The Digitalization of Religion: Smartphone Use and Subjective Well-Being during COVID-19
Previous findings indicate that smartphone use can decrease life satisfaction and can negatively impact religious or spiritual goals. But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, smartphones have become significantly more positive and useful. Smartphones have helped people move on with their lives,...
Authors: | ; ; |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2023
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In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 62, Issue: 1, Pages: 144-163 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Israel
/ USA
/ Smartphone
/ Jews
/ Christian
/ Wellness
/ Religiosity
/ Spirituality
/ COVID-19 (Disease)
/ Pandemic
|
RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AE Psychology of religion AG Religious life; material religion BH Judaism CB Christian life; spirituality KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBL Near East and North Africa KBQ North America ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies |
Further subjects: | B
Subjective well-being
B smartphone use B Spirituality B Covid-19 B uses and gratifications B Religiosity |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Previous findings indicate that smartphone use can decrease life satisfaction and can negatively impact religious or spiritual goals. But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, smartphones have become significantly more positive and useful. Smartphones have helped people move on with their lives, especially due to the myriad benefits they offer. Users can “virtually” spend time with family and friends (i.e., social) and can order groceries, read the news, attend to religious and spiritual needs, and entertain themselves (i.e., process) without venturing out. In the theoretical framework of uses and gratifications, we explored the impact that smartphone use can have on the subjective well-being of Jews and Christians, respectively, in countries with the highest smartphone penetration: Israel and the United States. Furthermore, we introduced religiosity and spirituality, which have surged during the pandemic, as mediators in the proposed model. In the United States, social and process smartphone use enhanced subjective well-being through religiosity (vs. spirituality). In Israel, the process use enhanced subjective well-being through spirituality (vs. religiosity). Theoretical implications are discussed. |
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ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12831 |