Keywords
Life satisfaction; debt; religiosity; complex data analysis
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore religious factors as a resource for coping with indebtedness. Using a sample (n = 3,174) extracted from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examined the relationship between household debt and life satisfaction, and tested for stress-buffering (i.e., moderation) from religious identification, religious beliefs, and prayer frequency. Results suggest that some religious factors may play a small role in moderating the relationship between indebtedness and life satisfaction, and that such moderation is itself dependent on one’s religious identification. Implications for practice (particularly faith-based providers of financial counseling) and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Ammerman, D. A., Stueve, C., & Hayward, S. (2019). Debt, Religious Beliefs, and Life Satisfaction. Journal of Financial Therapy, 10 (2) 4. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1195
