The relationships between perfectionism,religious motivation,and mental health utilisation among latter-day saint students

The present study examined the influence of perfectionism and religious motivation on help-seeking and attitudes towards mental health services (ATMHS) in a Latter-Day Saint sample of 119 undergraduates. Increased levels of perfectionism significantly predicted more negative ATMHS. Higher intrinsic religious motivation was significantly and positively related to help-seeking from religious sources, but not from mental health professionals. Intrinsic religious motivation was also related to perfectionism, but only for adaptive subscales. The implications for focusing utilisation interventions towards religious populations are discussed.     

A symbolic interactionist understanding of the selves of former members of New Religious Movements

The current study investigates the construction of self in New Religious Movement (NRM) membership and argues that there is significant variation in the way in which members construct their sense of self. While the majority of the literature suggests that differences in the way in which former members describe and experience NRM membership can be attributed to gender and the nature of the group, analysis of the life histories of 23 former members identified variations in the way in which these participants construct their sense of self as significant to understanding NRM membership. While some participants describe selves that are high in conformity or social connectedness, and depict NRM membership as motivated by a need for guidance and direction, others describe selves that appear high in individuality and personal autonomy and depict membership as motivated by a desire to overcome isolation and develop social connectedness. Even though these two narratives are conceptualised as distinct, they are not viewed as dichotomous but understood as on a continuum. To make sense of the selves of the participants in this study symbolic interactionist understandings of the self as to varying degrees informed by both “self” and “others” are applied.     

Attachment and spiritual coping in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Many studies on spirituality in psychosis have shown that, compared to a nonclinical population, patients make more use of spiritual beliefs/religious practices to deal with their problems. Our research question was to test whether attachment to spiritual figures could be a good explanation for religious coping strategies in patients with psychosis. First, adult attachment was investigated in 28 patients with chronic psychosis and 18 controls, using the Adult Attachment Interview. Diagnostic evaluations were performed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) Axis I disorders and symptomatic evaluation with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results also show a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment in patients, and suggest that a significant part of religious coping might be explained by the theory of attachment (64% of the patients, 78% of controls). The implications of these results are interpreted in light of correspondence and compensation hypotheses.     

Differentiating religious coping from Islamic identification in patient and non-patient Pakistani Muslims

Pakistanis suffering from major medical problems and non-patient controls responded to two factors from the Psychological Measure of Islamic Religiousness that operationalised religious coping. Punishing Allah Reappraisal correlated positively with Poorer Psychological Functioning and External Control and negatively with Self-Adjustment. Factor analytic procedures demonstrated that the Islamic Positive Religious Coping and Identification subscale (IPRCIS) contained three dimensions. These Positive Islamic Coping, Islamic Identification, and Extra-Prayer Commitment factors displayed similar linkages with single-item measures of religious orientation and religious interest. Positive Islamic Coping also had noteworthy implications for understanding Muslim religious coping. These data most importantly demonstrated that the IPRCIS is a multidimensional construct, that Punishing Allah Reappraisal is maladaptive, and that the influences of beneficial Muslim forms of coping may be complex.     

Orthodox Christianity in Italy: historical continuity and social discontinuity

From the historical point of view, the presence of Orthodox churches in Italy is a reality established over several centuries; from the sociological point of view, however, their presence is a new phenomenon. As a result of the significant processes of immigration from Eastern Europe over the last 15 years, their importance within the social and religious contexts has grown considerably, to the point that Orthodoxy is rivalling Islam as the second-largest religion in the country. In this article I aim first of all to provide a historical framework for the relationship between the ‘Western world’, especially Italian, and the ‘Eastern world’ of Orthodoxy. Then I shall briefly analyse two examples of different interactions between Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic context in Italy: the Montaner parish and the monastic community of Bose. Finally I shall present some outcomes from the first research project on the presence of Orthodox churches carried out in Italy during 2011, illustrating the mapping of the spread of the various jurisdictions in the Italian regions, and deepening some elements such as the relationship with the Italian state, the leadership of the various communities and the dynamics of interaction between the Orthodox churches and Catholicism.     

Social Capital,Race, and Personal Fundraising in Evangelical Outreach Ministries

This study examines the relationship between social capital inequality, race, and personal fundraising within evangelical outreach ministries (EOMs). Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data that assess the personal fundraising experiences and outcomes of a large sample of EOM workers (N = 715), I demonstrate that the fundraising challenges and deficits faced by EOM workers are best understood as deficits in the social capital of these individual workers. Multivariate analyses affirm that social capital deficits (that is, having smaller social networks and networks with fewer resources) negatively affect the fundraising experiences and outcomes of EOM workers, especially for racial minorities. Findings also evidence a strong correlation between the paucity of minority EOM workers’ social capital and the extent to which they must seek bridging social capital from white individuals and churches. This study concludes with implications for the financing of American evangelical parachurch organizations, the sustained racial and socioeconomic homogeneity of EOMs, and theories of social capital exchanges within interracial religious organizations.     

The Longevity Effects of Religious and Nonreligious Participation: A Meta‐Analysis and Meta‐Regression

Scholars have long argued that the reduced mortality risk associated with frequent participation in religious services derives from two sources: social participation and religious belief efficacy. In contrast, the reduced mortality risk associated with participation in nonreligious groups is thought to derive solely from the social participation component. This study tests the religious efficacy hypothesis by comparing the effects of religious participation with nonreligious participation using meta‐analyses of 312 mortality risk estimates from 74 publications (providing data on more than 300,000 persons). We found no significant difference between the mean hazard ratio (HR) for low religious participation (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.24–1.41) and the mean HR for low nonreligious participation (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.17–1.33). These findings suggest that the positive health effects of religious participation may largely be attributed to the social participation component, rather than to the religious component of the act.     

A Religious Profile of American Entrepreneurs

The entrepreneur is a celebrated figure in American society. These innovative risk‐takers hold an influential place in the economy and in popular culture. Substantial research has gone into identifying characteristics associated with these individuals, but research on entrepreneurs and religion is surprisingly sparse and inconsistent. Using national survey data, we examine religious affiliation, belief, and behavior for Americans who have started or are trying to start a business. American entrepreneurs appear no different than nonentrepreneurs in religious affiliation, belief in God, or religious service attendance. They do tend to see God as more personal, pray more frequently, and are more likely to attend a place of worship that encourages business activity. A discussion of implications concludes the research note.     

Secular and religious: the intrinsic doubleness of analytical psychology and the hegemony of naturalism in the social sciences

In recent years a number of prominent social theorists, including Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor, have voiced concern about the hegemony of naturalistic, secular assumptions in the social sciences, and in their different ways have sought to address this by establishing greater parity between secular and religious perspectives. This paper suggests that C.G. Jung's analytical psychology, which hitherto has been largely ignored by social theory, may have something to contribute on this issue as it can be understood coherently both empirically, without reference to transcendent reality, and metaphysically, with reference to transcendent reality. It is argued that, despite his denials of any metaphysical intent, Jung does in fact engage in metaphysics and that together the empirical and metaphysical vectors of his thought result in a rich and distinctive double perspective. This dual secular and religious perspective can be seen as part of Jung's own critique of the hegemony of naturalism and secularism, which for Jung has profound social as well as clinical relevance. The concern and approach that Habermas and Taylor share with Jung on this issue may provide some grounds for increased dialogue between analytical psychology and the social sciences.     

Religious Studies Collections and Information Literacy: A Snapshot of a University Library

Academic library collections are maintained to support programs and research at their home institutions. Information literacy, the formal instruction in the use of library resources, has become one of the essential programs in higher education. There is little research that shows how collection development, information literacy, and religious studies programs can be coordinated to produce successful partnerships. The authors, coordinators of Information Literacy and Collection Development, examined the religion collection, including purchase, usage, and circulation statistics. Information literacy courses in relation to the religious studies program were also investigated. After analyzing this data, the authors identified challenges, as they exist at their home institution, which includes a deficiency in both the religion collection and information literacy classes taught for the religious studies program. The authors conclude that much work is needed to advance successful collaborations between libraries and the religious studies departments, and academic librarians will need to examine their own religion collections to address similar challenges.