being among Muslim individuals in Western Maharashtra. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from a diverse sample of 600 participants (350 males, 250 females) across five districts: Pune, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, and Kolhapur. Participants were divided into three educational categories: matriculated, graduate, and postgraduate. The Religious Orientation Scale by Dr. Daniel Batson and the Psychological Well-Being Scale by Dr. Carol Ryff were used to assess intrinsic religious orientation and psychological well-being, respectively. The study had three main goals: (1) to compare the religious orientation of individuals with different levels of education, (2) to compare their mental well-being, and (3) to see if there was a relationship between religious beliefs and mental well-being. The results showed that individuals who were graduates or postgraduates had stronger personal religious beliefs (average score of 78.54) than those who had only completed matriculation (average score of 66.16). This difference was significant, with a t-value of 15.874. Similarly, graduates and postgraduates also had better mental health (average score of 168.32) compared to matriculated individuals (average score of 160.29), with a t-value of 8.83. Additionally, there was a very strong positive link (r = 0.975) between personal religious beliefs and mental well-being. This means that individuals who had stronger religious beliefs were more likely to have better mental health. The findings suggest that education plays a key role in shaping both religious beliefs and mental health. Higher education helps people develop stronger personal beliefs and leads to better psychological well-being. This study shows how education can impact personal growth and spiritual development, especially within religious communities.
Keywords
Education, Religious Orientation, Intrinsic Religious Orientation, Psychological Well-Being, Muslims, Western Maharashtra
This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2024, Akabar, S.H.
Received: September 12, 2024; Revision Received: September 27, 2024; Accepted: September 30, 2024
Article Overview
ISSN 2348-5396
ISSN 2349-3429
18.01.305.20241203
10.25215/1203.305
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Published in Volume 12, Issue 3, July-September, 2024