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RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING

OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN A RURAL CATHOLIC
SCHOOL IN SOUTHERN NEGROS OCCIDENTAL

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A Concept Paper Presented to

the Faculty of Recoletos de Bacolod Graduate School
University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos

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In Partial Fulfillment Spacing: Single between lines
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Education Major in Religious Studies

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Dennis V. Madrigal
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March 2019
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Background of the Study

Religiosity is usually identified with rigid or formally structured religious institutions that
often are seen to limit or deter human potential (Hill et al., 2000). It is often seen as overlapping
with certain facets of spirituality, such as belief in divinity, but also includes doing the specific
practices of attending services or identifying with the beliefs of a specific religion or religious
group (Kim & Esquivel, 2011). On the other hand, spirituality seems to be the preferred term to
define individual experience and is related to such things as personal transcendence,
supraconscious sensitivity, and meaningfulness (Spilka & McIntosh, 1996). It can be experienced
and conveyed in various ways, such as being aware of the sacredness of one’s soul, a connection
to a unity of life that goes beyond oneself and to a divine Creator and/or being in a spiritual
sphere such as angels (Kim & Esquivel 2011).

Recently, the "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) phenomenon has been on the rise
attracting so many young people (Herzog, 2014; Oppenheimer, 2014; Debien & Calderwood,
2016). Adherents simply express their desire to connect with the divine without being affiliated to
any religion—a practice spirituality outside the context of institutional religion (Debien &
Calderwood, 2016; Barna Research, 2017). Maramba (2013) also observed that this phenomenon
is a current trend among the young Filipinos which may present a problem to older people and a
concern for the church. She added that many people prefer to be called "spiritual" rather than
"religious" due to the crisis in institutional religion. Findings of American Surveys support that
spirituality does not go hand-in-hand with religiosity as many young people who claimed to be
spiritual do not participate in religious practices (Lippman & McIntosh, 2010). However, Martin
(2012) thinks that it is not easy or healthy to separate spirituality from religion. Both are essential
in one’s relationship with God and complementary. “Religion without spirituality becomes a dry
list of dogmatic statement divorced from the life of the spirit… Spirituality without religion can be
a self-centered complacency divorced from the wisdom of a community” (p. 5).

In the Philippines, young Filipino Catholics are observed to be losing their faith because
they don’t attend church services and understand about their faith (Cornelio & Sapitula, 2014).
Also, many Catholic youth are attracted to common and highly experiential modes of spirituality
in Christian churches (Macasaet, 2009) or practiced varied religious typologies (Herzog, 2014). The
question now is, does spiritual but not religious phenomenon have become more prevalent
among young Filipino Catholics? Is Catholic education still relevant in and responsive to fostering
the holistic development of students (Barrett, 2016)? Inherent to its vision mission, the integral
formation of students is supposedly at the heart of teaching and learning in the Catholic schools
(Shimabukuro, 2013). Grounded in Christian spirituality, the religious education in Catholic
schools must be relevant, cognitively challenging, and interesting (Rymarz, 1999 cited in
Hatchman, 2013) to respond to the spiritual and religious needs of contemporary diverse learners.

Statement of the Problem

The study intends to describe and compare the extent of religiosity and degree of
spiritual well-being of Catholic senior high school students of a rural Catholic school in the
Philippines during the school year 2019-2020 when they were grouped according to sex, grade
level, membership in religious organization, Church ministry involvement, Mass attendance, and
Catholic identity. Likewise, it seeks to establish the link between religiosity and spiritual well-
being.
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Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. Is there a significant difference in the extent of religiosity of Catholic senior high
school students when they were grouped according to the aforementioned
demographics?
2. Is there a significant difference in the degree of spiritual well-being of Catholic senior
high school students when they were grouped according to the aforementioned
demographics?
3. Is there significant relationship between the religiosity and spiritual well-being?

Hypotheses
1. There is no significant difference in the extent of religiosity of Catholic senior high
school students when they were grouped according to the aforementioned
demographics.
2. There is no significant difference in the degree of spiritual well-being of Catholic
senior high school students when they were grouped according to the
aforementioned demographics.
3. There is no significant relationship between the religiosity and spiritual well-being.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study may become basis for a religious and spiritual formation
programs that will be designed and implemented by school administrators, religion teachers, and
campus ministers to enhance the religious and spiritual well-being senior high school students.
Likewise, the findings may guide future researchers to conduct similar studies which will explore
other variables not covered by the study or replicate the study to a larger sample in different
contexts to validate or refute the findings of the study.

Scope of the Study

This study will focus on assessing the extent of religiosity and degree of spiritual well-
being of Catholic senior high school students of a rural Catholic school in the southern Negros
Occidental during school year 2018-2019. The assessment of the extent of religiosity will cover
Catholic doctrines and practices while degree of spiritual well-being focused on religious well-
being and existential well-being. Using the researcher-made and standardized questionnaires, this
study will provide baseline data in creating a school-based religiosity and spiritual well-being
program for senior high school students in the Catholic schools under study.

Review of Related Literature

Religiosity is defined as person's preferences, emotions, beliefs and actions that refer to
an existing religion. It denotes the whole of cultural symbol-systems that respond to problems of
meaning and contingency by referring to a transcendent reality which influences everyday life;
however, it cannot be directly controlled (Stolz, 2009). While religiosity is an individual, religion is
a cultural phenomenon. According to Cardwell (1980 cited in Holdcroft, 2006), there are four
dimensions of religiosity—cognitive, cultic, creedal, and devotional. The cognitive is concerned
with what individuals know about religion (religious knowledge); the cultic refers to the
individual’s religious practices (ritualistic behavior); the creedal dimension concerns with personal
belief; and the devotional refers to a person's religious feelings and experiences. Hence,
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"religious" people refer to people who are rooted in religion through membership in a church or
sect whose beliefs, rules, traditions, rituals and practices they adhere to and religiously follow. As
a result, religious people tend to institutionalize or maintain certain permanence in their beliefs
and worship (Maramba, 2013).

Closely related to religiosity is spirituality which touches on the "meaning and purpose in
life, a search for wholeness and a relationship with a transcendent being" (Hage, 2006).
Mansukhani and Resurreccion (2009) made use of the definition of spirituality by Kadar et al.
(2015) which states that spirituality is a connection or relationship with and faith in a Higher
Power as well as integration of values and beliefs with behavior in everyday life. The personal
qualities of relationship with a Higher Power are given emphasis and less on organizational or
institutional beliefs and practices associated with religiousness. Davison and Jhangri (2010)
consider spirituality as distinct from religion which involves institutionally sanctioned beliefs and
activities of a particular faith group and can serve as a nurturer and a channel of expression of
spirituality. Conversely, spirituality is seen to be "more basic” than religiosity and relates to
transcendent values and the ways people find purpose in life. It may or may not involve a belief
in higher being or organized religion.

With the above different perceptions some people identify themselves as "spiritual and
religious” while others describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" (Mansukhani &
Resurreccion, 2009).

Speaking of spirituality, one essential and closely related companion to its concept is
spiritual well-being (Paloutzian, Bufford & Wildman, 2012). Spiritual well-being (SWB) refers to the
subjective state of well-being which measures the perceived spiritual quality of life in terms of
religious sense and existential sense (Paloutzian & Ellison, 2009). SWB is layman’s term which
people describe “their relationship with God or what they understand to be their spiritual being,
or their sense of satisfaction with life or purpose in life” (Paloutzian & Ellison, 2009, p. 3). On the
other hand, Fisher (2011) describes spiritual well-being as the fundamental dimension of people's
overall health, permeating and integrating all other dimensions of health (i.e. the physical, mental,
emotional, social and vocational).

Relative to the religiosity and spirituality of the young adults, it is necessary to look into
their practices concerning their religion. The study of Agoncillo (2015) on the level of religiosity
of the Catholic youth in a developing country like the Philippines showed that in terms of doctrine
the Filipino youth have moderate knowledge of Catholicism and that they can explain their views
to a moderate extent only. In terms of morals, the respondents held beliefs that are moderately
consistent with what the catholic teaches, and in terms of practices, they go to mass at least once
a week, pray the rosary on a regular basis and visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Going to
confession is done less frequently about a few times a year while personal prayer is done several
times a day. Results of this study revealed that gender, age, occupation, religion of parents,
socio-economic status and father's educational attainment are significant predictors of religiosity.
Agoncillo (2015) further stated that religiosity as part of the youth experience is dependent on
contextual factors such as socio-economic status, family, school, community, church and church-
based organizations, while, religiosity as a protector factor is a source of comfort for the youth
and develops specific values, beliefs and culture.
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In a similar study conducted by Madrigal and Oracion (2018), Catholic college students
demonstrated a high level of Catholic religiosity with the doctrinal as the highest and moral as the
lowest among the four areas. The study concluded that religiosity and spiritual well-being are
inseparable/intertwined components of Catholic Christianity. Likewise, Catholic religiosity and
spiritual well-being are linked to family income, religious organization membership, church
involvement, and Mass attendance.

In addition, the findings of the study conducted by Oracion and Madrigal (2018) found
that Catholic identity and spiritual well-being are gendered, age-differentiated, and Church-
mediated. It also confirmed that spiritual well-being is higher among religious groups and
significant differences are present in the spiritual well-being of Catholic high school students
when they are grouped according to age and sex. In addition, the study discovered that orthodox
Catholics demonstrate higher spiritual well-being and its two-fold components—religious and
existential well-being— compared to creative and cultural Catholics.

Methodology

Research Design. The study will use descriptive-comparative and correlational research
design was used to describe and compare the extent of religiosity and degree of spiritual well-
being of Catholic senior high school students when they are grouped according to demographics.
The correlational design will be employed to determine whether a relationship exists between
religiosity and spiritual wellbeing.
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Respondents. The respondents of the study will be the Catholic senior high school
students of a rural Catholic school in the Philippines for the school year 2018-2020. They will be
sampled using stratified random sampling method.

Research Instrument. A combination of a researcher-made and standardized

questionnaire will be employed to gather the data. For religiosity, a validated and reliability-tested
researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 20 items dealing with Catholic doctrines and
practices will be used. For the spiritual well-being, the researcher will utilize a standardized
spiritual well-being scale made by Dr. Ellison and Dr. Paloutzian (2009) available by subscription
through Life Advance website. The spiritual well-being scale provides the indicator for the
perceived spiritual quality of life of individuals in terms of their religious and existential well-
being. The questionnaire is a paper-pencil self-administered instrument which consists of 20
items and each of the subscale has 10 items to assess the religious and existential well-being.

Data Collection Procedure. The approval of the School Principal of the rural Catholic high
school will be obtained before the conduct of the study. Before the administration of the
questionnaire, the respondents will be oriented about the purpose and scope of the study, the
nature and parts of the questionnaire, and most especially, the affirmation of their willingness to
participate in the study. The researcher will personally administer and retrieve the survey
questionnaire.

Data Analysis Procedure. The descriptive, comparative, and correlational analyses will be
utilized in the analysis of data using the appropriate statistical tools such as Mean, Mann Whitney
U test, Kruskal-Wallis, and Pearson r.

Ethical Consideration. To address ethical issues, the researcher will secure the informed
consent of the respondents and emphasize that their participation in this study will be voluntary
and they have the right to withdraw if they feel uncomfortable in the process of gathering
information from them. Also, they will be assured of full confidentiality. No information that
discloses their identity will be released or published without their specific consent to the
disclosure and only when it is imperatively necessary. The materials that contained the raw
information derived from them will be disposed by manual shredding after data processing within
a given period.

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TIMETABLE OF THE STUDY

Objectives Activities Time Frame

1. To present the research
Prepare the manuscript; apply for
proposal for review and August 2019
the oral defense
approval
Prepare the draft of the
2. To conduct validity and
uestionnaire for validation and
reliability of the survey
reliability; meet assessors; and September 2019
questionnaire
conduct reliability test
Administration of the survey
3. To collect the data
questionnaire to respondents September 2019
4. To encode, process, Encoding and statistical treatment
analyze, and interpret and analysis, and interpretation of
October 2019
the collected data the data.
5. Final Defense Present the findings of the study November 2019
Present the final dissertation
6. Revision of the Paper
manuscript December 2019
7. Submission of the Final Revision and Submission of the
January 2019
Book Final Book

ESTIMATED BUDGETARY REQUIREMENTS

ITEMS AMOUNT
Supplies 2,000.00
Data Gathering & Travel Expenses 10,000.00
Honorarium of Panel Members 19,600.00
Validity and Reliability Expenses 3,000.00
Oral Defenses’ Meals 6,000.00
Photocopying 2,000.00
Binding 3,000.00
TOTAL 45,600.00