The Mediating Role of Intrinsic Religious Orientation and Ikhlaas Between Religious Emphasis and Spiritual Well-Being Among Muslim Adults

The present study was conducted to examine the mediating role of intrinsic religious orientation and ikhlaas (sincerity or purity of intention) between religious emphasis and spiritual well-being. A cross-sectional research design with a purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from N = 702 participants from Sargodha, Gujranwala, and Lahore cities of the Punjab province, Pakistan. Data were collected from three age groups: young adults (18-35), middle-aged adults (36-55), and older adults (56-75). The Urdu versions of the Religious Emphasis Scale, Ikhlaas Scale (Yousaf and Adil, Journal of Religion and Health 63:3878-3905, 2024), and Spiritual Well-being Scale were used to measure religious emphasis, religious orientation, ikhlaas, and spiritual well-being, respectively. Results revealed that religious emphasis is a significant positive predictor of ikhlaas but a nonsignificant predictor of spiritual well-being. Moreover, intrinsic religious orientation is a positive predictor of ikhlaas and spiritual well-being. The results further revealed that intrinsic religious orientation and ikhlaas serially mediate between religious emphasis and spiritual well-being. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are also discussed.