Believe, Feel, Act: The Path of Religiosity Toward a Fulfilling and Sustainable Life
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Religiosity has been identified as a factor influencing life satisfaction and the adoption of sustainable practices, making it a variable of interest in analyzing the behavior of new generations facing current environmental challenges. The aim of this research was to analyze how the dimensions of religiosity—devotional, spirituality, ethical-conductual, life-guiding, and prosocial—influence life satisfaction and how this, in turn, impacts sustainable behaviors among Generation Z youth in Ecuador. The study adopted a quantitative, exploratory approach with a cross-sectional design and analysis through structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), applied to a sample of 369 participants. Results showed that three dimensions of religiosity—devotional, ethical-conductual, and life-guiding—significantly influence life satisfaction, which is a fundamental predictor of sustainable behaviors. In contrast, spirituality and prosocial religiosity did not have a significant effect on subjective well-being. It is concluded that religiosity, particularly through its devotional, ethical-conductual, and life-guiding dimensions, is a determining factor in the perception of life satisfaction and, indirectly, in the adoption of sustainable behaviors. This provides relevant implications for marketing and business by allowing the identification of ethical and personal motivations that can guide strategies targeting Generation Z.
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