Control Beliefs and Religion: How Strong Are They in Environmental Stress Management? the Case of Atheistic Society

Many studies claim that involvement in religion is an important factor in maintaining well being and health in later life. Its impact has been followed especially among the subjective dimensions of quality of life on the one hand and the various, mainly social, aspects of religiosity on the other. Due to the high tendency to age in place, the quality of the living environment plays a crucial role in the perception of quality of life, both in the positive and negative sense. Some authors suggest that various aspects of the praxis of religiosity may act as a buffer against stress caused by the environmental press (such as the feelings of safety) and new socially driven risks. In our data, we show how the environmental press and other aspects we define as features of spatial ageism influence the quality of life of older people. In the paper we test whether the quality of life is enhanced by self-defined religiosity and whether is influenced by control beliefs (distinguishing the external, internal and transcendent locus of control).

We use a representative sample of the older Czech population, which adds the interesting context of one of the most atheistic country in the world, as a large proportion of the population, and across all age groups, considers itself to be non believers or atheist.

Our discussion cross-fertilises the issues of perceived quality of public spaces and neighbourhoods, religion and locus of control indicators and study of later life.