Cathedrals as agents of psychological health and well-being within secular societies : assessing the impact of the Holly Bough service in Liverpool Cathedral
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Date
Authors
Francis, Leslie John
Jones, Susan H.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS
Abstract
This study is designed to test the hypothesis that events like the Holly Bough service held
in Liverpool Cathedral on the fourth Sunday of Advent that attracts a wide range of
participants, including regular churchgoers and occasional (sometimes annual) visitors,
contribute significantly to the psychological health and well-being of these participants.
At the Holly Bough service held in 2019, a total of 383 participants (139 men, 229 women
and 15 individuals who preferred anonymity) completed a recognised measure of
psychological health and well-being (the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) whilst
they were waiting for the service to begin and again during a 5-min organ
improvisation just before the close of the service. The data demonstrated a significantly
higher score on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire at time 2 than at time 1, suggesting
that the experience of the service functioned as an agent of psychological health and
well-being.
CONTRIBUTION: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this paper confirms by means
of a repeated-measure study that cathedrals promote psychological health; 383 participants at
a Christmas service completed the same well-being measure before and after the service, with
a significant increase in scores at time two.
Description
Keywords
Cathedral studies, Psychological health, Oxford happiness questionnaire, Carol service, Psychology of religion
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Francis, L.J. & Jones, S.H.,
2020, ‘Cathedrals as agents
of psychological health and
well-being within secular
societies: Assessing the
impact of the Holly Bough
service in Liverpool
Cathedral’, HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies
76(3), a6250. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i3.6250.