A recent research conducted in Germany has revealed that individuals practicing Islam tend to exhibit a stronger sense of oneness compared to followers of other religions. The concept of oneness refers to the belief that everything in the world is interconnected and interdependent.
While the study primarily aimed to explore the relationship between oneness and life satisfaction, without specifically focusing on religious affiliations, the results indicated that Muslims scored higher in terms of oneness beliefs compared to individuals belonging to other faiths. Interestingly, the study also found a positive correlation between oneness beliefs and life satisfaction, even after controlling for religious beliefs.
The study encompassed two groups of participants. The first group consisted of 7,137 German individuals who completed a survey regarding their personal beliefs pertaining to oneness, encompassing aspects such as empathy, social connectedness, and nature. The second group comprised a significantly larger sample size of 67,562 people from diverse religious backgrounds and atheists residing in Germany.
The findings highlighted that, among all the participants, Muslims exhibited the highest average value of oneness beliefs. Furthermore, the study identified that women tended to hold stronger beliefs in oneness compared to men.
Lead researcher Edinger-Schons noted that individuals with higher scores in oneness reported greater life satisfaction. Additionally, the study uncovered that increased life satisfaction correlates with additional benefits, such as enhanced academic performance among younger individuals and better health outcomes in old age.