Abstract
We examine the role of spiritual practices on life satisfaction of the elderly aged between 60 to 78 years in Nadia District of West Bengal, India. Using purposive sampling method, 70 elderly devotees residing and practicing spirituality at the famous ISKCON temple premises and 70 elderly non-devotees living away from it and not practicing spirituality were taken into consideration for this study. Satisfaction level of elderly of both the two groups was calculated using Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and a t-test was conducted to measure the differences in life satisfaction level between these two groups. The results reveal that the group of elderly devotee had significantly higher Life Satisfaction (M=28.5, S.D=3.2) in comparison to non-devotee elderly (M=22.4, S.D=4.1) with a p-value <0.01, indicating a statistically significant difference. The word frequency analysis uncovered the mostly used words by the elderly devotee were ‘peace’, ‘purpose’, ‘gratitude’, and ‘connection with superpower’, that emphasised the role of different spiritual practices in fostering their emotional resilience, meaningful engagement, and a better life satisfaction whereas ‘income’, ‘financial stress’, ‘expenses’, ‘loneliness’, and ‘diseases’ were the frequently uttered words by the elderly non-devotee indicating a stronger reliance on financial condition and loneliness of life. The findings of the study highlight the importance of spiritual practices in promoting life satisfaction among the elderly and suggest incorporating different spiritual practices into health and wellness programs to support better and healthy aging of the elderly.
Presenters
Piyal Basu RoyProfessor, Geography, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, West Bengal, India
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality
KEYWORDS
ELDERLY, SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, ISKCON, DEVOTEES, NON-DEVOTEES, LIFE SATISFACTION
