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The Role Everyday Spirituality Plays on Loneliness
Liberty University
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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
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
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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
rejected, and there was not a significant correlation between the loneliness and
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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, A. R. (2020). The impact of religious affiliation on college students' 12-
step 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-
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