Can Religious and Spiritual Struggle Enhance Well-Being? Exploring the Mediating Effects of Internal Dialogues

Zarzycka, Beata; Puchalska‐Wasyl, Małgorzata M.

doi:10.1007/s10943-018-00755-w

Cited by 46 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Spiritual growth has been identified as a mediator in the relationship between moral and demonic struggles with satisfaction with life; spiritual decline was a mediator in the relationship between demonic, moral, and interpersonal struggles with anxiety. Among nonreligious factors, internal dialogues mediated the r/s struggles-well-being link (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019), whereas meaning making was a mediator in the r/s doubt struggle-satisfaction with life link (Zarzycka and Zietek 2019).…”

Section: Indirect Relations Between R/s Struggle and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Struggle and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Religious Support and Meaning Making

2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although a variety of studies have found robust links between religious/spiritual (r/s) struggle and poorer well-being, only a few have examined the means by which r/s struggle affects mental well-being. The present paper aims to examine religious support and meaning making as mediators of the relationship between r/s struggle and well-being. The study included 226 adults, 108 women and 118 men, aged between 17 and 78 years. We applied the Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale, Religious Support Scale, Meaning Making Scale, and Psychological Well-Being Scale. The results demonstrated that both religious support and meaning making were mediators in the relationship between r/s struggles and well-being. During moral or demonic struggles, many people reportedly feel supported by their religion, make meaning based on these positive religious experiences, and in turn experience greater well-being. Conversely, during divine, ultimate meaning, and interpersonal struggles people may feel like God does not support them, which may lead to difficulties reframing their religious experience, and adversely influence well-being. The findings from this study underscore the multifaceted character of r/s struggle: during different types of r/s struggle people may feel that religion is a source of support for them or, by contrast, they may feel deprived of religious support, which can lead to an increase or decrease of well-being, respectively.

show abstract

Section: Indirect Relations Between R/s Struggle and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Struggle and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Religious Support and Meaning Making

2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only a few studies have assessed how religious/spiritual struggles are connected to positive dimensions of human life (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019). Even less research has dealt with the mediation role of secular coping strategies and their effects on the interrelation between religious/spiritual struggle and life satisfaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some studies have shown connections between religious comfort/struggle and different dimensions of well-being (Abu-Raiya et al 2015;Currier et al 2019;Krause et al 2018;Park et al 2011;Wilt et al 2016Wilt et al , 2017, only a few have investigated what makes satisfaction increase or decrease during a religious strain experience (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019). Although the mechanism linking religiosity with psychological adjustment still remains unclear (Parenteau et al 2011) because this relationship is very complex (Hebert et al 2006), some researchers have proven that mediators or moderators play an important role in this association (Zarzycka and Zietek 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the mechanism linking religiosity with psychological adjustment still remains unclear (Parenteau et al 2011) because this relationship is very complex (Hebert et al 2006), some researchers have proven that mediators or moderators play an important role in this association (Zarzycka and Zietek 2019). For example, internal dialogical activity turned out to be a mediator of the association between R/S struggles and psychological well-being (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019). Similarly, Szcześniak et al (2019) confirmed that gratitude, which demonstrates itself as a willingness to identify the undeserved increase of value in one's experience, is important to life satisfaction from the perspective of religious strains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Mediating Effect of Coping Strategies on Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction

Szczęśniak¹,

Kroplewski²,

Szałachowski³

2020

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A growing number of researchers are testing potential problematic forms of religiousness that denote anxieties regarding sacred matters. However, only a few studies have assessed how religious/spiritual struggle is associated with positive outcomes. Because people’s coping responses to stressors are key determinants of their well-being, we expected that different coping strategies could be potential mediators between religious problems/tensions and life satisfaction. The research was conducted on a group of 744 Roman Catholics. We used the Religious Comfort and Strain Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) questionnaire. The outcomes show that religious comfort correlated positively with life satisfaction, while fear/guilt, negative emotions toward God, and negative social interactions surrounding religion correlated negatively with life satisfaction. Our research amplifies the understanding of the religious/spiritual struggles and life satisfaction relationship, mediated by “secular” coping strategies. It confirms that both religious and secular methods of experiencing different strains seem to coexist with multiple other strategies in the context of broadly understood life satisfaction.

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, little research exists on the character of the relationship between R/S struggles and life satisfaction (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019). Specifically, it still remains unclear through which mediating or moderating mechanism both variables are associated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction among Young Roman Catholics: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

Szczęśniak¹,

Bielecka²,

Bajkowska³

et al. 2019

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An extensive review of the psychological literature shows that interactions between religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles and other aspects of human functioning are complex and affected by “third” factors. Still, we have only a few studies that confirm R/S struggles as a source of well-being and indicate the ways in which it happens. In the present study, we aimed to verify whether the relationship between R/S struggles and life satisfaction was mediated by dispositional gratitude that seems to offer protection in times of adversity and turmoil. The sample consisted of 440 Roman Catholics (331 women) from Poland aged between 18 and 40. We applied the Religious Comfort and Strain Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Gratitude Questionnaire. In line with our hypotheses, it was confirmed that respondents with higher life satisfaction were more likely to display a higher sense of trust in God. They also declared a lower fear/guilt and perception of God as abandoning people. Gratitude correlated positively and significantly with religious comfort, and negatively with emotions towards God and social interactions surrounding religion. Moreover, it can be affirmed that dispositional gratitude mediated the relationship between three of four dimensions of religious strain and life satisfaction: religious comfort, negative emotions towards God, and negative social interactions surrounding religion.

show abstract

Can Religious and Spiritual Struggle Enhance Well-Being? Exploring the Mediating Effects of Internal Dialogues

Cited by 46 publications

References 42 publications

Religious Struggle and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Religious Support and Meaning Making

Religious Struggle and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Religious Support and Meaning Making

The Mediating Effect of Coping Strategies on Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction

Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction among Young Roman Catholics: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About