Abstract

The purpose of this article is to test hypotheses that meaning in life can be a mediator in the relations between religiousness expressed in terms of a meaning system and subjective well-being. Previous research on religion and well-being has left some questions unanswered. Associations of the religious meaning system and subjective well-being turn out to be complex and suggest the possibility of meaning-oriented mediators in their relations. The results obtained in the current study demonstrated that personal meaning and presence of meaning were partial mediators between the religious meaning system and the cognitive dimension of subjective well-being. In contrast, search for meaning did not have a significant mediational role in those relations and there were no direct or indirect relationships between the religious meaning system and the affective dimension of subjective well-being. The findings suggest indirect relations between religiousness and well-being which are partially mediated by structures of meaning and purpose.