Religiousness, conversion, and subjective well-being: the "healthy- minded" religion of modern American women

Data from a survey of 2,500 American women were examined to determine 1) the nature of religiousness among women and, in particular, whether modern religiousness corresponds to William James' conception of "healthy-minded" religion; 2) how religiousness is related to self- reports of mental and physical health; and 3) differences between converts (mainly to Protestant denominations) and women who have maintained the same religious affiliation all their lives. The authors found that healthy-mindedness described the nonconverts (the majority) fairly well, and that certainty of beliefs (either strong religiousness or confident nonreligiousness) was associated with better mental and physical health. Converts were distinguished from nonconverts by the former's relatively happy and less religious childhoods, stronger adult religiousness, and greater authoritarian tendencies.