A small new study shows that regardless of what religion you ascribe to, spirituality in general is linked with greater mental health. In particular, spirituality in the study was linked with decreased neuroticism and increased extraversion, researchers found.
“With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe,” study researcher Dan Cohen, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, said in a statement. “What was interesting was that frequency of participation in religious activities or the perceived degree of congregational support was not found to be significant in the relationships between personality, spirituality, religion and health.”