Broaden-and-build - Religion and Broaden-and-build

Religion and Broaden-and-build

Positive emotion has been implicated as an important component in the link between religion and health. Experiencing positive emotions helps people to become more resilient, more creative, wiser, more virtuous, more socially integrated, and physically healthier.

People who participate in certain religious practices, data suggests, experience similar positive benefits. Researchers, such as B.L. Fredrickson, have based research on this link. The aspect that makes certain religions beneficial to people is the fact that they are “built on a belief of greater meaning in life”. This belief in greater meaning is what helps cultivate positive emotions. People are able to find meaning in anything from chance occurrences, such as running in to an old friend in the store, to extreme hardships, such as losing a spouse.