Authors:Heidi R. Riggio; Joshua Uhalt, Brigitte K. Matthies, Theresa Harvey, Nya Lowden Victoria Umana Abstract: Source: Page Count 28Two self-report experiments examined how religiosity affects attributions made for the outcome of a tornado. Undergraduate students ( N = 533) and online adults ( N = 537) read a fictional vignette about a tornado that hits a small town in the United States. The townspeople met at church and prayed or prepared emergency shelters for three days before the tornado; either no one died or over 200 people died from the tornado. Participants made attributions of cause to God, prayer, faith, and worship. In both studies, individuals identifying as Christian made more attributions to God, prayer, faith, and worship, but only when no one died; when townspeople died, Christian participants made fewer attributions to God, prayer, faith, and worship (the God-serving bias). Individuals identifying as agnostic or atheist did not show this bias. Directions for future research in terms of implicit religious beliefs and normative evaluations of religion are discussed. PubDate: 2018-02-28T00:00:00Z
Authors:Ingela Visuri Abstract: Source: Page Count 31This anthropologically informed study explores descriptions of communication with invisible, superhuman agents in high functioning young adults on the autism spectrum. Based on material from interviews, two hypotheses are formulated. First, autistic individuals may experience communication with bodiless agents (e.g., gods, angels, and spirits) as less complex than interaction with peers, since it is unrestricted by multisensory input, such as body language, facial expressions, and intonation. Second, descriptions of how participants absorb into “imaginary realities” suggest that such mental states are desirable due to qualities that facilitate social cognition: While the empirical world comes through as fragmented and incoherent, imaginary worlds offer predictability, emotional coherence, and benevolent minds. These results do not conform to popular expectations that autistic minds are less adapted to experience supernatural agents, and it is instead argued that imaginative, autistic individuals may embrace religious and fictive agents in search for socially and emotionally comprehensible interaction. PubDate: 2018-02-27T00:00:00Z
Authors:V. A. Agarkov; Y. I. Alexandrov, S. A. Bronfman, A. M. Chernenko, H. P. Kapfhammer H.-F. Unterrainer Abstract: Source: Page Count 12It is intended in this study to present initial reliability and validity data for the Russian adaptation of the Multidimensional Inventory of Religious/Spiritual Well-being (MI-RSWB-R), as being related to personality factors and psychopathology. Therefore, the first version of the MI-RSWB-R was applied to a sample of 192 (147 females) non-clinical subjects, together with the NEO Five Factor Inventory and the Symptom-Check-List (SCL-90-R). The original six-factor structure of the scale could be replicated for the MI-RSWB-R, which also provides satisfying psychometric properties. In accordance with previous research the RSWB total score was linked to more favorable personality traits such as Extraversion (r = .45), Openness to Experience (r = .39), and Agreeableness (r = .38), which was paralleled by substantial negative correlations with increased psychopathology. Our findings support the reliability and structural validity of the MI-RSWB-R as a standardized instrument for addressing the spiritual dimension in Russian populations. Further research in clinical surroundings is now recommended. PubDate: 2018-01-25T00:00:00Z
Authors:Jonathan Morgan; Cara E. Curtis Lance D. Laird First page: 205 Abstract: Source: Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 205 - 234For many people across the world, experiences of depression include features that extend beyond the biopsychiatric model, which predominates in research on the relationship between religious and spiritual coping and depressive symptoms. How does attending to these diverse experiences of depression challenge our understanding of the dynamic between religiosity and depression' This paper presents thirteen qualitative interviews among economically marginalized mothers in the metro-Boston area. Analyzing these narratives presents a complex picture of the way chronic situational stress lies beneath their experiences of depression. From this expanded view of depressive experiences, we analyze the religious coping strategies of social support and meaning making to reveal the holistic, yet often ambiguous, ways these mothers engaged religious and spiritual resources to forge hope amidst chronic stress. PubDate: 2017-12-15T00:00:00Z
Authors:Teodóra Tomcsányi; Viola Sallay, Zsuzsanna Jáki, Péter Török, Tünde Szabó, András Ittzés, Krisztina Csáky-Pallavicini, Edith A. Kiri, Katalin Horváth-Szabó Tamás Martos First page: 235 Abstract: Source: Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 235 - 262While scientific interest in the relationship between psychotherapeutic praxis and spirituality is growing, there is still little knowledge on this topic, especially in an East Central European context. To explore how psychotherapists understand spiritual issues and experiences they encounter in their work and to learn what happens to these issues in the course of psychotherapy, this study analyses semi-structured interviews with 30 Hungarian psychotherapists. Applying a grounded theory analytical strategy, three main topics were identified: the therapist’s attitude towards spirituality leaves a discernible trace in the psychoterapeutic treatment; the therapist influences the way spiritual issues are treated; and the therapist may have a shared spiritual experience with the client. We present individual variations of these experiences as they appear in the code tree. Results are interpreted with reference to a systemic view of the psychotherapeutic process, the intersubjective space of patient and therapist, and the notion of the therapists’ mentalizational capacity. PubDate: 2017-12-15T00:00:00Z
Authors:Jordan P. LaBouff; Matthew Humphreys Megan Johnson Shen First page: 263 Abstract: Source: Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 263 - 282Research by Graham and Haidt (2010) suggests that beliefs, rituals, and other social aspects of religion establish moral communities. As such, they suggest religion is most strongly associated with the group-focused “binding” moral foundations of ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. Two studies tested this hypothesis, investigating the role of political orientation in these relationships. These studies supported our hypothesis that general religiosity is positively associated with each of the group-focused moral foundations, even when controlling for the role of political orientation. Further, we find religious and political orientations interact such that low-religious political liberals are least likely to endorse group-focused moral intuitions. Results are discussed in a moral foundations framework and consider the role of religiosity’s association with political orientation and group-focused moral foundations. PubDate: 2017-12-15T00:00:00Z
Authors:Szabolcs Kéri; Christina Sleiman First page: 283 Abstract: Source: Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 283 - 294An increasing number of Muslim asylum seekers and refugees convert to Christianity in Europe. The conversion motifs in these individuals are unknown. In this study, we applied biographical interviews in 124 converts. There were two dominant patterns: intellectual (42.7%)—intellectual plus experimental motifs (10.5%), and mystical (16.1%)—mystical plus affectional motifs (21.0%). Pure experimental and affectional motifs were rare, and there were no revivalist and coercive motifs. Demographic parameters (age, gender, education, family status, country of origin, traumatic life events, and refugee status) did not predict conversion motifs. We found no evidence for social pressure. These results indicate that finding meaning and consolation in Christian religious teachings and mystical experiences with a high emotional content are the two leading religious conversion motifs. PubDate: 2017-12-15T00:00:00Z
Authors:Lily Kpobi; Elizabeth Anokyewaa Sarfo Joana Salifu Yendork Abstract: Source: Page Count 17Many people like to identify as belonging to one church or another. Previous studies have explored the process of switching from one religious group to another, and this process has identified various factors that determine the likelihood and reasons for switching. Although this has been explored, little is known about the factors that influence switching among charismatic Christians in Ghana, and the potential implications of such switching on mental well-being. Our study therefore explored the reasons given by members of selected neo-Pentecostal/charismatic churches in Ghana for their decision to switch to these churches. The study was conducted in six neo-Pentecostal churches in Accra and Kumasi through the use of individual and focus group interviews as well as observations of church activities. A total of 86 respondents cited reasons such as geographic mobility, marriage, answers to prayer, as well as miracles and prophecies as their determining factors. These are discussed with emphasis on the potential implications for mental health such as psychological distress, blind faith, and individual agency. PubDate: 2017-08-24T00:00:00Z
Authors:Hege Kristin Ringnes; Gry Stålsett, Harald Hegstad Lars Johan Danbolt Abstract: Source: Page Count 32The aim of this study was to explore which group-based emotion regulation goals and strategies are offered in the group culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs). Based on interviews with 29 group-active JWs in Norway, a thematic analysis was conducted in which an overall pattern of cognition taking precedence over emotions was found. Due to end-time expectations and a long-term goal of eternal life in Paradise, future emotions were prioritized. The emotion regulation strategies identified among JWs were social sharing and the interconnected cognitive reappraisal. A new concept, emotional forecasting, was introduced, describing a reappraisal tactic of regulation using prospects of future emotions to regulate the here and now. It was concluded that the prospection of the future is a strong regulator of emotions of the here and now and should be included in psychological models of emotion regulation. PubDate: 2017-08-11T00:00:00Z
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