Introduction: Recently, a positive approach to mental health has been developed and emphasized psychological well-being concept with positive factors such as self-esteem, good social relationships and satisfaction. Such a conception of mental health appears to associate with the religion which has an important role in the development of human characteristics. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between religious orientation and psychological well-being among the students of Gonabad University of medical sciences in academic year of 2011-2012. Methods: In this cross-sectional (descriptive- analytical) study, 320 students with different majors in various grades were selected through multi-stage random sampling method and evaluated using Reef questionnaire of psychological well-being and Alport religious orientation. Data were analyzed by using SPSS software, independent T-test and Spearman correlation coefficients.
Findings: The results showed that there was no relationship between intrinsic religious orientation and psychological well-being (P=0.128, r=0.177), while a negative relationship was found between psychological well-being and extrinsic religious orientation (P=0.009, r=-0.199). In addition, there was a significant difference between two genders in terms of extrinsic religious orientation so that the boys more than the girls were outside of religious orientation (P=0.007). The significant and direct relationship was between age and self-orientation so that the students had more intrinsic religious orientation with increasing age (P=0.012). Conclusion: Given the negative correlation between psychological well-being and extrinsic religious orientation, students are recommended to help their mental health promotion and pay more attention to strengthen their religious beliefs with intrinsic orientation.
sadeghi S, sadeghi O, khodadadi Z, tavakolizadeh J, tolidei H. The relationship between religious orientation and psychological well-being in Students of medical university of Gonabad in 91-1390 . IHJ 2015; 1 (4) :57-63 URL: http://iahj.ir/article-1-56-en.html