TITLE:
Impacts of Ramadan on Psychological Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, and Subjective Happiness
AUTHORS:
Malak Elayyan, Sarah Liener, Abdullah Alwaleedi, Katerina Garcia-Chope, Danny Jandali, Dianna Hammoud, Amine Sheik, Weiyun Chen
KEYWORDS:
Ramadan, Psychological Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, Subjective Happiness, Religion, Hedonic, Eudaimonic
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.17 No.4,
April
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: Background: This study investigated changes in life satisfaction, subjective happiness, and psychological well-being (PWB) during and one month after Ramadan among Muslim adults in the United States. The aim was to examine how fasting and religious observance influence hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being and whether effects differ by gender. Methods: Fifty-eight healthy Muslims (mean age = 35 ± 13 years, 10 males and 48 females) completed validated surveys, including the Psychological Well-Being Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Subjective Happiness Scale, through Qualtrics during Ramadan and 1-month post Ramadan. Paired t-tests were conducted to compare changes across time for the total sample and by gender, with significance set at p Results: No significant change was observed in PWB for the total sample. However, life satisfaction (t = 1.900, p = 0.064) was marginally significantly increased, while subjective happiness (t = 4.683, p Conclusion: One-month post Ramadan was associated with improved hedonic well-being—life satisfaction and happiness—but not with significant changes in eudaimonic PWB. These findings suggest that the spiritual and communal aspects of Ramadan can have short-term impacts on hedonic well-being among Muslims living in non-Muslim-majority settings.