Religious and Spiritual Identities

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an in-depth examination of the first construct in the core theoretical model—religious and/or spiritual identities. People typically identify themselves as religious only, spiritual only, religious and spiritual, or neither religious nor spiritual. The identity they choose has profound implications for the way they relate to religious institutions and the health-related benefits they may enjoy from doing so. Four issues are examined in detail: (1) an overview of social identity theory is provided; (2) previous research on religious identities and health is reviewed; (3) a detailed overview of recent research by the author on religious and spiritual identities is discussed; and (4) next steps that are needed to take research on religious and/or spiritual identities to the next level are identified.