Evert R. Jonker

Bio: Evert R. Jonker is an academic researcher from Protestant Theological University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Personal god. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 70 citations.

Development and validation of the Dutch Questionnaire God Image: Effects of mental health and religious culture

Abstract: This article presents the Dutch Questionnaire God Image (QGI), which has two theory-based dimensions: feelings towards God and perceptions of God's actions. This instrument was validated among a sample of 804 respondents, of which 244 persons received psychotherapy. Results showed relationships between the affective and cognitive aspect of the God image. The God image of psychiatric patients had a more negative and threatening nature than the God image of the non-psychiatric respondents. Also, religious culture appeared to affect the God image.

The personal and normative image of God: the role of religious culture and mental health

Abstract: This article focuses on the difference between the personal God image and the God image that people perceive as normative, that is to say, the God image they believe they should have according to religious culture. A sample of 544 Dutch respondents, of which 244 received psychotherapy, completed the Dutch Questionnaire of God Images (QGI). In general, there appeared to be a discrepancy between the personal and the normative God image. Whether discrepancies were experienced as conflictive was related to religious denomination and mental health. Conflictive feelings were associated with lower religious saliency and higher educational level. Moreover, they were associated with mental health per se and the interaction between mental health and denomination, with patients reporting more conflicts than normals except in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox-Reformed group, where patients and non-patients hardly differed in the experience of conflict.

Learning the spirit of human dignity: a practical theological exploration

Abstract: Under what conditions could people learn the spirit of human dignity in Church education? This question is explored in a practical-theological way with help of a conceptual approach on education and dignity and the observation and analysis of some paintings and drawings by Rembrandt as can be done in a concrete lesson. ...

Beliefs About God and Mental Health Among American Adults

Abstract: This study examines the association between beliefs about God and psychiatric symptoms in the context of Evolutionary Threat Assessment System Theory, using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey of US Adults (N = 1,426). Three beliefs about God were tested separately in ordinary least squares regression models to predict five classes of psychiatric symptoms: general anxiety, social anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion. Belief in a punitive God was positively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, while belief in a benevolent God was negatively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, controlling for demographic characteristics, religiousness, and strength of belief in God. Belief in a deistic God and one’s overall belief in God were not significantly related to any psychiatric symptoms.

God Representations, Attachment to God, and Satisfaction With Life: A Comparison of Doctrinal and Experiential Representations of God in Christian Young Adults

Abstract: In this study the authors address the distinction between individuals' doctrinal representations (or “head knowledge”) and experiential representations (or “heart knowledge) of God by identifying different predictor variables and outcomes for each of these types of representations. Self-report ratings were collected from 415 Christian young adults regarding how well trait words described God in two instructional conditions: what they “should believe that God is like” and what they “personally feel that God is like.” Experiential God representations were found to be less positive than doctrinal God representations. Positive doctrinal representations were predicted by Christian orthodoxy and avoidant attachment to God, whereas positive experiential God representations were predicted by each of Christian orthodoxy, religious commitment, and avoidant and anxious attachment to God. Critical doctrinal representations were predicted by anxious attachment to God, whereas critical experiential representations were...

God Image and Happiness in Chronic Pain Patients: The Mediating Role of Disease Interpretation

Abstract: Objective. The present study explored the role of the emotional experience of God (i.e., positive and negative God images) in the happiness of chronic pain (CP) patients. Framed in the transactional model of stress, we tested a model in which God images would influence happiness partially through its influence on disease interpretation as a mediating mechanism. We expected God images to have both a direct and an indirect (through the interpretation of disease) effect on happiness. Design. A cross-sectional questionnaire design was adopted in order to measure demographics, pain condition, God images, disease interpretation, and happiness. One hundred thirty-six CP patients, all members of a national patients' association, completed the questionnaires. Results. Correlational analyses showed meaningful associations among God images, disease interpretation, and happiness. Path analyses from a structural equation modeling approach indicated that positive God images seemed to influence happiness, both directly and indirectly through the pathway of positive interpretation of the disease. Ancillary analyses showed that the negative influence of angry God images on happiness disappeared after controlling for pain severity. Conclusion. The results indicated that one's emotional experience of God has an influence on happiness in CP patients, both directly and indirectly through the pathway of positive disease interpretation. These findings can be framed within the transactional theory of stress and can stimulate further pain research investigating the possible effects of religion in the adaptation to CP.