Showing papers in "Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in 2016"

Examining Whether Spirituality Predicts Subjective Well-Being: How to Avoid Tautology

Abstract: Spirituality may help people to maintain a high level of well-being despite adversity, but several studies that claim to support this statement have used spirituality scales and outcome measures that have overlapping content. This practice seems to be widespread: In an exploratory survey of 8 well-cited journals we found that 26 of 58 studies used a spirituality scale that contains 25% or more of well-being items to examine whether spirituality predicts well-being or distress. These spirituality questionnaires would be more appropriate for use as indicators of the domain of quality of life called spiritual well-being. We urge researchers to only use spirituality questionnaires of which less than 25% of the items refer to emotional well-being-such as the SWB Questionnaire or the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List-when investigating the causal relationship between spirituality and emotional well-being.

The Language of Ineffability: Linguistic Analysis of Mystical Experiences.

Abstract: Mystical experiences are often described as “ineffable,” or beyond language. However, people readily speak about their mystical experiences if asked about them. How do people describe what is supposedly indescribable? In this study, we used quantitative linguistic analyses to interpret the writings of 777 participants (45.5% female, 51.0% male) who recounted their most significant spiritual or religious experience as part of an online survey. High and low scorers on a measure of mystical experiences differed in the language they used to describe their experiences. Participants who have had mystical experiences used language that was more socially and spatially inclusive (e.g., “close,” “we,” “with”) and used fewer overtly religious words (e.g., “prayed,” “Christ,” “church”) than participants without such experiences. Results indicated that people can meaningfully communicate their mystical experiences, and that quantitative language analyses provide a means for understanding aspects of such experiences.

Christian religious badges instill trust in Christian and non-Christian perceivers.

Abstract: We conducted 4 experiments to examine how people incorporate visual information about strangers’ religious identities—religious badges—into their decisions about how much to trust them. Experiment 1 revealed that Christian and non-Christian participants were more trusting (as measured by self-report) of targets who wore a religious badge associated with Christianity (Ash Wednesday ashes) than toward targets who did not wear such a badge. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 and also revealed that the effects of Ash Wednesday ashes on Christians’ and non-Christians’ trust extended to a behavioral measure of trust (i.e., monetary allocations in a multiplayer trust game). Experiment 3 replicated Experiments 1 and 2 with a different religious badge (a necklace with the Christian cross on it). Experiment 4 ruled out a potential confound. Consistent with a stereotype interpretation, these results suggest that U.S. students regard visual cues to people’s espousal of Christian religious beliefs as signals of their trustworthiness.

Religious Coping as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Stress and Depressive Symptoms

Abstract: This study examined whether religious coping (positive and negative) prospectively moderated the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms in young adults. Religious commitment was examined as a potential moderator of the effect of religious coping on the stress-depression relationship. Participants were 320 undergraduates from a small, private Christian university who reported weekly fluctuations in stress and depressive symptoms across an 8-week diary study. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that negative religious coping moderated the relationship between stress and depression, but only for those who reported high levels of religious commitment. We found no evidence for positive religious coping as a buffer against the effects of stress on depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms and diagnoses increase markedly during adolescence and early adulthood, with 11.7% of Americans expe- riencing a major depressive episode by age 22 (Shanahan, Cope- land, Costello, & Angold, 2011). Although exposure to stress predicts onset and course of depression (Kendler, Karkowski, & Prescott, 1999), contemporary cognitive-behavioral theories of depression hold that individual differences in the experience of and response to stress increase the risk of experiencing depressive symptoms (Abela, Aydin, & Auerbach, 2006; Hankin, Abramson, Miller, & Haeffel, 2004; Hyde, Mezulis, & Abramson, 2008). According to these theories, many factors that influence the de- velopment of depression do so by moderating the stress- depression relationship, either by buffering or exacerbating the effects of stress. One factor that may influence the relationship between stress and depression is religiosity. There has been a recent increase in research on the impact of religiosity on mental health (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005; Carpenter, Laney, & Mezulis, 2012; Davis, Ashby, McElroy, & Hook, 2014; Hall & Flanagan, 2013; Rasic, Kisely, & Langille, 2011; Sternthal, Williams, Musick, & Buck, 2010; Taylor, Chatters, & Abelson, 2012) with an emerging atten- tion on religious coping strategies. Religious coping strategies refer to spiritual and religiously based cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal responses to stressors (Pargament, Smith, Koenig, & Perez, 1998). Research indicates there are both positive and neg- ative religious coping strategies that differentially impact an indi- vidual's mental health (Pargament, Feuille, & Burdzy, 2011; Par- gament et al., 1998; Ramirez et al., 2012). Although religious coping has been consistently linked with mental health, few studies have examined religious coping as a moderator of the relationship between stress and depression in a prospective study (Carpenter et al., 2012; Pirutinsky, Rosmarin, Pargament, & Midlarsky, 2011). Additionally, there is evidence that the benefits of religious coping in response to stress may differ for those with higher levels of religious commitment relative to those with lower levels of reli- gious commitment (Eliassen, Taylor, & Lloyd, 2005). The current study examines positive and negative religious coping as moder- ators of the effects of stress on depressive symptoms in an 8-week prospective study among young adults. Furthermore, we assess religious commitment as a moderator of the effect of religious coping on the stress-depression relationship.

Understanding the roles of religiosity and spirituality in emerging adults in the united states.

Abstract: This study compared variable-centered and person-centered analyses to assess the prevalence and adaptiveness of patterns or religiosity and spirituality (R/S) among emerging adults. A sample of 9,495 college students (ages 18–25, Mage = 19.77) from the Multisite University Study of Identity and Cult

God, Can I Tell You Something? The Effect of Religious Coping on the Relationship between Anxiety Over Emotional Expression, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms.

Abstract: The current study investigated whether religious coping would moderate the association between ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms such that the positive relationship between AEE and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms would be weaker among those higher in religious coping. Three-hundred and fifty-two undergraduates (M age=23.51 years, SD=6.80; 84.4% female) completed study materials. Contrary to expectations, results revealed a significant interaction between religious coping and AEE such that religious coping exacerbated the relationship between higher AEE and distress symptoms. The implications of this study suggest that religious coping may not be an ideal coping mechanism for individuals with high levels of AEE. These results indicate the need to further examine the role of AEE in religious coping, and have potential implications for clinicians, healthcare professionals, and religious mentors who may promote the use of religious coping in treatment.

The effect of religious diversity on religious belonging and meaning: The role of intellectual humility.

Abstract: In this article, we examined how ideological diversity affects one’s sense of belonging and meaning in a religious group, as well as how intellectual humility about one’s religious beliefs moderates these relationships. Participants (N = 113) were randomly assigned to imagine themselves attending a religious small group that was ideologically homogeneous or diverse, and then they rated the amount of belonging and meaning they anticipated receiving from the group, as well as their level of intellectual humility. Being in an ideologically diverse small group was negatively associated with belonging and meaning, but intellectual humility moderated these relationships, such that the relationships were weaker at higher levels of intellectual humility. Thus, intellectual humility preserved a sense of meaning and belonging when individuals interacted with ideologically dissimilar others.

Maintaining a grateful disposition in the face of distress: The role of religious coping.

Abstract: Despite a surge in psychological research on gratitude over the past several years, a number of important questions remain unanswered about this highly valued trait. It is largely unknown, for example, how gratitude is maintained in times of distress. This article supports and extends existing theory and research on the relevance of benefit detection (the perception of having received a gain rendered intentionally and voluntarily by another), by testing a model in which religious involvement in general, and religious coping in particular, can help sustain gratitude in the face of negative emotions. Across 2 studies—1 in a community/college student sample (n 404) and another among individuals seeking psychological treatment (n 122)—we found initial support for our model. Implications for further research on gratitude and other areas of positive psychology are discussed.

Predicting religious ethnocentrism: Evidence for a partial mediation model.

Abstract: This study extended the current understanding of religious ethnocentrism by testing a theoretically and empirically based model in which personality (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation) and religious identity (i.e., Christian orthodoxy, religious group identification) variables were related to religious ethnocentrism, and some of those relations were mediated through religious fundamentalism. Path analysis results based on a sample of 156 college students revealed support for most of the hypothesized relations. More specifically, social dominance orientation and religious fundamentalism had direct positive relations with religious ethnocentrism; Christian orthodoxy and religious group identification had indirect (via religious fundamentalism) positive relations with religious ethnocentrism, and right-wing authoritarianism had both direct and indirect (via religious fundamentalism) positive relations with religious ethnocentrism. Contrary to our hypothesis, the direct positive relation of Christian orthodoxy to religious ethnocentrism was nonsignificant. Implications of the findings and directions for future research on religious ethnocentrism are discussed.

Perceived and Actual Change in Religion/Spirituality in Cancer Survivors: Longitudinal Relationships With Distress and Perceived Growth

Abstract: This observational cohort study examined the relationships between actual and perceived R/S change at 12 months post cancer diagnosis with depression, anxiety, and perceived growth 6 months later. Older adult military veteran cancer survivors (n = 111) completed self-report surveys at 6, 12, and 18 months post cancer diagnosis. Perceived R/S change was assessed at 12 months postdiagnosis with "Have your religious or spiritual beliefs changed as a result of your cancer" (more R/S, less R/S, other). Actual R/S change was assessed at 6 and 12 months postdiagnosis on a single item, "I have faith in God or a Higher Power" (no, somewhat, yes). A notable minority reported perceived (18.9%) and actual (14.4%) change. Greater perceived R/S change predicted more severe symptoms of depression and anxiety and greater perceived growth at 18 months postdiagnosis; perceived growth was positively associated with anxiety. Cancer survivors who report R/S changes may benefit from spiritual and/or psychological support.

Spiritual Intimacy, Marital Intimacy, and Physical/Psychological Well-Being: Spiritual Meaning as a Mediator.

Abstract: Objective Intimacy is an essential part of marital relationships, spiritual relationships, and is also a factor in well-being, but there is little research simultaneously examining the links among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being. Methods Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations among the latent variables-spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, spiritual meaning, and well-being-in a cross-sectional study of 5,720 married adults aged 29-100 years (M = 58.88, SD = 12.76, 59% female). All participants were from the Adventist Health Study-2, Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study. Results In the original structural model, all direct associations between the three latent variables of spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being were significantly positive indicating that there was a significant relationship among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being. When spiritual meaning was added as a mediating variable, the direct connections of spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy and to well-being became weakly negative. However, the indirect associations of spiritual intimacy with marital intimacy and with well-being were then strongly positive through spiritual meaning. This indicates that the relationship among spiritual intimacy, marital intimacy, and well-being was primarily a result of the meaning that spiritual intimacy brought to one's marriage and well-being, and that without spiritual meaning greater spirituality could negatively influence one's marriage and well-being. Conclusions These findings suggest the central place of spiritual meaning in understanding the relationship of spiritual intimacy to marital intimacy and to well-being.