What about the mental health of religious people – does faith really offer protection in times of crisis, as the saying suggests?
Looking at existing studies, there is no clear answer to this question. We need more research. However, much evidence suggests that faith can be a positive factor for mental health. A longitudinal study, for example, found that religiosity in the parental home can have a positive influence throughout people’s lives. Many people who grew up religiously “flourish” emotionally, socially, and psychologically over the course of their lives. However, this correlation remained consistent only if they had a positive and warm relationship with their mother.
In contrast, a meta-analysis focusing on German-speaking countries found only a very small positive correlation between religiosity or spirituality and mental health. Here, it became particularly clear that so-called religious coping is a decisive factor. For example, when religious people blame themselves for a stroke of fate or interpret it as punishment for sin, this tends to impair their mental health. The same is true when they perceive God less as a loving counterpart and more as strict and punitive.
Does this mean that religious people differ in the way they cope with challenges?
In religious psychology, we speak of different religious styles. This approach assumes that one’s bond with God functions in principle like relationships with other significant attachment figures. In the collaborative style, I feel that I can actively change my situation. People with this style rely on God for support in their efforts. In the self-directed style, believers assume that they can only help themselves. And people with a delegating style experience themselves as powerless: only God can “fix” the situation. This may be comforting in the face of a terminal illness, for example. But when I want to make a concrete decision, it is not helpful to think that I can do nothing at all. The collaborative style is therefore the most psychologically beneficial, as it strengthens self-esteem and a sense of self-efficiency. By contrast, we also know of “learned helplessness” in people with depression, who feel extremely powerless and unable to control a situation.
So spirituality can be an asset – but it doesn’t have to be?
Yes, the results of the 2023 Religion Monitor show that Christians who regularly attend church services tend to have greater trust in other people and in society. I am currently working on a paper using longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel to examine whether religion can help people who have lost a close relative. In fact, religiosity appears to act as a buffer during negative life events, so that those affected suffer less. We can only speculate as to why this is. Perhaps they receive practical or financial support from their community, or their faith helps them integrate the loss into a meaningful narrative. Some people also speak to God about the deceased.
However, we did not find this positive effect of faith following separation – another negative life event: Here, regular church attendance may even exacerbate the situation. This could be due to religious norms surrounding partnership or marriage. This clearly shows where religiosity can be an asset and where it can become a stressor.
Being religious is no longer a matter of course today. Religious people are often confronted with reluctance or suspicion. How does that affect them?
According to one study, very religious people, whether Christian or Muslim, tend to be perceived as rather unlikeable by others. Today, religion is often seen as a private matter that should not be shared publicly. According to the “Religion Monitor 2023”, 40% of people in Germany believe that religion no longer fits our times.
At the same time, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism are quite widespread in Germany. Discrimination against Jewish and Muslim religiosity clearly exists . This is regularly documented in studies. Here, aversion to religion often intersects with prejudice related to migration background, making it a case of intersectional discrimination. Not much research has been done on prejudice against Christians. However, we know that in academic settings, Christian university groups are sometimes excluded from the university’s internal “market of opportunities”. Similar attitudes are sometimes also found in daycare centers, for example when parents want the “St. Martin’s Day Celebration” to be called the “Lantern Festival”. Sociologist Dr. Yasemin El-Menouar has posed the question: Does religious freedom mean that our lives are “freed” from religion, or that we are free to live out our religiosity? One possible approach would be to allow spiritual diversity in everyday life – for example, by including different religious customs and festivals in daycare centers.
You also examine so-called “microaggressions” against believers. What is this about?
Microaggressions are everyday interactions that feel like small pinpricks. They are small insults that, when taken together, convey the message that a person is inferior. Religious people, for example, encounter the stereotype that they are less educated or homophobic and judgmental. Even expressing surprise that someone is religious can constitute a microaggression. However, such insults also occur within religious communities themselves. Pastors, for example, often have a certain authority while at the same time gaining intimate insight into people’s lives through pastoral counseling. This can lead to role conflicts, which are often accompanied by boundary violations.
For queer people who are very religious, microaggressions within religious communities are likely especially stressful: Studies show that conflicts between gender identity and religious beliefs have a negative impact on mental health.
Many religious people experience crises of faith. Does that inevitably lead to a mental health crisis?
“Religious struggles” have been well researched across cultures and religions. They can be accompanied by anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, and even increased suicidal tendencies. These crises can relate to God or to feelings of moral inadequacy. They may involve fear of evil forces or conflicts within the religious community, for example over questions of faith. However, they also hold the potential for spiritual growth. Research shows that it can help to accept the crisis or find some kind of meaning in it. Experiencing so-called “sacred moments”, i.e., encounters with God, can also be beneficial. We observe something similar in clinical psychotherapy. When people are able to integrate crises into their own biographies, when these crises make “sense”, it promotes mental health.
What are the reasons why people “lose” their faith or want to leave their religious community?
In Christianity, there are four main reasons people leave the church: moral concerns or intellectual doubts, a fragmented sense of identity, or disappointment in their relationship with God. Leaving a religious community can still be difficult and may leave some with a feeling of emptiness.
Faith, love, hope: Are there values that are good for us, regardless of whether we are religious?
I like the idea that we humans share the same existential questions and challenges. We all encounter problems that cannot be solved and questions that have no clear answers. Existential psychotherapy takes the approach that avoiding these fundamental experiences can cause suffering. Religion is one way of engaging with them. We can draw meaning, self-esteem, and hope from it . When we view religion as an expression of human diversity, we also become sensitive to its cultural dimension.
Nina Burau has been a research assistant at the Chair of Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the University of Potsdam since 2024.
This text was published in the university magazine Portal - Zwei 2025 „Demokratie“. (in German)
Here You can find all articles in English at a glance: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/explore-the-up/up-to-date/university-magazine/portal-two-2025-democracy