Faith as a Component of Well-Being: Implications for Higher Education

Introduction

Faith is usually discussed in the context of spirituality and religiosity, both of which contribute to well-being (see Koenig, King, & Carson, 2012, for an overview). However, both also fall short in certain ways, particularly when it comes to utilizing them to foster the well-being of students and other stakeholders in higher education. Spirituality mainly refers to the experiential aspects of transcendent relationships, i.e. to the realm of affect and feeling. Religiosity, by contrast, typically implies membership in a religious institution, or adherence to a certain set of doctrines and creeds.

For educators or other professionals attempting to implement either into their work with students, this poses a dilemma. Spirituality is a broad and vague concept (e.g. la Cour, Ausker, & Hvidt, 2012), leaving unclear how exactly to apply it with the goal of increasing well-being. Religiosity, by contrast, rooted as it is in one particular faith tradition, cannot be offered by secular institutions of higher education (IHEs) unless they treat all religions equally. This may not always be feasible. It also precludes non-clergy from engaging with students, and is likely to only appeal to individuals who are already deeply committed to their particular tradition. This would exclude students questioning their tradition as well as those who do not identify with one, or may even be opposed to anything religious.

As educators in the health sciences with a deep interest in exploring the potential of spirituality and religiosity to foster the well-being of students and practitioners (and, by extension, of patients) we have been paying close attention to the idea of faith. Drawing on Kierkegaard (Hong & Hong, 2000), Camus (1942/2021, 1983/1955), the 12-step groups (Kurtz, 1979) and the social-interactional mysticism of Rosa (2019), we define faith as a mode of interacting with the world that takes seriously the limitations of human knowing and hence adopts radical acceptance, humble confidence, and trust in the possibility of meaning. Put otherwise, faith is what enables the seeker to make decisions in line both with reality and the individual’s ultimate meaning, however provisional. Understood this way, faith transcends the problems inherent in spirituality and religiosity. It can encompass both or either, but it requires more commitment than ‘mere’ spirituality, and it is not tied to a specific set of institutional creeds and doctrines (as religiosity is). Thus, it should be suitable for being practiced in higher education with students from any (or no) faith background.

This chapter will proceed as follows. We will first review the ties of spirituality and religiosity to well-being. On this basis, we will explore their particular role in the life of college students, and hence in higher education. In the process, we will discuss some of the proposed explanations for their benefits. We will also outline some ways in which they may hamper, rather than foster, individuals’ well-being.

Note that we will focus on the needs of students here, since we believe they differ somewhat from those of the general population due to the specific nature of young adulthood and of the college years as a period of formation and individuation. We argue that well-being, in the sense of the present volume, cannot be discussed outside of questions regarding the formation of the human self and its relationship to cultural and societal values and the meaning of life. As we believe young adulthood is a particularly intense and vulnerable time of formation, we posit that IHEs have a unique responsibility of providing guidance to their students in this regard. On this basis, we will detail our conception of faith, explain how we hope it addresses these issues, and outline an experimental meditation and encounter group for students in which this conception of faith can be practically explored.