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hexokinase inhibition There are age differences in
There are age differences in Table 1. Except for two countries, older persons are more likely to report they are religious, and in most cases, the difference is statistically significant. Differences tend to be non-significant within countries that report very high rates of being religious, such as in Nigeria and Pakistan. When it comes to the percent reporting that they think about the meaning of life, differences across age groups are less noticeable. China is an exception. In the USA, the percent that say they think about the meaning of life sometimes or often is 78.7% for those under 60 and 75.1% for those 60 and older, a difference that is not statistically significant. Differences in thinking about meaning of life also run in both directions. In Mexico younger persons are significantly more likely to think about the meaning of life, whereas in Germany it is older persons that are more likely.
It is because hexokinase inhibition aging and religiosity are both pervasive global phenomenon that the potential salutary effect of religiosity and spirituality is so important for global health. Evidence suggests that older persons tend to be more religious than younger ones; an association that has proven robust in both cross-sectional and longitudinal data (Argue, Johnson, & White, 1999; Levin, Taylor, & Chatters, 1994). Some of this could be a function of cohort differences, with the current older generation coming from a background and a time where religion was valued to a greater degree and thus they carry those values into old age (Wilhelm, Rooney, & Tempel, 2007). However, there is other evidence to suggest that people become more involved with religion and their sense of spirituality magnifies with age (Moberg, 2005; Wink & Dillon, 2001). Therefore, as the world grows older, it is quite possible that it will grow more religious and spiritual. It is not hyperbole to say that population aging coupled with increasing longevity will be among the most important trends driving population health and health care costs around the world over the next several decades (Mayhew, 1999; Zimmer & McDaniel, 2013). Therefore, how religiosity and spirituality associate to health among older persons will be critical for determining the health of these aging older populations and ultimately for health policies adopted by the societies in which older persons live.
Defining religiosity and spirituality for the purpose of global research
Distinguishing the difference between religiosity and spirituality has not been easy for any single culture let alone cross-nationally, and centuries of thinking have yet to provide standard delineations of the two concepts (Fetzer Institute, 2003; Hill et al., 2000; Idler et al., 2003; Koenig et al., 2012; MacKinlay, 2002; Ortiz & Langer, 2002). One difficulty is that the two concepts are related and have common characteristics (Seybold & Hill, 2001); both can involve personal transformation and the search for an ultimate truth. A religious person often defines themselves as being spiritual, so that spirituality often encompasses religiosity, but is often defined in broader terms (Holmes, 2002). Religion around the world generally associates with specific foundational principles that are organized around distinct systems of beliefs, practices and rituals that take place within communities of participants. Spirituality is more difficult to define, particularly across cultures, as its characteristics are not easily agreed upon, and it can mean different things for different individuals in different places (Koenig et al., 2012). More so, spirituality conveys the notion of a personal search relating to things sacred and transcendent (Crowther, Parker, Achenbaum, Larimore, & Koenig, 2002). While levels of religiosity around the world are often measured in direct ways, for instance with respect to frequency of activity, such as ritualistic practice and attendance at places of worship, spirituality must be measured in more indirect personal experiential terms, such as the search for meaning, peace and personal fulfillment, contemplation about meaning of life, and the feeling of a personal relationship to a higher power (Zinnbauer et al., 1997). Religious activity is normally thought to take place within or in connection to formal institutions while spiritual activity, taking on a more personal tonality, can take place within and equally outside of formal institutions. This does not mean to say that religion is necessarily a public endeavor. Eastern religions, such as Shintoism as practiced in Japan and Buddhism as practiced across Southeast and South Asia, involve a greater degree of private worship than do the religions more commonly practiced in the United States and Europe (Hidajat, Zimmer, Saito, & Lin, 2013).