Exploring Spiritual Beliefs and Quality of Life Among Transwomen (Hijra) in South India
- Title
- Exploring Spiritual Beliefs and Quality of Life Among Transwomen (Hijra) in South India
- Creator
- Paul Pudushery, Asha; Arur, Aditi Ashok
- Description
- The study aims to explore and investigate the relationship between spiritual beliefs and quality of life (QoL) among transwomen (Hijra) in South India. In one way, discrimination faced by transwomen in religious spaces may contribute to weakened spiritual beliefs, which may contribute to poor quality of life. In other ways, spiritual beliefs help them to improve their quality of life. Hence, it would be essential to explore how transwomen of different faiths relate spiritual beliefs to mental health and QoL. This study is a quantitative cross-sectional exploration of a sample of 302 transwomen selected using convenient sampling from five states of South India. The tools were culturally validated (n = 15) before being used for the study, and the reliability of the Spiritual Belief Scale (SBS), ? = 0.886; Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), ? = 0.926; and Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-Brief), ? = 0.953 was confirmed. Spearmans correlation, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis were conducted to understand the relationship among the variables. The results revealed a strong positive correlation between spiritual beliefs and QoL. Depression, anxiety, and stress have a significant negative relationship with QoL. Spiritual beliefs are strong predictors of the QoL of transwomen, and they mediate the connection between depression, anxiety, stress, and QoL. This study emphasizes addressing transwomens mental health and QoL through counseling approaches that integrate and reinforce their spiritual beliefs. The findings show the urgent need for targeted culturally sensitive interventions and longitudinal studies to address these factors and enhance the well-being of the transwoman community. 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
- Source
- Journal of Social Service Research;Volume;52;Issue;2;pp.277-290
- Date
- 01-01-2026
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Subject
- mediation; Mental health; quality of life (QOL); spiritual beliefs (SB); transwomen
- Coverage
- Paul Pudushery A., Psychology Department, Christ University, Bengaluru, India; Arur A.A., Psychology Department, Christ University, Bengaluru, India
- Rights
- Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
- Relation
- ISSN: 1488376;
- Format
- online
- Language
- English
- Type
- Article
Collection
Citation
Paul Pudushery, Asha; Arur, Aditi Ashok, “Exploring Spiritual Beliefs and Quality of Life Among Transwomen (Hijra) in South India,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 19, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22645.
