The Relationship Between Spiritual/Religious Engagement and Affective College Outcomes: An Analysis by Academic Disciplines

Using a state-wide college student dataset, this study examines how the level of college students' spiritual/religious engagement varies by academic disciplines and how the impact of such engagement on affective college outcomes varies across different academic disciplines. Findings show that students majoring in soft-applied-life disciplines (e.g., education, public health) are more likely to engage in spiritual/religious activities whereas those who major in the hard-applied-life disciplines (e.g., agriculture, animal sciences) and hard-applied-nonlife disciplines (e.g., engineering, computer sciences) are less likely to do so. Our findings also suggest that the impact of students' spiritual/religious engagement on affective outcomes varies across academic disciplines.