On death and dying

Michael J. DonahueBrigham Young UniversityThe major findings of this meta-analytic review concerning intrinsic and extrinsicreligiousness are these: (a) Samples consisting of respondents with conservativetheological orientations seem more likely to display a negative correlation betweenintrinsic and extrinsic religiousness than do others, (b) Extrinsic religiousnesstends to be positively correlated with negatively evaluated characteristics, anduncorrelated with measures of religious belief and commitment, (c) Intrinsicreligiousness tends to be uncorrelated with negatively evaluated characteristics,and positively correlated with measures of religiousness, (d) A fourfold typologybased on median splits of the two scales is of little use when the dependentvariable is religious in nature, but with various nonreligious variables producesresults that may correspond to findings of curvilinearity observed with othermeasures of religiousness. Recommendations concerning the use of the intrinsicand extrinsic scales in future research are made. The article concludes with areview of recent conceptual developments by Batson (1976) and Hood (1978).No approach to religiousness has hadgreater impact on the empirical psychologyof religion than Gordon W. Allport's conceptsof intrinsic (7) and extrinsic (E) religiousness(Meadow & Kahoe, 1984).' Nearly 70 pub-lished studies have used Allport's ReligiousOrientation Scale (ROS), making it one ofthe most frequently used measures of reli-giousness.Research concerning / and E has beenreviewed in three current psychology-of-reli-gion textbooks (Batson & Ventis, 1982;Meadow & Kahoe, 1984; Paloutzian, 1983).Although these reviews are useful, they havenot closely examined a number of relevantissues, such as the I-E correlation and theI-E interaction. In addition to addressingthese issues, in the present review I seek toapply the techniques of meta-analysis (Glass,

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/48/2/400.pdf

Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: Review and meta-analysis.

• The effects of weekly supportive group meetings for women with metastatic carcinoma of the breast were systematically evaluated in a one-year, randomized, prospective outcome study. The groups focused on the problems of terminal illness, including improving relationships with family, friends, and physicians and living as fully as possible in the face of death. We hypothesized that this intervention would lead to improved mood, coping strategies, and self-esteem among those in the treatment group. Eighty-six patients were tested at four-month intervals. The treatment group had significantly lower mooddisturbance scores on the Profile of Mood States scale, had fewer maladaptive coping responses, and were less phobic than the control group. This study provides objective evidence that a supportive group intervention for patients with metastatic cancer results in psychological benefit. Mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of this group intervention are explored.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/PSYCH/articlepdf/492544/archpsyc_38_5_004.pdf

Group support for patients with metastatic cancer. A randomized outcome study.

God help me: (I): Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes to significant negative life events

Introduction. An Ambitious Agenda. Scientific. Comprehensive. Explanatory. Psychology of ... Religion. A New Direction. Attachment Theory. Evolutionary Psychology. The Plan of This Book. Introduction to Attachment Theory. Backdrop. The Attachment System. Other Related Systems. The Phenomenology of Attachment. Individual Differences in Attachment in Childhood. Multiple Attachment Figures. Internal Working Models and the Stability of Attachment Patterns. Attachment in Adulthood. Attachment and Adult Romantic Relationships. Individual Differences in Adult Romantic Attachment. Factorial and Dimensional Models. The Formation and Development of Adult Love Bonds. An Alternative Approach to Adult Attachment. Attachment and Evolutionary Psychology. Summary and Conclusions. God as an Attachment Figure. Religion as Relationship. But Is It Really an Attachment Relationship? Seeking and Maintaining Proximity to God. Proximity in Belief and Myth. Facilitating Psychological Proximity. Prayer. Other Religious Behaviors. God as a Haven of Safety. Crisis and Distress. Illness and Injury. Death and Grieving. God as a Secure Base. Phenomenology. Psychological Outcomes. Responses to Separation and Loss. Summary and Conclusions. More on Religion as an Attachment Process: Extensions and Limitations. Religion and Love. What Kind of Love? Romantic Attachment vs. Attachment to God. God as a Parental Figure. Individual Differences in Images of God. God as a Benevolent Caregiver. God as Controlling and Demanding. Children's Beliefs about God. Beyond God: Extensions and Limitations. To Generalize, or Not to Generalize? The Problem with Parsimony. Other Forms of Attachment (or Not) in Religion. Relationships with Other Supernatural Beings. Relationships with Religious Leaders. Relationships with Fellow Worshipers and Other Peers. Relationships with Groups. Nontheistic Religions. Summary and Conclusions. Individual Differences in Attachment and Religion: The Correspondence Hypothesis. Mental Models and the Correspondence Hypothesis. Correspondence in Childhood and Adolescence. Correspondence in Adulthood. Correspondence Across Cultures. Internal Working Models of Self and Others. Continuity from Childhood to Adulthood. The Socialized Correspondence Hypothesis. The Two-Level Correspondence Hypothesis. 'Socialization' as an Alternative Explanation. The Inadequacy of 'Socialization' as Explanation. The Epidemiology of Beliefs. Individual Differences Revisited. Summary and Conclusions. God as a Substitute Attachment Figure: The Compensation Hypothesis. Individual Differences and Religious Conversion. Individual Differences in Childhood Attachment and Conversion. Sudden Religious Conversion. Other Evidence for a Compensation Model. A Two-Process Model. Individual Differences in Adult Attachment. Contextual Factors in Religious Change. Separation and Loss. Bereavement. Relationship Dissolution. Unavailability of Attachment Figures. Perceived Inadequacy of Human Attachment Figures. Cultural Factors. Summary and Conclusions. Attachment in Context: Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology as a Paradigm or Metatheory. Adaptation and Natural Selection. Adaptations. 'Selfish Genes' and Inclusive Fitness. Domain-Specificity and the Mental-Organs Model. Nature 'versus' Nurture. Stone-Age Minds in Modern Environments. Individual Differences in Evolutionary Context. Stable Environmental Differences. Direct Genetic Effects. Frequency-Dependent Adaptive Strategies. Early Environmental Calibration. An Example of Facultative Strategies: Human Mating. Are Evolutionary Explanations Unfalsifiable? Some Illustrative Examples: Politics, Music, and Sports. Summary and Conclusions. Attachment Theory in Modern Evolutionary Perspective. Childhood Attachment in Modern Evolutionary Perspective. Parental Caregiving and Parent-Offspring Conflict. Individual Differences in Childhood Attachment. Attachment and Reproductive Strategies. The Belsky, Steinberg,

Attachment, Evolution, and the Psychology of Religion

Death fear as a function of discomfort level, previous experience with death, and religiosity among indigent cancer patients in a county general hospital was investigated. The patients were those participants in the Cancer Rehabilitation Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas who were judged closest to death. The Allport Religious Orientation Scale, Discomfort Indices, and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale were administered to each patient. Patients also participated in a .structured interview which examined death fear at the conscious and imagery (unconscious) levels, religious values, and support systems. The Death Anxiety Scale was also administered to a standardization sample of outpatients in the Eye Clinic of the same hospital. Results indicate that these patients depend strongly on perceived strength of religious beliefs and integral religious values in their coping with imminent death. Also highly associated with minimal or low fear of death was previous experience with a dying person with whom one had a close relationship. The mean Death Anxiety Scale score for the cancer patients was significantly lower than that obtained for the standardization population. These findings reveal the various sources of support that are very important to this population and that are suggestive of untapped resources available as appropriate intervention avenues. Because human beings are gifted with the capacity to imagine the future and to relate to this future through the use of symbolic language, awareness of inevitable death becomes an important element in a broad base of attitudes and behaviors. This is particulary true for the fatally ill individual who is continuously confronted by the reality of death. The treatment of the dying patient, however, has been systematically

Jeanne Achterberg-Lawlis

Papers

Spiritual values and death anxiety: Implications for counseling with terminal cancer patients.