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01-04-2016 | Original Paper

Religious Dissociation and Economic Appraisal in Brazil

Author: H. J. François Dengah II

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 2/2016

Abstract

Research on the association between religion and health often neglects to provide an explicit theoretical mechanism of influence between faith and well-being. This research posits that dissociative behaviors, such as glossolalia, may provide a biological pathway that influences both physiological and psychological health. This paper argues that religious dissociation acts as a moderator between economic stressors and psychobiological appraisal. Brazil, with its economic inequality and preponderance of religious dissociative rituals, provides an ideal context to examine religious dissociation as a moderator of stress. Utilizing data from a cross section of Brazilian faiths, this paper examines: (1) Whether individuals with low socioeconomic status preferentially participate and experience religious dissociative states and (2) whether dissociative states are correlated with greater psychological appraisal of status.

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Title: Religious Dissociation and Economic Appraisal in Brazil
Author: H. J. François Dengah II
Publication date: 01-04-2016
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 2/2016
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0015-8

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Religious Dissociation and Economic Appraisal in Brazil

Abstract

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