Dissecting Faith: Comparing Religiousness and Spirituality to Self-Construal and Religious Orientation

Abstract

We examined the potential influence of family characteristics on ego identity and self-esteem among emerging adults. College students (N = 210, M = 19.52 years, 65% women) completed measures of self-esteem, ego-identity, and family functioning (General Family Functioning, Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness, Affective Involvement, and Behavior Control). In a multiple regression analysis, self-esteem was predicted by ego identity, general family functioning, and gender. Similarly, when ego-identity was the criterion variable, it was predicted by self-esteem, general family functioning, and gender. We further examined the nature of these relations using a path model. Healthy family functioning predicted stronger ego identity which in turn was predictive of higher self-esteem. In addition, being male was significantly related to higher self-esteem whereas being female was related to higher ego identity.Author Note. Jennifer Schumacher completed this research as partial fulfillment of requirements for an independent research course at Marian University. The work was presented at the 2007 Butler Undergraduate Research Conference (April 13, 2007).We thank Laura Soto and Isaac Howlett for their assistance in collecting and scoring the data and Dr. Faye Plascak-Craig for her advice on path modeling.Correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to Laurel Camp, Department of Psychology, 3200 Cold Spring Road, Marian University, Indianapolis, IN 46222. E-mail: lcamp@ marian.edu. identity were associated with families who provided emotional support and simultaneously encouraged independence (Cooper, Grotevant, & Condon, 1983). Olson et al. (1983) concluded that balanced levels of family adaptability (flexibility and structure) and family cohesion (togetherness and separateness) were essential to adolescent identity development. Similarly, strong family emotional bonds were associated with higher levels of identity achievement in emerging adults (Mullis et al., 2003).However, parents who judge and devalue their adolescent child may impede identity development (Arnett, 2001). Adolescents with low levels of identity formation reported hostile fighting and/or a lack of communication with their parents (Cooper et al., 1983). In addition, Quintana and Lapsley (1990) found that high levels of parental control were associated with delayed identity development in both adolescents and young adults. Self-EsteemMany family characteristics, including perceived parental nurturance, communication, availability, marital satisfaction, family structure, and family size, have been linked to adolescent self-esteem levels. Adolescents with high self-esteem tend to perceive parents as supportive, affectionate, effective communicators, and active participants in their lives (Barber, Chadwick, & Oerter, 1992; Gecas & Schwalbe, 1986; Matteson, 1974). Higher self-esteem was also related to having parents who rated marriage as satisfying (Mandara & Murray, 2000; Parish & Wigle, 1985) and was negatively related to famil...

Why some religious individuals are not emotionally smart? The explanatory role of spirituality

“…First of all, most past research studied how IRO alone influence EI without taking into consideration of spirituality. Dooley et al [56], suggested that although there might be a clear distinction between the definition of religiosity and spirituality by the scholar, most participants did not measure their religiosity based on ceremonial attendance or the degree to which they fit into their religious affiliation. Furthermore, past research showed that although there are arguments that spirituality is different from religion, the distinction is still not very well-defined [57].…”

“…It was suggested that people with higher IRO tend to have higher spiritual maturity which helps them in perceiving and understanding emotions [43]. Thus, as they were participating in studies which investigate IRO as the only predictor of EI (where spirituality was not controlled for), they might take spirituality into consideration unconsciously since the terms religiosity and spirituality are often used interchangeably [56].…”

“…Besides that, participating in religious rituals or practices, like prayer and worshipping, would sometimes act as a means for people to develop their spirituality; that is to say, even though one could have been religious for the sake of social, financial, or other needs, it could also probably be one's way of expressing spirituality especially for individuals with higher IRO [36]. Accordingly, individuals with higher IRO often crave to understand faith; this craving, then, serve as a great motivator for them to develop a strong connection with a Divine Being who would guide them and provide them with meaning in life [56]. On top of that, people with higher IRO showed increase of engagement in their instiutions which sometimes involve spiritual teachings and helping the society in need [43].…”

“…Past studies on EI related to spirituality and IRO suggested the necessity of investigating both spirituality and religiosity as a model predicting EI. Not only that spirituality has gradually become a construct differ from religiosity, past research showed that spirituality might be replacing religiosity as more people began to identify themselves as spiritual than religious [38,56,57]. Given that, it is important to study how the interaction of both variables influence EI to improve the theoretical understanding of the relationship between IRO and EI, as well as to widen the knowledge regarding the possible means of developing EI.…”