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The Role Everyday Spirituality Plays on Loneliness
Results
The current study had 40 participants with gender results as 60% male, 40%
female. The Racial category results were 40% white, 15% Asian, 40% Hispanic/ Latino,
5% Black/ African American, and zero other & American Indian/ Alaskan Native (Figure
1). The race results are the only demographic shown in Figure 1 due to the relevance to
the study. The age of the participants ranged from 20-48, had a mean age of 23.15, and
had a standard deviation of 4.406.
Figure 1
Demographic Data of Racial Category
. The current study hypothesized that there was a relationship between spirituality
and loneliness, as spirituality scores raise, then loneliness scores will decrease. A
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Pearson’s r correlation did not reveal a significant correlation between spirituality and
loneliness, r (40) = 0.75, p = 0.324 (one-tailed). Table 1 shows the SPSS output from
the Pearson’s r test ran in IBM SPSS Statistics (version 28) predictive analytics software.
Table 1
SPSS Correlation Output
Discussion
Due to the lack of consistent research findings on the relationship between
spirituality and loneliness, the goal of the current study was to explore the field by
including relevant demographics to understand a potential cultural factor to the results. It
was expected that since loneliness can lead to mental health issues, and spirituality could
point to an increase in mental health, in various racial culture groups, then increased
loneliness correlates to decreased spirituality (Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Rasic et al.,
2011; Gallegos & Segrin, 2019; Martins, 2022). The null hypothesis failed to be
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rejected, and there was not a significant correlation between the loneliness and
spirituality scores, therefore there was also no cultural factor at play on the findings.
This is because since the initial hypothesis was not significant, then it cannot be said
that the racial culture group had an effect on the correlation that was no present.
One limitation to the current study was the limited age range of the participants.
Although the range is from 20-48, the mean is much closer to 20 than 48. The results
of the demographics show that the age 48 is an outlier of from the rest of the
participants, whereas the age ranged focused mostly near the mean of 23.15. One
potential reasoning, or confound, for the study could be that that the average participants
were classified as generation z (10-25 years old), and the overall spirituality and
religious affiliation in generation z is decreasing, as they attempt to find self-empowering
solutions (Camargo et al., 2019). This points to the idea that a larger age range could
have offered a bigger range of spirituality affiliation and a more accurate population
representation, therefore receiving different results. Another limitation of the current study
was that the survey was given through a social media platform (Instagram), and social
media has been previously shown to lead to an increase in mental health issues that lead
to loneliness (Abi-Jaude et al., 2020; Gallegos & Segrin, 2019). Since a social media
platform was used to distribute the survey, it shows the participants are all users of
social media and, and therefore, there is a possibility of an increase in mental health
among the participants leading to an increase in feelings of loneliness. Using a different
source to distribute the surveys might have provided a more representative sample.
Rasic and colleagues (2011) found a correlation between spirituality and less
suicidal ideations, signifying higher rates of social support pointing towards lower rates
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of loneliness. This contradicts the current study which showed no significant correlation
between spirituality and loneliness, yet the current study did not observe specifically
suicidal ideations, yet it measured loneliness with the UCLA Loneliness Scale
(Wongpakaran et al., 2020). There was also a similarity between the studies whereas in
Rasic and colleagues’ (2011) study, there was no significant correlation between religious
attendance and anxiety and depression, and religion and spirituality are sometimes used
interchangeably, therefore this could be seen as a similar comparison to the one in the
current study. To determine whether the multiple comparisons in the study contrasted or
compared to the current study, one would have to explore the operational definitions of
each variable at hand. Gallegos and Segrin’s (2019) study was comparable to the current
study since it focused on Latinos and 41% of the participants in the current study were
Latino, yet the study’s showed differing results. It was found that spirituality led to a
protection of loneliness leading to better mental health, whereas the current study found
no correlation between spirituality and loneliness, yet the current study found a limitation
in age range of survey distribution source that Gallegos and Segrin’s (2019) study did
not have. The more accurate population representative sample could be a reason for the
contradicting results. As shown in the numerous studies, there is varying results on
whether spirituality and religion relate to mental health, yet Hackney & Sanders (2003)
conducted a meta-analysis of the differing studies that show how important
operationalizing the definitions are to comparing results.
Although there was no significant correlation between spirituality and loneliness
among the participants in the current study, this shows the variability and uniqueness of
humankind. Past studies have shown positive correlations regarding older age groups and
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loneliness and/or spirituality, yet the current study was limited to those around the age
of 23 who use social media. (Martins et al., 2020). The younger generations experience
spirituality in diverse ways, and some feel loneliness in diverse ways, yet the study
presents how unique each person is that there is no specific relationship between these
two variables.
Future research could be conducted with a wider age range and through a
different source of distribution to receive a sample more representative of the population.
Although the current study shows variability within those of younger generations, future
research could help indicate what roles spirituality and loneliness play in those of
different age groups, in different walks of life. Since different racial cultures were pretty
well represented in the current study, there is always ways to create research around
differing cultures, such as different religious cultures.
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References
Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use
and youth mental health. Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), 192(6),
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Camargo, S. A., McClellan, M. J., Creech, C. B., Osbaldiston, R., Adair, C., & Stanton,
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model preferences. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 23(3-4), 317-330.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2020.1767553
Gallegos, & Segrin, C. (2019). Exploring the mediating role of loneliness in the
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https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000180
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Hackney, C. H., & Sanders, G. S. (2003). Religiosity and mental health: A meta-analysis
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