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Hypothesis: It is predicted that women who have a higher rate of spirituality will
have lower rates of loneliness.
Results
The sample size of this study was 20 participants. One hundred percent of these
participants identified their gender as female. For this study the age, race and martial
status were not asked of the female participants, but it was verified that they were all
legal age.
This study was done to examine the relationship of spirituality and loneliness in
women. The test used was regression analysis (see Table 1). A linear regression analysis
was conducted to evaluate the prediction for lower levels of loneliness given the higher
levels of spirituality and was found not to be significant F (1,18) = .673, p = .423. The
regression equation for predicting lower levels of loneliness is Y’ = .068x + 1.729. The
correlation between lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of spirituality is 0.190.
Approximately 3.61% of the variance in the lower levels of loneliness was accounted for
by its linear relationship with the higher levels of spirituality. The null hypothesis is not
rejected.
Table 1
Simple regression analysis for spirituality and loneliness
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Figure 1
Higher levels of spirituality did not predict lower levels of loneliness.
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Discussion
The aim of this study was to predict that women who have a higher spirituality
level will have a lower level of loneliness. Results suggest that having a higher
spirituality level does not predict lower levels of loneliness in women. Convenience
sampling was found to be a limitation in this study since it was not a true random
sample of the population. Another limitation was the selected sample was too generalized
and should have included more specifics about the participants.
Although this study did not support the hypothesis it does not mean that
spirituality and loneliness are not correlated. A different study has shown support that
spirituality can help with mental health issues like loneliness, although its sampling was
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primarily Latino and non-white Latino, limiting the results from being generalized to
other races (Gallegos, 2019). Another study, using similar measurement scales on
spirituality and loneliness, that was done on male and female college students found that
spiritualty did help with loneliness, again supporting that spirituality and loneliness are
correlated (Bokaie, 2017). Since it was found that older women were more lonely than
older men and that spirituality can help with loneliness, more detailed studies need to be
done (Dahlberg, 2014, Bokaie, 2017).
Since it can be found that spirituality does truly help with mental health issues
like loneliness, then new methods of treatment that focus more on spirituality can help
those struggling with loneliness. A similar study that can be built from this but would
ask more details of the participants (marital status, age, and race) who identify as female
can possibly see a change in the results of the study. The results may find similar
correlations like the other studies mentioned here, giving more support that high
spirituality levels can predict lower levels of loneliness.
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References
Bokaie, M., & Enjezab, B. (2017). The correlation between Spiritual Health and
Loneliness among Students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences,
Yazd, Iran. Health, Spirituality & Medical Ethics Journal, 4(4), 6–12.
Dahlberg, L., Andersson, L., McKee, K. J., & Lennartsson, C. (2015). Predictors of
loneliness among older women and men in Sweden: A national longitudinal study.
Aging & Mental Health, 19(5), 409-417. 10.1080/13607863.2014.944091
Gallegos, M. L., & Segrin, C. (2019). Exploring the mediating role of loneliness in the
relationship between spirituality and health: Implications for the Latino health
paradox. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(3), 308–318.
https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000180
