Spirituality Studies 11-1 Spring 2025 67 Carmen María Salvador-Ferrer In summary, as can be seen in Figure 2, religiosity influences the purpose of life, although the greatest impact is produced by positive self-esteem. Both positive and negative self-esteem influence life purpose, although with different signs (negative sign in the case of negative self-esteem). It can also be seen that religiosity in a direct way does not have a significant impact on negative self-esteem. However, different data are obtained when the relationship is mediated, where the only statistically significant effect is found in the relationship between religiosity, negative self-esteem, and purpose of life. 4 Discussion The general objective of this study was to analyze whether religiosity and self-esteem (positive and negative) are variables that influence the purpose of life. Based on the data, these three variables establish statistically significant relationships. A relevant aspect is the absence of a statistically significant relationship between religiosity and negative self-esteem. In the analysis of causal relationships, we found that the impact of religiosity life purpose is positive and statistically significant (Tedrus and De Castro Fagan Marti 2022, 3), but less than positive self-esteem. This could suggest that religious practices influence the purpose of life but to a lesser extent than positive self-esteem, whose significant impact is the highest. However, when studying the cause-effect relationships between the three variables, the associations are significant, although in some cases with quite low weights. It should be noted that the relationship between religiosity and purpose in life is mediated by negative self-esteem. This finding indicates that through the practice of religiosity, negative self-esteem can be influenced, and similar data are obtained in various works (Abu-Raiya, Sasson and Cohen 2021, 224; Serpanou et al. 2024, 3437). More concretely, and as support for the present work, the findings of the research by Serpanou et al. (2024, 3437) stand out, where it is shown, through multivariate linear regression analysis, that more intense religious views on life were related to lower self-esteem. In short, religiosity reveals that it positively influences the person and is a tool for establishing purpose of life. Despite the findings obtained, this work presents some limitations; the fact that questionnaires are used can produce a bias towards social and response desirability. However, the type of research (cross-sectional) could hinder the possibility of establishing causal inferences. Regarding the sample, the selected work method could present some limitations (sample size, environment, and methodology) that make it difficult to generalize. Another limitation that could affect the results could be the gender differences; the fact that the sample of women is considerably smaller could be a variable that conditions the findings obtained. Despite everything, this exploratory study presents some relevant points that should be considered, for instance, it is an empirical work of cause-effect relationship where perhaps the first evidence of statistically significant relationships between three variables was provided. This is essential as it offers insight and gives meaning to how people proceed in terms of marking their purpose in life. These data could find their support in the work of Błażek and Besta (2010, 957), where it has been shown that religion influences self-esteem. In this regard, it should be noted that in this work there is a scientific advance, since not only is the existence of a relationship between these variables confirmed, but also the impact of negative self-esteem on the mediated relationship between variables (religiosity and purpose in life), where negative self-esteem is the mediating variable, is also evidenced. Future research could, first, further examine demographic (e.g., gender), cognitive (e.g., beliefs), and noncognitive (e.g., hope) factors as moderators of the links between religiosity and self-esteem (positive and negative); second, whether these variables relationships between significance according to the religion practiced. Third, it is recommended to promote more research that addresses other demographic data, as well as the level of education and basic training. Upcoming studies might concentrate on crafting, executing, and assessing how effective educational/academic initiatives are in aiding students to enhance their sense of purpose (Anghel et al. 2024, 62) and self-esteem in relation to others, including activities related to religious practices. It would be about applying wellness programs with a holistic approach, where religious practices could be considered as relevant tools in human development, and this approach seems to be especially relevant in people who have negative self-esteem.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUwMDU5Ng==