God image and Five-Factor Model personality characteristics in later life: A study among inhabitants of Sassenheim in The Netherlands

Affective or emotional aspects of religiousness are considered to be crucial in the association between religiousness and well-being, especially in later life. Such affective aspects can be understood as pertaining to the God–object relationship, corresponding to feelings of trust towards God or to religious discontent. Personality characteristics, such as those defined by the Five-Factor Model of Personality, are expected to correspond with God image. A small sample of older mainline church members in Sassenheim, The Netherlands (n = 53), aged 68–93, filled out a questionnaire, including 120 items of the NEO-PI-R, the Questionnaire God Image, frequency of prayer, church attendance, and depressive symptoms. Neuroticism was associated with feelings of anxiety towards God as well as discontent towards God. Agreeableness was associated with perceiving God as supportive and with prayer. These findings persisted after adjustment for depressive symptoms. For the other three personality factors, no clear patterns emerged. Results were compared with those from studies of God image and the Five-Factor Model of personality among younger people.     

Religiosity and psychological well-being

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between religiosity and psychological well-being in a sample of Greek Orthodox Christians. Previous research has documented that personal devotion, participation in religious activities, and religious salience are positively associated with different criteria of psychological well-being. The sample (83 men and 280 women) with an age range from 18 to 48 years, was strongly skewed with respect to sex (77% female) and education level (95% were university students or university graduates). Religiosity was operationalized as church attendance, frequency of prayer and belief salience. In addition, a single item referring to beliefs about God was used. Depression, anxiety, loneliness, and general life satisfaction were selected as dependent variables because they reflect important dimensions of psychological well-being. Preliminary analyses showed that sex was significantly related to the three religiosity variables (church attendance, frequency of prayer, belief salience), with women being more religious than men. Consistent with previous research, correlations suggested that church attendance and belief salience were associated with better life satisfaction. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed a significant positive association between anxiety and frequency of personal prayer. Finally, personal beliefs about God did not seem to relate to any of the psychological well-being measures. The results of the present study partially support the hypothesized association between religiosity and psychological well-being.     

Young Children's Descriptions of God: Influences of parents' and teachers' God concepts and religious denomination of schools

This study extends prior research on antecedents of individual differences in God concepts in early childhood by examining relations of parents' and teachers' God concepts and religious denomination of schools with children's God concepts. Participants were 165 preschoolers (mean age 63 months), 107 of their parents and 16 teachers. These subjects were distributed over eight elementary schools belonging to four different religious denominations, i.e. Catholic, Dutch Reformed, Orthodox Reformed and State schools. The God concepts of children, parents and teachers were measured using interviews and questionnaires. Results showed that both parents' and teachers' God concepts were predictive of children's God concepts, but each in a different way. Parents seem to influence the relational component of children's God concepts particularly. Teachers especially contribute to biblical content of children's God concepts. Religious denomination of schools had independent effects on children's God concepts, controlling for parental denomination.     

Religious Resources,Spiritual Struggles,and Mental Health in a Nationwide Sample of PCUSA Clergy

A growing body of research explores patterns and correlates of mental health among clergy and other religious professionals. Our study augments this work by distinguishing between religious resources (i.e., support from church members, positive religious coping practices), and spiritual struggles (i.e., troubled relations with God, negative interactions with members, chronic religious doubts). We also explore several conceptual models of the interplay between these positive and negative religious domains and stressful life events. After reviewing theory and research on religious resources, spiritual struggles, and mental health, we test relevant hypotheses using data on a nationwide sample of ordained clergy members in the Presbyterian Church (USA). At least some support is found for all main effects hypotheses. Religious resources predict well-being more strongly, while spiritual struggles are more closely linked with psychological distress. There is some evidence that stressful life events erode mental health by fostering an elevated sense of spiritual disarray and struggle. We find limited support for the stress-buffering role of religious resources, and limited evidence for a stress-exacerbating effect of spiritual struggle. Study limitations are identified, along with a number of implications and promising directions for future research.     

Creating and Refining Boundaries – Church Splitting Among Pentecostal Vietnamese Migrants in Berlin

In many parts of the world, Pentecostalism is becoming the fastest growing religious movement. As a result of migration, people from Asia, Africa and Latin America carry religious ideas and practices across borders, in other cases, migrants establish religious networks in the diaspora. However, while embracing newcomers from various backgrounds, Pentecostal believers constantly cross cultural boundaries by incorporating people from different ethnic, national and language backgrounds. While Pentecostal charismatic practitioners blurr boundaries in many situations, simultaneously, they create ‘bright boundaries’ by rejecting ‘traditional’ religious practices, imagined as the Other of Pentecostalism and thus to be eliminated. By referring to the concept of boundaries (Barth 1969; Alba (Ethnic and Racial Studies 1:20–69, 2005)) this article argues that charismatic Pentecostal Christianity, alongside its embracing practices with regard to social, ethnic and political boundaries, generates religious boundaries: First, church members reject “traditional” religious practices such as ancestor veneration and spirit possession, practices migrants carry across borders. Second, Pentecostal believers create boundaries towards those who split from the church. By exploring the ambiguities of migrant converts, I will investigate, how some of them subvert and reject control and authority exerted by religious leaders. Therefore, this article, based on ethnographic fieldwork among Vietnamese Pentecostalists, contributes to widely underresearched practices of boundary making and church splitting in the diaspora.     

Attachment to God,Stressful Life Events,and Changes in Psychological Distress

Considerable research shows that social relationships, attachments, and support systems promote emotional well-being. The present study adds to this literature by examining the connection between attachments to God and psychological distress. Analyzing longitudinal data (two waves) from a study of Presbyterian (PCUSA) elders and rank-and-file laypersons, results show that: (1) a secure attachment to God at baseline is associated with a decrease in distress over time; (2) a secure attachment to God buffers against the deleterious effects of stressful life events on distress; and (3) an anxious attachment to God exacerbates the harmful effects of stress. In these analyses, a secure attachment to God is a more robust predictor of changes in distress than many, more commonly studied variables including race, gender, SES, and church attendance. Future research should therefore replicate and extend this line of promising scholarship by examining additional outcomes such as psychiatric illness, physical health, and even mortality risk.     

Religious Education and Pastoral Counseling: The Classical Pentecostal Experience

The paper addresses the subject of religious education and pastoral counseling in the classical Pentecostal church. It argues that Pentecostals can benefit from a merger of religious education and pastoral counseling that leads the student/client to a closer relationship with God.     

The Association Between Church Attendance and Psychological Health in Northern Ireland: A National Representative Survey Among Adults Allowing for Sex Differences and Denominational Difference

This study extends previous research concerning the association between religion and psychological health in six ways: (1) by focusing clearly on religious attendance (church attendance); (2) by employing a robust measure of psychological distress (GHQ-12); (3) by studying a highly religious culture (Northern Ireland); (4) by taking sex differences into account (male or female); (5) by taking denominational differences into account (Catholic or Protestant); (6) and by obtaining a national representative sample (N = 4,281 adults aged 16 and above). Results from a 2 (sex) by 2 (denomination) ANCOVA demonstrated that Catholics recorded significantly lower levels of psychological health compared to Protestants, and that females showed significantly lower levels of psychological health compared to males. In addition, females reported higher frequency of religious service attendance than males, and Catholics reported higher attendance rates than Protestants. A significant positive association was found between frequency of religious attendance and GHQ-12 scores, and this association was moderated by sex and denomination. In conclusion, the results suggest that there may be sex and denominational differences in further understanding the relationship between frequency of religious attendance and psychological health.     

Attachment to God,Images of God,and Psychological Distress in a Nationwide Sample of Presbyterians

Drawing broadly on insights from attachment theory, the present study outlines a series of theoretical arguments linking styles of attachment to God, perceptions of the nature of God (i.e., God imagery), and stressful life events with psychological distress. Main effects and potential stress-moderator effects are then evaluated using data from a nationwide sample of elders and rank-and-file members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Key findings indicate that secure attachment to God is inversely associated with distress, whereas both anxious attachment to God and stressful life events are positively related to distress. Once variations in patterns of attachment to God are controlled, there are no net effects of God imagery on levels of distress. There is only modest support for the hypothesis that God images moderate the effects of stressful life events on psychological distress, but no stress-moderator effects were found for attachment to God. Study limitations are identified, and findings are discussed in terms of their implications for religion-health research, as well as recent extensions of attachment theory.     

Predictors of spiritual struggles: an exploratory study

The purpose of the current study was to identify factors that predict spiritual struggles. It was hypothesised that factors from religious (e.g., God image, attachment to God, church attitudes, religious history), personal (e.g., neuroticism, pessimism, trait anger), social (e.g., social support, loneliness), and situational (e.g., negative appraisals) domains may predispose people to spiritual struggles during times of distress. Participants (309 undergraduate students) filled out questionnaires measuring relevant constructs and a two-step hierarchical multiple regression equation was generated separately for each of the four domains. Upon identifying significant predictors from each of the four domains, a final hierarchical regression equation revealed that: (1) more negative appraisals of a stressful situation, (2) an insecure ambivalent attachment to God, and (3) neuroticism significantly predicted unique variance in spiritual struggles beyond the effects of relevant religious variables, thus generally supporting the hypothesis that spiritual struggles are complex phenomena that stem from multiple factors.     

Secure Attachment to God Uniquely Linked to Psychological Health in a National,Random Sample of American Adults

Relationships between religiousness and psychological health are well established. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether perceived relationship with God (i.e., attachment to God) or how people view God (i.e., image of God) account for variation in psychological distress and well-being. Statistical relationships between two attachment to God dimensions (avoidance, anxiety), two dimensions of God image (forgiving, wrathful), and general psychological well-being were investigated in a convenience sample (Study 1) and nationally representative sample (Study 2) of American adults who expressed belief in God or a higher power. In both studies, secure attachment to God (i.e., lower avoidance, lower anxiety) and religious service attendance were positively correlated with self-reported psychological well-being. Hierarchical regressions indicated that attachment to God dimensions account for unique variability in reported mental health even after religious service attendance, prayer frequency, God image and demographic variables were statistically controlled. Negligible associations were found between images of God as forgiving or wrathful and psychological well-being. Perceived relationship with God appears to be an important factor in the connection between religiousness and psychological health.     

Influence of Maternal Denomination, God Concepts, and Child-Rearing Practices on Young Children's God Concepts

This study tests a model of individual differences in God concepts among kindergarteners, based on social learning and projection theory. Relations among maternal education, religious denomination, God concepts, child-rearing practices, and young children's God concepts were examined. Subjects were 363 Dutch preschoolers (mean age = 66 months) and 271 of their mothers belonging to three religious denominations (open Christian, orthodox Christian, and nonaffiliated). Child-rearing practices as well as God concepts were measured using questionnaires. God concepts were operationalized as ideas about potential characteristics of God. The model was partly supported. Maternal orthodox Christian denomination, God concepts, and child-rearing practices all had effects on children's "potent God" concept, confirming all parts of the model. Differences in children's "punishing God" concept were explained by strict child-rearing practices, providing evidence for projection theory only. Children's "loving and caring God" concepts were predicted by mothers'"loving God" concept, lending support for social learning theory .     

Older Mexican Americans and God-mediated control: exploring the influence of Pentecostal/Evangelical affiliation

A growing number of Mexican Americans are leaving the Catholic Church to join Pentecostal and Evangelical congregations. The purpose of this study is to explore the benefits that are associated with joining Pentecostal and Evangelical congregations. A latent variable model is specified that contains the following core relationships: (1) older Mexican Americans who affiliate with Pentecostal/Evangelical congregations will attend worship services more often; (2) older Mexican Americans who attend church more often will receive more spiritual support from their fellow church members; (3) older Mexican Americans who receive more spiritual support will develop a closer relationship with God; and (4) older Mexican Americans who have a close relationship with God will develop a stronger sense of God-mediated control. Findings from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans provide support for each of these linkages.     

Between God and self: exploring the attachment to God and authenticity/inauthenticity tendencies of South African Christian youths

The paper explores the relationship between attachment to God (AG) and authenticity/inauthenticity among Christian youths in relation to a range of socio-demographic variables. Cross-sectional data were collected from 100 South African Christian youths using measures of AG and authenticity/inauthenticity. The correlation results reveal that feelings of insecurity in terms of having anxiety in a relationship with God is positively related to self-alienation (feeling out of touch with oneself) and accepting external influences (conforming to the standards and expectations of others), but negatively correlated to authentic living (being in tune with one’s self). Feelings of insecurity in terms of avoidant God-attachment was also related to self-alienation. In addition, demographic differences were observed for gender and church denomination. These results suggest that insecurity with God may either be linked to feelings of authenticity or self-estrangement among Christian youths and have broad implications, both for clinical usage and further cross-cultural research.     

Two Dimensions of Attachment to God and Their Relation to Affect, Religiosity, and Personality Constructs

In this study we sought to address several limitations of previous research on attachment theory and religion by (1) developing a dimensional attachment to God scale, and (2) demonstrating that dimensions of attachment to God are predictive of measures of affect and personality after controlling for social desirability and other related dimensions of religiosity. Questionnaire measures of these constructs were completed by a sample of university students and community adults (total n = 374). Consistent with prior research on adult romantic attachment, two dimensions of attachment to God were identified: avoidance and anxiety . After statistically controlling for social desirability, intrinsic religiousness, doctrinal orthodoxy, and loving God image, anxious attachment to God remained a significant predictor of neuroticism , negative affect , and (inversely) positive affect ; avoidant attachment to God remained a significant inverse predictor of religious symbolic immortality and agreeableness . These findings are evidence that correlations between attachment to God and measures of personality and affect are not merely byproducts of confounding effects of socially desirable responding or other dimensions of religiosity.     

Anxious Attachment to God,Spiritual Support,and Obesity: Findings from a Recent Nationwide Survey

Some researchers report that people who are more deeply involved in religion may be more obese, but other investigators have been unable to replicate these findings. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between religious life and obesity with data from a recent nationwide survey, the Landmark Spirituality and Health Survey (N = 1,497). The core measure of religion is an anxious or insecure attachment to God. It is hypothesized that study participants with a more anxious attachment to God are more likely to be obese. However, it is further proposed that this relationship will only hold for study participants who receive little spiritual or emotional support from fellow church members. Spiritual support is assistance that is provided with the explicit purpose of bolstering the religious beliefs and behaviors of the recipient. The findings reveal that having an anxious attachment to God is associated with a greater risk of being obese, but this relationship becomes progressively weaker as the level of spiritual and emotional support increases.     

God image and mood in old age: Results from a community-based pilot study in the Netherlands

Religious involvement is frequently found to be associated with less depression in later life. The emotional aspects of religiousness, such as pertaining to the God–object relationship, have not received substantial attention in empirical research among older adults, and especially not in European samples. As part of a pilot study of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a small sample of older church-members (n?=?60), aged 68–93, filled out a questionnaire, including the Questionnaire God Image on feelings to God and perceptions of God, two of the God Image Scales designed by Lawrence on perceptions of God, the brief positive and negative religious coping scale designed by Pargament, and items on hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and feelings of guilt. Feelings of discontent towards God correlated positively with hopelessness, depressive symptoms, feelings of guilt, and also with depressive symptoms assessed 13 years earlier; these findings pertained to Protestant participants in particular. Most facets of God image, positive, critical, and about punishment reappraisals, were associated with more feelings of guilt. A possible explanation for the most pervasive finding, that feelings of discontent towards God are related to depressive symptoms, is that both, throughout life, remain rooted in insecure attachment styles.     

Attachment,religiousness, and distress among the religious and spiritual: links between religious syncretism and compensation

Using the Adult Attachment Interview, we explored differences in attachment, distress, and religiousness among groups of traditionally religious, New Age spiritual, and religiously syncretistic (high on both) participants (Ps) (N?=?75). Religiously syncretistic Ps showed a preponderance of insecure attachment and were raised by non-religious parents, who were estimated as relatively insensitive. Moreover, religiously syncretistic Ps perceived a personal relationship with God and had experienced increased religiousness/spirituality during difficult life periods, but did not suffer elevated distress. New Agers often mirrored the religiously syncretistic, but had a more even secure–insecure attachment distribution, typically did not perceive a personal relationship with God, and did suffer elevated distress. Traditionally religious Ps were low on distress and raised by religious parents, estimated as relatively sensitive. We conclude that religious syncretism may often express religion/spirituality as compensation. Finally, we speculate that a perceived relationship with God may attenuate distress among those at risk.     

Negative Life Events, Patterns of Positive and Negative Religious Coping, and Psychological Functioning

Religious coping may or may not be adaptive depending upon whether such coping is positive or negative. We investigated the potential moderating effects of positive and negative religious coping patterns on the relationship between negative life events and psychological functioning. Questionnaires included measures of negative life events, positive and negative religious coping, and psychological functioning, and were completed by 336 adult, Protestant church members. Even after controlling for religious participation, negative events were related to increased use of positive and negative religious coping and decreased psychological functioning. Moreover, negative events and positive religious coping produced an interaction effect on depression, such that the high use of positive religious coping buffered the deleterious effects of negative events.