Showing papers in "Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in 2018"

Psychology, meaning making, and the study of worldviews : Beyond religion and non-religion

Abstract: To get beyond the solely negative identities signaled by atheism and agnosticism, we have to conceptualize an object of study that includes religions and nonreligions. We advocate a shift from “rel ...

Religion, Spirituality, Globalization Reflected in Life Beliefs Among Urban Asian Indian Youth

Abstract: Spiritual and religious values/beliefs/practices are entwined in all aspects of functioning among people in the Indian subcontinent. The current study focuses on understanding the spiritual zeitgeist entwined in the mundane day-to-day functioning (e.g., lifestyles/beliefs) of young people in India.

How does religiosity enhance psychological well-being? Roles of self-efficacy and perceived social support.

Abstract: It is known that religiosity is a positive correlate of well-being among adolescents and emerging adults. The current study extends this focus by assessing the roles of self-efficacy and perceived social support, which are presumed to explain the association of religiosity with psychological well-being (PWB). Participants were 331 adolescents and emerging adults (mean age = 21.67 years, SD = 3.92, range = 19–24, 68% male). In addition to correlation analyses, multimediation regression models were analyzed using self-efficacy and perceived social support as two mediators to explain the relationships of religious coping and religious practices with six PWB outcomes. The results from correlation and regression analyses showed that religious coping and religious practices were significant predictors of all PWB outcomes. The findings from multimediation analyses showed that self-efficacy in the presence of perceived social support mediated the relations of both religiosity factors with six PWB outcomes. However, perceived social support in the presence of self-efficacy mediated these relations with only autonomy and self-acceptance. Furthermore, the findings revealed that religious coping compared to religious practices was a stronger predictor of all PWB outcomes, despite similar patterns of mediation effects explaining the independent effects of both.

Focusing on the Nonreligious Reveals Secular Mechanisms Underlying Well-Being and Prosociality

Abstract: Greater attention to secular and nonreligious individuals has provided much-needed balance as well as alternative interpretations of commonly held assumptions regarding religiosity/spirituality (R/S). Contrary to the theory that R/S provides unique benefits in areas such as prosociality and mental health, analogous secular mechanisms exist. The conflation of effects attributed to R/S together with secular effects represents a congruence fallacy. Studies often lack proper controls found in other areas of psychology (e.g., dismantling or placebo designs) that could detect when religion is acting as a proxy for more basic underlying influences. For example, an increased focus on the nonreligious has revealed that religious belief has often been confounded with factors such as strong worldview conviction, social engagement, and normative cultural fit. R/S differences co-occur with demographic, personality, cognitive, and epistemic variables that exert causal influence independent of any religious content. Experimental and treatment outcome studies featuring effects attributed to R/S often have not included equivalent secular conditions or stimuli. The association between spirituality and well-being has been artificially inflated because of conceptual blurring on assessment measures, leading to the miscategorization of some nonreligious individuals into the spirituality domain. In sum, a more specified and critical approach is needed in order to validate assumptions that religiosity and spirituality exert unique effects.

The development and validation of the Microaggressions Against Non-religious Individuals Scale (MANRIS).

Abstract: The growing non-religious minority remains among the most distrusted groups in America. We examined how non-religious individuals experience microaggressions—subtle prejudicial verbal and behavioral acts. U.S. participants who self-identified as being non-religious (N = 1,485) were recruited to develop and validate a Microaggressions Against Non-religious Individuals Scale (MANRIS). Items from MANRIS were created using prior literature, expert feedback, and psychometric assessment. An exploratory factor analysis (n = 765) yielded a 31-item, five-factor model: Assumption of Inferiority, Denial of Non-religious Prejudice, Assumption of Religiosity, Endorsing Non-religious Stereotypes, and Pathology of a Non-religious Identity. A confirmatory factor analysis (n = 720) supported a bifactor five-factor model. Both studies produced high levels of internal consistency, cumulative variance, and fit. We found experiences of non-religious microaggressions to uniquely predict depressive symptoms, even after controlling for potential confounds including overt non-religious discrimination. Atheists reported experiencing the highest incidences of non-religious microaggressions and discrimination compared to other non-religious groups. We discuss the applications of the scale in light of the broader discussions and criticism about microaggressions.

Religion vs. the Welfare State-The Importance of Cultural Context for Religious Schematicity and Priming

Abstract: Prior research, using correlational and self-report methodologies, suggests that religion and public welfare function as alternate security/insurance systems. Consequently, in countries with more e ...

Religious/secular distance: How far apart are teenagers and their parents?

Abstract: Prior research exploring differences in religiousness (and/or secularity) between parents and their teenage children suggests that there are not substantial differences, with differences increasing during emerging adulthood. However, previous efforts to examine differences in religiousness between parents and their teenage children have relied upon single-item measures, have used self-reported differences, or have only asked either the child or the parent but not both to evaluate religious distance. In this study we use a robust scale measure to calculate the religious distance between parents and children in an upper-middle class high school in New York state (students n = 196; parents/caretakers n = 328). We find that teenage children in our sample are, on average, about 12% less religious (or more secular) than their fathers and about 17% less religious (or more secular) than their mothers. Our study improves upon measures of religious distance between parents and teenage children and provides support for recent research suggesting that the transmission of religiousness from parents to children can function as a mechanism of secularization.

The Reasons of Atheists and Agnostics for Nonbelief in God’s Existence Scale: Development and Initial Validation

Abstract: Research exploring nonbelievers’ reasons for not believing in the existence of god(s) has focused on theory development. Such efforts are valuable, but may not capture the lived experiences of nonbelievers. The current two studies quantitatively examined nonbelievers’ self-reported reasons for nonbelief through developing the Reasons of Atheists and Agnostics for Nonbelief in God’s Existence Scale (RANGES). We developed an initial pool of 64 items using prior published research, revised by a panel of experts including researchers and thought leaders in nonbelief communities. Both studies included participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Study 1 & 2 Ns = 520 & 369), all of whom reported not believing in god(s). In Study 1, our exploratory factor analysis suggested nine factors across 35 items. In Study 2, we confirmed the nine-factor structure using 38 items (35 from Study 1 plus three new items for better coverage of factors with few items) with adequate fit. Across both studies, the RANGES subscales showed good reliability, convergent validity (e.g., positive correlations with previous lists of reasons for religious doubt), predictive validity (e.g., positive and negative feelings toward God and religion), and discriminant validity (e.g., subscales were not unexpectedly associated with other measures). Our 1-year follow-up with a subset of Study 2 participants (N = 132) found different levels of stability among the RANGES subscales. This measure can promote further understanding the motivations, identities, and experiences of nonbelievers across cultures.

Sanctification theory: Is nontheistic sanctification nontheistic enough?

Abstract: Is nontheistic sanctification, nontheistic enough? In other words, does sanctification theory (Pargament & Mahoney, 2005) extend far enough to adequately include the full range of religious and spiritual expressions located under the nontheistic category? To address this question, results are applied from a qualitative study, using a narrative phenomenological approach to examine how nature is sanctified. The predominant theme, experiences of immanent transcendence, raises questions about the inclusivity of nontheistic sanctification. Suggestions are made as to how sanctification might accommodate a growing “middle ground” of religious and spiritual expressions.

Why do the godless prosper? Modeling the cognitive and coalitional mechanisms that promote atheism.

Abstract: This article offers an affirmative construal of atheism: the attempt to make sense of the world with naturalist explanations and to act sensibly in society following secularist principles (i.e., without relying on supernatural agents or complying with supernatural authorities). After briefly describing the conceptual framework behind this positive conception of a nonreligious worldview, we outline the construction and present the findings of two computational models that simulate some of the cognitive and coalitional mechanisms that engender and nurture religious and nonreligious worldviews. These models allow us to explore the causal dynamics within complex adaptive systems involving (dis)belief in supernatural agents and (dis)affiliation from religious institutions.

How Is Spirituality Part of People's Meaning System?

Abstract: Various authors in research on coping advise us to study spirituality from a meaning system perspective. In this approach spirituality is viewed as a part of people's global meaning; an overarching framework of beliefs, goals, and sense of meaning. However, little is known about how spirituality is related to other global meanings to form this meaning system. Therefore, we have explored spirituality and its relationship with other possible elements of the meaning system in interviews with 20 persons, one year after their cancer diagnosis. Applying thematic analysis to analyze the interviews, a typology was developed based on two criteria: (a) the prevalence of spiritual meanings in the interview, and (b) the degree of co-occurrence between spiritual and general meanings. Four types of meaning systems were distinguished: (a) spirituality as an overarching theme that seems to infuse all aspects of the person's meaning system, (b) spirituality as a theme in the background of the meaning system portrayed by a supporting God, (c) spirituality as a hidden theme that is expressed by a transcendent image and experience of oneself, or (d) spirituality as separate from other elements of the individual's meaning system, if described at all. A comparison with quantitative measures of religiosity and spirituality supported the qualitative differences between the four types. This typology can be used to further understand individual differences in adjustment to cancer.

Psychological changes during faith exit: A three-year prospective study.

Abstract: This prospective study explored psychological changes during faith exit and attempted to identify individual characteristics of believers who would within a 3-year time frame become disengaged from their faith. Data were collected from 632 Chinese Protestant Christians, of whom 188 left their faith within 3 years after the 1st survey. The faith exiters' subsequent changes in personality, beliefs, and values, if any, were not any different from what were observed among other Christians. The only exceptions were that fate control belief and stimulation value increased more and religiosity social axiom declined more among the exiters than among those who stayed in faith. Latent growth mixture modeling indicated that about half of the faith exiters would initially experience an improvement in psychological symptoms, and the other half a deterioration. Poor quality of life at baseline was a risk factor for increase in psychological symptoms postexit. Besides being more likely to be a university student, the would-be exiters had a beliefs and values profile that was more similar to that of the nonbelievers than of the believers in other studies. However, with the exception of low emotional stability, the Big Five did not predict exit. The findings strongly suggest that changes in beliefs and values might have begun long before the actual faith exit, whereas personality change, if any, might take a long time after the transition. Changes in psychological symptoms after faith exit can be multitrajectory.

Religious beliefs and domestic violence myths.

Abstract: Religiousness has a long-standing presence in the research literature on intolerance. However, religiousness is minimally represented in the interpersonal violence myth (IPVM) literature. IPVMs comprise an aspect of the broader construct of intolerance. We heeded the call to address research on tradition-specific religious beliefs and IPVMs. As such, we examined select Christian beliefs about Divine–human relating, hierarchical relational expectations, complementarian gender ideology, and existential defensiveness as predictors of Domestic violence myth acceptance (DVMA) using a sample of 238 students from a Protestant evangelical seminary (Mage = 34.06, SD = 9.33; range 22 – 62 years; 41.6% female; 80.7% White). We observed positive associations among Calvinist tradition-specific religious beliefs and the 3 indicators of the latent construct of hierarchical relationality (i.e., hierarchical relational expectations, gender complementarianism, and existential defensiveness). We also observed (a) a positive indirect association between Calvinist beliefs and DVMA through the latent construct of hierarchical relationality, and (b) a negative indirect association between Calvinist beliefs and social justice advocacy through hierarchical relationality. Last, we observed evidence of suppression as the significant positive bivariate association between Calvinist beliefs and DVMA became significant and negative. Findings supported the conceptualization of domestic violence myths as comprised by nonacceptance of out-group members, hierarchical relationships, and gender inequality, and that an aspect of Calvinist ideology is similarly defined. Implications included designing training programs for religious leaders and constructing prevention and intervention strategies that foster self-reflection on religious beliefs associated with DVMA.

Who Is to Blame, the Victims or the Perpetrators? A Study to Understand a Series of Violence Targeting the Accused Heretic Group Ahmadiyya

Abstract: Conducted in Indonesia, this study analyzes how a religious group accused of being heretical ended up receiving threats and a number of violent reactions, a situation in which the victims were considered to have caused the violence. The study presented here focused on this case of the Ahmadiyya, a minority Muslim group in Indonesia that are the most frequently reported as being victims of violence. In total, 309 Sunni Muslims participated in filling out open-ended questions, and 10 Sunni Muslims (all male) participated in interviews discussing the Ahmadiyya and interreligious groups. We found that a substantial number of majority Sunni Muslims think that the values of the Ahmadiyya group are incompatible with common, mainstream Muslim values. As a consequence, their existence is considered a threat and a disruption to the Muslim community. Therefore, violence is justified if the group insists upon continuing their religious activities. In the eyes of these Sunni Muslims, Ahmadiyya members undermine the coherence within the Muslim community, and occurrence of violence against Ahmadiyya members is thus thought to be the victim’s own fault.

Are Hindu representations of the divine prototypically structured

Abstract: Although a great deal has been learned about the perceived attributes of God, systematic research on the cognitive structure of deity representations is lacking. Because extant research focuses almost exclusively on the Christian God, the present studies investigate the representation of deities in a polytheistic religion, Hinduism. Prototype theory informs 4 studies on how conceptualizations of Gods are structured. Using student and community samples, features of Gods are identified, feature centrality is documented, and centrality influence on cognition is evaluated. Studies 1 (feature identification task) and 2 (centrality rating task) produced considerable overlap in feature frequency documentation and feature centrality across the student and community samples, with “God is love” being the most frequently listed feature and most central feature in both samples. Study 3 showed that feature centrality influenced memory recall and recognition. Thus, cognitive representation of the divine in Hinduism is consistent with that of the prototype structure commonly found in the representation of natural objects. Study 4 identified boundary conditions for religious priming. Deity priming influenced ratings of central, but not peripheral, characteristics, only for respondents who rated themselves as closer to God(s). The implications of these results, especially for research on the impact of religious concepts on subsequent behavior, are discussed.

Roles of religion and spirituality among veterans who Manage PTSD and their partners

Abstract: Traumatic events can have ripple effects on the survivor’s intimate relationships and on his or her religious/spirituality (R/S) beliefs and practices. Although both of these outcomes have been examined independently, research has yet to consider the intersection of trauma, its impacts on partners and intimate relationships, and R/S. This exploratory qualitative study involved individual interviews with 20 participants, including 11 male married veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; or subthreshold PTSD) and 9 female married partners of male veterans with PTSD (or subthreshold PTSD). Interviews explored perceptions of the roles of R/S in how participants coped with the veteran’s PTSD, both individually and as a couple. Participants described a wide array of responses in their R/S beliefs and activities, ranging from withdrawal and avoidance to deeper engagement and growth. Although many participants described drawing upon their R/S beliefs and practices to support their spouses, a few shared how female partners used R/S against their veterans in a hurtful manner. Couples described their spiritual bond with one another as facilitating communication and strengthening their relational bond. Implications for psychotherapy and future research are discussed.

Only believers rely on God? A new measure to investigate Catholic faith automatic associations and their relationship with psychological well-being.

Abstract: Recent theorists have argued that theistic cognitions are so deeply embedded in human cultures that nearly all people experience implicit religious thoughts, even those who consider themselves as atheists or agnostics. This study aimed to evaluate the validity of a Catholic Faith Single Category Implicit Association Test (CF SC-IAT; Karpinski & Steinman, 2006), the degree of implicit–explicit dissociation across different religious groups (practicing and nonpracticing Catholics, agnostics and atheists), as well as the relationships between automatic faith associations and well-being indices. The study was conducted using a Roman sample composed of 142 subjects (106 women) who were an average of 24.74 years of age (SD = 10.66). Results showed: (a) an adequate level of reliability and convergent and criterion validity; (b) a certain degree of implicit–explicit dissociation in terms of a different localization of mean scores with respect to the neutral scale point, a different pattern of means across the religious groups, a small correlation between them, and independent contributions in the prediction of religion-related behaviors; and (c) significant correlations between implicit Catholic faith and 3 different indices of psychological well-being. Theoretical interpretations and limitations of the study were discussed.

The role of relationship with God in couples’ adjustment to the threat of breast cancer.

Abstract: This preliminary study explored the role of relationship with God in couples’ adjustment to the threat of breast cancer. Women and their partners were assessed on positive and negative relationship with God, perceived and received couple support, and depression and marital adjustment prior to the women receiving their biopsy results. Analyses were conducted on women and partners separately to evaluate individual adjustment. In addition, analyses were conducted to explore the transactional relationship between each individual’s relationship with God and the other’s support and well-being. In terms of women’s adjustment, a negative relationship with God and feeling a burden in the couple relationship predicted greater depressive mood. For partners, their relationship with God did not predict their personal well-being after controlling for various support measures. In terms of transactional couple adjustment, women’s relationship with God did not predict partners’ well-being. However, the partner’s negative relationship with God significantly predicted poorer marital adjustment for women after controlling for the partners’ marital adjustment and support measures. Findings highlight the potential impact of spiritual struggle in the couple’s adjustment to a stressor such as the threat of breast cancer.

Dominant styles of thinking about religion.

Abstract: The Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS) is a commonly used tool in Europe, also in Poland, for cognitive studies on religion. The theoretical basis of this scale is Wulff’s (1991) model. The main aim of the research presented here was an attempt to distinguish the 4 dominant styles of thinking about r