Background

Researchers have suggested that religious worldviews, or religious schemata, impact peoples’ interpretations of experiences. However, little is known about the contribution of religious schemata to the positive psychology construct of purpose and meaning in life. 

Aims

To test the relative correlations of three established religious schemata to purpose and meaning in life. The religious schemata testing included truth in text (TTT), fairness and tolerance (FTR), and xenosophia (XENOS). High TTT scores suggest adherence to literal and unchanging truth, as stated in sacred texts, high FTR scores suggest concern for tolerance when dialoging with individuals of diverse faith traditions, and high XENOS scores suggest openness to recognizing similarities among different faiths. 

Method

To better understand the relationship of the chosen variables, we tested university students (N = 968) using Religious Schema and Meaning in Life scales. TTT, FTR, and XENOS were modeled as independent drivers of purpose and meaning in life. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the relative strength of each independent variable to purpose and meaning in life. All analyses were performed using AMOS. 

Results

The results indicated that according to accepted heuristics, a model of good fit (Χ2 = 968.5, df = 266; p < .001; RMSEA = .051 [90% CI: .048, .055]; CFI: .925) contained TTT as a positive contributor to presence (β = .373, p < .001) and searching (β = .121, p = .01) for meaning, FTR to greater meaning (β = .171, p = .046) and less searching (β = -.351, p = .034), and XENOS to greater searching (β = .571, p < .001) only.

Conclusion

The variety discovered in the relationship between religious worldviews to purpose and meaning in life suggests a need for further research into the unique role each plays in contributing to purpose and meaning in life.  A better understanding the relationship of each to purpose and meaning may assist in the furtherance of global well-being.