Strength of religious faith and psychological adjustment in intercollegiate athletes

In light of recent research examining the distress buffering properties of religion in intercollegiate athletes' lives, the present study investigated associations among religious faith and depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and loneliness. Using self-report questionnaires, religious faith was not correlated with depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and loneliness in 57 intercollegiate athletes.     

Shifting foundations: religious belief change and adjustment in college students

In a sample of 154 college students, prevalence of religious belief change and its relationship to religiosity and coping variables were examined twice over the course of one month. Students who reported belief change (62%) scored higher than those who did not on measures of religiosity and fared worse on adjustment measures. Significant differences in coping strategies were noted, with the change group using more religious coping and alcohol and drugs to cope. Within the change group, a higher degree of change was related to higher levels of religiousness and religious coping, and poorer adjustment at baseline and follow-up.     

Personality correlates of adjustment in isolated work groups

Twenty-five personnel from two Antarctic research stations spent the austral winter (February-October) confined in small, isolated stations located on the Antarctic ice cap. At the end of this confinement, they completed two questionnaires. The first asked about alcohol and marijuana use and self-rated adjustment to the living conditions; it also asked for nominations of others with whom each would most like and least like to spend another Antarctic tour. The second questionnaire was a recently developed personality inventory. Personality scale scores were correlated with self-rated adjustment and peer nominations. The results were consistent with previous research, and indicated that adjustment was a function of narrow interests and a low need for stimulation. More importantly, the findings also demonstrated that personality inventories are useful for predicting adjustment to working conditions in such isolated settings.     

Personality, cognitive appraisal and adjustment in chronic pain patients

This study investigated the relationship between clinical personality patterns and cognitive appraisal as well as their repercussions on adjustment to chronic pain in a sample of 91 patients. It was predicted that clinical personality patterns would be related to adjustment and cognitive appraisal processes, whereas cognitive appraisals would be related to anxiety, depression and levels of perceived pain. The instruments used were as follows: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, the Cognitive Appraisal Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Mann Whitney U-test were used to analyse the data obtained. The results show that certain clinical personality patterns were associated with poor adjustment to chronic pain. The use of cognitive appraisal of harm predicted higher anxiety levels and greater perceived pain in chronic pain patients. The use of cognitive appraisals of challenge predicted lower depression levels.     

Personality change following religious conversion: perceptions of converts and their close acquaintances

This study focuses on how converts and their close acquaintances perceive changes in personality characteristics after religious conversion and possible demographic influences of these perceptions. Sixty Slovakian respondents self-defined as having experienced conversions rated themselves twice on measures of Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and meaningfulness in life. The first rating provided retrospective information concerning pre-conversion conditions and the second rating obtained data reflecting the convert's present self-understanding. In addition, every convert was rated on the same characteristics by someone who knew the person well during both pre- and post-conversion times. The convert and the rater both provided demographic information (age, education, religiosity, relationship to conversions and converts etc.). Analyses showed that the converts perceived several personality changes: neuroticism decreased while self-esteem, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion increased. They also reported a large increase in meaningfulness. Perceived changes were in part related to education level and age for converts, and to religiosity in both converts and close persons, suggesting a retrospective bias.     

Personality differences between intrinsically religious and nonreligious students: a factor analytic study

By means of Allport's Religious Orientation Inventory (ROI) 145 students were classified as intrinsically religious and 133 as nonreligious. Personality differences between the two groups were explored on the basis of their scores on EPPS, the CPI, and 16 PF Questionnaire. Factor analysis of the combined 49 subscales of these three instruments produced eight factors: Achievement Potential, Self-Control, Social Ascendency, Affiliation, Personal and Social Adequacy, Egocentric Sexuality, Restlessness, and Stereotyped Femininity. Analyses of variance of the factor scores of the two groups of subjects showed significant differences on five of the eight factors, accounting for a total of 25% of the total variance. The intrinsically religious scored significantly higher on Self-Control, Personal and Social Adequacy, and Stereotyped Femininity; the nonreligious scored higher on Egocentric Sexuality and Restlessness. These results were discussed in relation to some of Allport's ideas on religion as a dimension of personality.     

Personality and religious values among adolescents: A three‐wave longitudinal analysis

Using three waves of data, we assessed the relationships between endorsement of religious values, some of the major personality dimensions, and social and emotional well‐being amongst teenagers. Participants were 784 high school students at Time 1 (382 males and 394 females; 8 did not indicate their gender) and 563 provided data at each of Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3. We examined the impact of changes in (Eysenckian) psychoticism and conscientiousness from Time 1 to Time 2 on religious values assessed at Time 3. Both personality and personality change predicted religious values and the specific effects depended on gender. Participants higher in hope, joviality, psychological acceptance and mindfulness also tended to be higher in religious values. The implications of these results for adolescent well‐being and resilience are discussed.     

Perceived stress and adjustment in religious Jewish families with a child who is disabled.

We investigated 82 religious Israeli families who had a disabled child, many of whom had experienced economic strains, lack of community support, feelings of stigma, and lack of time. Results showed that families reporting a stronger impact associated with the care of the disabled member were smaller, faced more daily strains and hardships, had a boy with a disability, and a mother who was older. About 50% were rated by a school professional as coping and adjusting effectively. Many mothers and fathers maintained close contact with their own parents, frequently discussed the child's problems, and sought advice from health care professionals and from their spiritual leader. Most families needed financial assistance. Many would have benefited from relief services, parent training programs, and a stronger social support network.     

Personality, acculturation, and psychosocial adjustment of Chinese international students in Germany

The effect of personality traits and acculturation variables on crosscultural adjustment were investigated in 139 Chinese students in Germany (52% girls; M age = 25.3 yr., SD = 2.9). Participants were surveyed by house visits to their dormitories. Several scales were administered: (a) Big Five Inventory; (b) Vancouver Index of Acculturation; (c) sociocultural adjustment, general and academic; and (d) psychological adjustment, i.e., depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Results showed that Neuroticism and Openness were two shared predictors of sociocultural adjustment. Agreeableness and mainstream acculturation were only related to general adjustment, while Conscientiousness was only related to academic adjustment. All facets of psychological adjustment were related to Neuroticism and Consciousness, while positive components (self-esteem and life satisfaction) were also related to Extraversion and Openness. No influence of heritage acculturation was found. The findings are discussed in light of measurement issues and the shared and unique individual predictors of the different facets of adjustment.