The Relationship among Religiosity, Conservatism toward Religious Music, and Spiritual Well-Being in Christians

This study aimed to examine the conservative attitudes of Christians toward religious music and to investigate how such attitudes relate to religiosity and spiritual well-being. Based on the assumption that attitudes toward religious music are shaped through long-term faith experience, an online survey was conducted with 273 Christians who had practiced their faith for more than ten years. The results revealed that Christians with higher intrinsic religiosity tended to prefer traditional forms of religious music, reflecting more conservative attitudes. In contrast, participants with higher levels of social religiosity—a subfactor of extrinsic religiosity— showed more open attitudes toward religious music, expressing greater acceptance of contemporary or popular styles. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was found between conservative attitudes toward religious music and religious well-being, but not with existential well-being. This suggests that the preference for traditional religious music is closely tied to a sense of spiritual stability grounded in one's relationship with God. These findings indicate that attitudes toward religious music vary according to the internalization of faith and the motivation behind religious practice, highlighting the need to consider diverse religious orientations when planning and implementing worship music.