Social Support and the Religious Dimensions of Close Ties

Despite the influence of social support on physical and mental health, few studies have examined why some close ties are more supportive than others. Though religion provides a rich context for social interaction and a meaningful social identity, it has received little attention in the social support literature. A growing literature on religion and health offers insight into how religion affects social support processes. Using dyadic network data derived from the nationally representative 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, I examine how the religious dimensions of close, nonhousehold ties relate to provision of social support. Results from logistic regression analyses indicate that (controlling for a range of other social tie characteristics) same‐faith ties are significantly more likely to be sources of help “in times of need,” while religious discussion is a strong predictor of receiving both help and advice. The effect of religious homophily is strongest for evangelical Protestants and African‐American Protestants. My findings underscore the need for social support researchers to consider the role of religion in shaping support processes in close relationships.     

Can Prayer Increase Charitable Giving? Examining the Effects of Intercessory Prayer,Moral Intuitions,and Theological Orientation on Generous Behavior

This study was designed to investigate the effects of intercessory prayer, moral intuitions, God concept, and theological orientation on generous behavior in the form of charitable giving. Christian participants (N = 313) were assigned to engage in either intercessory prayer or a secular reflection over a 2-week period on the hardships faced by either Christians (religious ingroup) or Muslims (religious outgroup) in Myanmar/Burma being persecuted by the Buddhist majority. Contrary to hypotheses and previous research, multiple regression analyses revealed that the prayer condition was associated with less monetary generosity than a nonreligious control condition. Ingroup versus outgroup status of the target of prayer/reflections was not a significant predictor of charitable giving. Moral intuitions related to the harm/care and fairness/reciprocity foundations as well as traditional God concept moderated the effects of prayer.     

Prayer to the Saints or the Virgin And Health Among Older Mexican Americans

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a conceptual model that assesses whether praying to the saints or the Virgin is associated with the health of older Mexican Americans. A survey was conducted of 1,005 older Mexican Americans (Mean age = 73.9 years; SD = 6.6 years). Data from 795 of the Catholic respondents are presented in this study. The findings support the following relationships that are embedded in the conceptual model: (1) older Mexican Americans who attend church more often are more likely to believe in the efficacy of prayer to the saints or the Virgin; (2) stronger beliefs in the efficacy of intercessory prayer are associated with more frequent prayer to the saints or the Virgin; (3) frequent prayer is to the saints or the Virgin is associated with greater God-mediated control beliefs; (4) stronger God-mediated control beliefs are associated with greater optimism; and (5) greater optimism is associated with better self-rated health.     

Relationships Among Disease,Social Support,and Perceived Health: A Lifespan Approach

We examined the relationship between the cumulative presence of major disease (cancer, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension), social support, and self‐reported general and emotional well‐being in a community representative sample of predominantly White and African American respondents (N = 1349). Across all ages, greater presence of disease predicted poorer reported general health, and predicted lower emotional well‐being for respondents 40 and above. In contrast, social support predicted better‐reported general and emotional well‐being. We predicted that different types of social support (blood relatives, children, friends, community members) would be relatively more important for health in different age groups based on a lifespan or life stage model. This hypothesis was supported; across all ages, social support was related to better reported general and emotional health, but sources of support differed by age. Broadly, those in younger age groups tended to list familial members as their strongest sources of support, whereas older group members listed their friends and community members. As a whole, social support mediated the effect of disease on reported well‐being, however, moderated mediation by type of support was not significant. The results are consistent with a lifespan approach to changing social ties throughout the life course.     

Church‐Based Social Relationships and Change in Self‐Esteem Over Time

This study has two goals. The first goal is to see if church‐based social relationships are associated with change in self‐esteem. Emotional support from fellow church members and having a close personal relationship with God serve as measures of church‐based social ties. The second goal is to see whether emotional support from fellow church members is more strongly associated with self‐esteem than emotional support from secular social network members. The data come from an ongoing nationwide survey of older adults. The findings reveal that having a close personal relationship with God is associated with a stronger sense of self‐esteem at the baseline and follow‐up interviews. In contrast, emotional support from fellow church members was not associated with self‐esteem at either point in time. However, emotional support from secular social network members is related to self‐esteem at the baseline but not the follow‐up interview.     

The Influence of Close Ties on Depression: Does Network Religiosity Matter?

Despite a growing body of the literature on how features of social networks influence well-being, we know little of how the religiosity of social networks matter. This study addresses three types of religious social network ties and their association with mental health: same (non)-religious ties, religious discussion ties, and ties offering prayers on an individual's behalf. Using ego-centric network data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study (N = 2,223), multivariate regression results suggest that a greater number of ties that discuss religion and pray for the respondent are detrimental to the mental health of those of a low religious salience. Taken together, this study demonstrates that religious dimensions of social networks exact an important influence on mental health and highlights the importance of identifying specific features of religion among core network ties.     

A longitudinal study of the moderating effects of social capital on the relationships between changes in human capital and ikigai among Japanese older adults

Ikigai, one of the indices of well‐being, tends to decline with age because resources relating to ikigai decline. However, there are individual differences in this decline. This study tested for maintenance of ikigai among Japanese elderly, using a longitudinal study investigating the moderating role of social capital on the effects of changes in human capital on ikigai. We conducted a panel survey targeting 1,068 people (M age = 73.01 years) in 2013, and 686 people in 2017. The variables were ikigai, changes in human capital (self‐rated financial status, physical health) and social capital (social networks, trust in others), educational level, and control variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed the interaction effects of changes in physical health and changes in social networks (strong ties, weak ties) on follow‐up ikigai. Post hoc analyses indicated that declines in physical health predicted declines in ikigai among those whose social networks (strong ties and weak ties) had declined in the 4‐year study, but these relationships were not significant among those whose social networks had increased. The results suggest that older adults can weaken the adverse effect of a decline in human capital on ikigai by maintaining or increasing social networks.     

The Church of England’s Pray One for Me intercessory prayer site: a virtual cathedral?

Over the past decade there has been a growing number of studies examining the prayer content of people’s personal prayers left in intercessory church-related contexts. Since 2012, these studies have extended to include the cathedral intercessory prayer board and the online intercessory prayer site. Both ‘the cathedral’ and ‘the online site’ are distinctive contexts for intercessory prayer in terms of their openness and accessibility for a broad range of people, who are allowed to enter and use these prayer facilities. What is not known, however, is whether the cathedral prayer board and the online site are functioning in similar ways. This study presents an analysis of 500 prayers posted on the Church of England’s ‘Pray One for Me’ (POFM) website over a period of six months in 2012. The analysis employs the ap Siôn Analytic Framework for Intercessory Prayer (apSAFIP), which distinguishes among prayer intention, prayer reference, and prayer objective. The results of the analysis are compared with the results from recent cathedral studies employing the same analytic tool, and it is concluded that these two prayer contexts are functioning differently.     

The effects of brief prayer on the experience of forgiveness: An American and Indian comparison

The present study offers a cross‐cultural examination of the effect of prayer on forgiveness. American (n = 51) and Indian (n = 100) participants either prayed for their romantic partner (prayer condition) or described their romantic partner's physical attributes (control condition). Prayers were self‐guided and lasted 3 minutes. Pre‐test and post‐test measures of retaliation were completed. Results showed that participants in the prayer group showed statistically significant decreases in retaliation motives from pre‐test to post‐test and the magnitude of this change was not different across cultures. Control groups in both cultures showed no change. Because of the religious diversity present in the Indian sample, the robustness of the effect of prayer on forgiveness was tested across Christian, Hindu and Muslim Indians. Religious affiliation did not moderate the effect of prayer on forgiveness in this sample. Results suggest that a brief prayer is capable of producing real change in forgiveness and this change is consistent across American and Indian cultures and across three different religious groups in India. Brief prayer for others that enhances forgiveness may be useful for individuals in close relationships, in certain counselling settings and for people in many different walks of life.     

Trans‐Congregational Triadic Closure: Churchgoers’ Networks Within and Beyond the Pews

Triadic closure is the common tendency for connections to emerge between people's social network ties. This phenomenon has clear implications for congregational networks and may underlie many of the social benefits associated with church involvement. Less documented in the sociology of religion, however, is the occurrence of triadic closure involving congregational and noncongregational relationships within people's close personal networks. To conceptualize this boundary‐spanning network overlap, we elaborate the concept of trans‐congregational triadic closure (TCTC). Using data from the Portraits of American Life Survey—a project that examines both general and congregation‐specific networks of U.S. adults—we consider how religious tradition, macro‐level context, and individual factors predict the occurrence of TCTC in churchgoers’ networks. Findings suggest pronounced differences between evangelicals and mainline Protestants, a considerably lower likelihood of TCTC in densely populated areas, and higher likelihoods of TCTC corresponding with long durations of congregational involvement. We conclude by noting some of the implications of TCTC for the lives of individual believers and for religious organizations, and suggest ways that this concept could elucidate further aspects of contemporary religious life.     

Adolescent well‐being and supporting contexts: A comparison of adolescents in Ireland and Florida

The purpose of this research was to examine the extent to which social support and wider community perceptions/engagements among adolescents are connected with well‐being. We compared adolescents in two different societal contexts, Florida in the United States and County Offaly, in Ireland, and posed the questions: What are the key predictors of subjective well‐being from the various sources of support, and to what extent does the impact of social support on well‐being vary across these two societies? Questionnaires were completed and returned for 607 respondents (322 in the Irish study and 285 in the Florida study). A variety of scales were adopted and designed to operationalize our key concepts of: Adolescent well‐being, social support, school satisfaction, neighbourhood quality of life and community/voluntary participation. Our results indicate that informal social support and school satisfaction were the strongest predictors of youth well‐being in both locations, despite some differences in terms of individual influencing variables. From informal sources, emotional support from friends and advice/concrete/esteem support from parents emerged as important predictive dimensions. Liking school, perceptions of doing well in school were the main predictors of school satisfaction in Ireland while, in Florida, student camaraderie and the experience of bullying emerged as significant. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Network models for social influence processes

This paper generalizes thep* class of models for social network data to predict individual-level attributes from network ties. Thep* model for social networks permits the modeling of social relationships in terms of particular local relational or network configurations. In this paper we present methods for modeling attribute measures in terms of network ties, and so constructp* models for the patterns of social influence within a network. Attribute variables are included in a directed dependence graph and the Hammersley-Clifford theorem is employed to derive probability models whose parameters can be estimated using maximum pseudo-likelihood. The models are compared to existing network effects models. They can be interpreted in terms of public or private social influence phenomena within groups. The models are illustrated by an empirical example involving a training course, with trainees' reactions to aspects of the course found to relate to those of their network partners.This research was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council. The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Stanley Wasserman, Janice Langan-Fox and Larry Hubert, and would like to thank four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the North American Conference of the Psychometric Society, Lawrence, Kansas, June, 1999, and at the Australasian Mathematical Psychology Conference, Brisbane, Australia, December 1999.     

Enhancing Well‐being of Homeless Individuals by Building Group Memberships

There is growing recognition that social isolation and a lack of connectedness with social groups is one of the reasons why the subjective well‐being of homeless individuals is generally worse than the rest of the population. Past research amongst a range of populations suggests that the ability of an individual to take on new group memberships and/or their ability to maintain their memberships in meaningful groups is an important predictor of well‐being. In a mixed method study (N = 119), we examined the extent to which experiences at homeless accommodation form building blocks for the formation of multiple group memberships and to what extent this predicts positive well‐being. Qualitative analysis reveals the importance of feeling connected to the homeless service and supported by homeless accommodation staff. Linking these data to quantitative data from a second wave, we found that these experiences predicted well‐being. These findings provide further support for a strength‐based approach to homelessness, by providing insights into the ways that experiences at homeless accommodation can contribute to the development of multiple group memberships (i.e. social capital), and enhance the well‐being of those experiencing, and exiting, homelessness. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE: DEBATES OVER DOUBLE‐BLIND CLINICAL TRIALS OF INTERCESSORY PRAYER

Abstract. This article traces the intellectual history of scientific studies of intercessory prayer published in English between 1965 and the present by focusing on the conflict and discussion they prompted in the medical literature. I analyze these debates with attention to how researchers articulate the possibilities and limits medical science has for studying intercessory prayer over time. I delineate three groups of researchers and commentators: those who think intercessory prayer can and should be studied scientifically, those who are more skeptical and articulate the limits of science around this topic, and those who focus primarily on the pragmatic applications of this knowledge. I analyze these contests as examples of what Thomas Gieryn calls “epistemic authority” as medical researchers engage in what he describes as “boundary‐work” or “the discursive attribution of selected qualities to scientists, scientific methods, and scientific claims for the purposes of drawing a rhetorical boundary between science and some less authoritative residual non‐science.” (Gieryn 1999, 4 (Gieryn 1999, 4)).     

Social support from weak ties: Insight from the literature on minimal social interactions

When people face difficult life events, such as cancer or bereavement, they fare better when they receive support. These “experiencers” are likely to seek and receive support from a wide range of people, from close others to acquaintances. Indeed, the social support literature has long acknowledged the value of having a diverse support network. Research suggests that experiencers often perceive “weak ties” (i.e., acquaintances) as sources of support, and that experiencers sometimes prefer to get support from weak ties rather than strong ties. Providing support can be challenging for all kinds of supporters, however weak ties may be more likely than strong ties to allow worries about their inability to provide effective support to stop them from providing any support at all, thus depriving experiencers of opportunities for additional support. In this paper, we focus on the fact that often the provision of support occurs via a social interaction. We draw on the social psychology literature on minimal social interactions to suggest reasons why potential weak tie supporters might doubt their ability to provide effective support, and to generate advice to encourage potential supporters to reach out. Finally, we suggest future areas of research, with the ultimate goal of helping to expand the support that is available for people experiencing difficult life events.     

Support processes in same‐ and mixed‐sex relationships: Type and source matters

Research has established that social support for relationships is an important predictor of well‐being. However, the underlying assumption that social support specifically for relationships is a separate construct from general social support has not been properly tested empirically, nor has the question of whether support processes vary by source (friends vs. family). The current study (N = 1,281) used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to address these issues. Support was found for a theoretical model in which social support specifically for relationships predicts relationship well‐being and, in turn, mental and physical health, even while controlling for general social support. Somewhat different patterns were found by source of support (family vs. friends) and by relationship type (same sex vs. mixed sex).     

Individual Differences in Habitual Social Goals and Daily Well‐Being: The Role of Age and Relationship Closeness

There is a robust evidence that social approach goals (i.e. approach of positive social outcomes) have positive consequences and social avoidance goals (i.e. avoidance of negative social outcomes) have negative consequences for subjective well‐being in young adulthood. Little is known about individual differences in social goals in later life. The current diary study with young (n = 212), middle‐aged (n = 232), and older adults (n = 229) tested––and supported––the hypotheses that age (i) differentially predicts the strength of habitual approach and avoidance goals in close and peripheral relationships and (ii) moderates the relation of approach and avoidance goals in peripheral (but not close) relationships and daily outcomes (subjective well‐being, subjective health, and satisfaction with social encounters). Older adults compared to younger adults reported higher levels of avoidance goals in peripheral (but not close) relationships. Younger adults who reported high levels of approach goals and older adults who reported high levels of avoidance goals in peripheral relationships experienced the most positive daily outcomes. In addition, social goals moderated some of the associations between (positive and negative) daily interactions and daily outcomes. Results underscore the importance of the closeness of social partners for individual differences in social goals across adulthood. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The link between religion and spirituality and psychological adjustment: the mediating role of optimism and social support

Although optimism, social support, religiousness, and spirituality are important predictors of adjustment, rarely have studies examined these variables simultaneously. This study investigated whether optimism and social support mediated the relationship between religiousness and adjustment (distress and life satisfaction) and between spirituality and adjustment. Findings indicate that the relationship between intrinsic religiousness and life satisfaction and between prayer fulfillment and life satisfaction was mediated by optimism and social support. Furthermore, the relationship between religiousness and adjustment varied depending on how religiousness was operationalized and whether positive versus negative adjustment indicators were used. That is, intrinsic religiousness and prayer fulfillment were associated with greater life satisfaction, but extrinsic religiousness was not associated with life satisfaction. These findings were significant even after accounting for covariates (age, gender, ethnicity, social desirability). Results suggest religiousness and spirituality are related but distinct constructs and are associated with adjustment through factors such as social support and optimism.     

Conflict,fear and social identity in Nagaland

This survey study tested the effects of exposure to ethnopolitical conflict and violence and social group identification on psychosocial well‐being among a sample of Nagas (n = 280). Nagaland is located in Northeast India, and for decades has suffered from armed conflict and political instability. It was predicted that reported exposure to conflict would be positively associated with reported levels of fear, which in turn would decrease psychosocial well‐being (assessed with the indices life satisfaction, self‐esteem and general health). It was also expected that strongly identifying with being Naga would be positively related to perceived levels of social support, which in turn were predicted to be positively related to well‐being. Last but not least, it was hypothesized that conflict and fear would also directly and negatively impact on levels of identification with being Naga: increased conflict‐induced fear was expected to reduce the strength of the group identification. These predictions were confirmed by structural equation modelling.     

Optimism and Traumatic Stress: The Importance of Social Support and Coping1

This study examined the effects of optimism following traumatic stress and pathways through which optimism may act. Rescue and recovery workers at the crash site of US Air Flight 427 (n= 159) were studied 2, 6, 9, and 12 months after the crash to examine optimistic outlook, social support, coping, and stress. As predicted, a more optimistic disposition was associated with less self‐reported distress, less use of avoidant and wishful‐thinking coping strategies, greater use of problem‐focused and seeking‐social‐support coping, and greater availability of social support. Contrary to expectations, coping did not account for the relationships observed between optimism and stress responding. Social support explained some of the effects of optimism on coping and stress, but these mediational effects varied over time. Findings suggest that optimism affects stress and coping directly and indirectly by affecting how much social support is available.