Discuss the importance of religion in the late adulthood stage of life.

Answers will vary. Religion and religious activities provide older adults a vast arena for social networking. Religion also has a special allure as people approach the end of life. As people undergo physical decline, religion asks them to focus, instead, on moral conduct and spiritual "substance" such as the soul. People who experience physical suffering in this world are advised to look forward to relief in the next. Therefore, it is not surprising that studies find that religious involvement in late adulthood is usually associated with less depression and more life satisfaction. Frequent churchgoing has also been shown to be associated with fewer problems in the activities of daily living among older people. Here, of course, we can assume that there are benefits for social networking as well as for church attendance per se. Consider some of the benefits related to regular church attendance found in studies of older African Americans. Older African Americans who attend services more than once a week live 13.7 years longer, on average, than their counterparts who never attend church. In-depth interviews with the churchgoers found several reasons for their relative longevity, including avoidance of negative coping methods such as aggressive behavior and drinking alcohol, success in evading victimization by violence, a sense of hopefulness, and social support.