Browsing by Subject "Psychology and religion"
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Item A model of trauma with spirituality and religiosity: the mediating and moderating effects of personal growth initiative and openness to experience(Texas Tech University, 2000-08) Caldwell, Jodi KSpirituality and religiosity remain two diversity variables that are little studied in relation to mental health. Researchers and theorists in the area of trauma have proposed conflicting effects of trauma on spirituality and religiosity Although some studies show that spirituality and/or religiosity increase following the experience of a traumatic event, other studies show a decrease. Therefore this study proposed that there are two intervening variables in these relationships: Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) and Openness to Experience (OTE). Personal Growth Initiative is the active seeking out of self-growth experiences Openness to Experience refers to the individual's receptiveness and valuing of diversity of ideas and experiences This study tested whether these intervening variables mediated or moderated the relationship between trauma and spirituality or trauma and religiosity. The following measures were used: The Traumatic Experience Questionnaire (Vrana & Lauterbach, 1994), The Spiritual Experience Index (Genia, 1997), Religious Commitment Inventory (McCullogh. Worthington, Maxey. & Rechal. 1997), the Personal Growth Initiate e Scale (Robitschek, 1998), and the Openness to Experience Scale of the NEO-PI (Costa & McCrae, 1992) Participants were 249 undergraduate students in psychology courses. Results indicated that only two models of moderation were partially supported. For men, when trauma was viewed as a dichotomous variable, the interaction between the presence of trauma and Openness to Experience did appear to explain significant additional variance in Spirituality However, further examination revealed that this was likely an artifact of the low number of men who reported having experienced no traumatic events. For women, the interaction between Total Perceived Trauma and Openness to Experience appeared to explain significant additional variance in Spirituality A median split analysis suggested that the interaction is happening in such a way that in order to obtain a high score on Spirituality, both Openness to Experience as well as Total Perceived Trauma must also be high. Significant gender differences were found in the relationships between some of the variablesItem Is there a belief in God and immortality among eminent psychology scholars?(2007) Pappas, Matthew William, 1969-; Ovando, Martha N., 1954-; Northcutt, NorvellIn 1914, James Leuba surveyed the eminent psychologists of the United States with regard to their belief in God and immortality (Leuba, 1916). In 1933, he replicated the survey (Leuba, 1934). His results affirmed, he stated, "that, in general, the greater the ability of the psychologist as a psychologist [sic], the more difficult it become [sic] for him to believe in the continuation of individual life after bodily death" (1921a, p. 279). He concluded that eminent behavioral scientists were least likely of all scientists to believe, and that psychological learning made belief in an "interventionist God... almost impossible" (1934, p. 294). He further stated, "If knowledge is, as it seems, a cause of the decline of the traditional beliefs, that decline will presumably continue as long as the increase in knowledge" (1934, p. 300). In 1958, Mayer (1959) replicated Leuba's survey. The results of the initial survey and the two replications of the survey were consistent with Leuba's hypotheses. However, no one had replicated that survey of eminent psychology scholars in almost fifty years (from 1958-2006)--until now. The current study replicated Leuba's original survey, as well as collecting additional qualitative data via questionnaires and interviews. The response rate was over 61%. Not one of the respondents expressed a belief in immortality, and only one person expressed a belief in God--and then only with this caveat: "when desperate." As a matter of fact, of all the groups that have been surveyed using this questionnaire during the last 93 years, this is the first time that 0% of the respondents in a group expressed a belief in immortality. Only very few of the respondents indicated they engaged in activities that could be deemed in some way religious, spiritual, or contemplative. Suggested further research would question whether or not substantial nonverbal differences exist between religious people and scientists. Also, although psychology rests on the presumption that the individual human being exists, this study's respondents found defining the individual to be a complex or impossible task.Item Religious commitment and health locus of control as moderators of depression and life satisfaction in individuals who have experienced a traumatic health event(Texas Tech University, 2003-05) Prasad, RaviA plethora of individual and collective research exists in the areas of religion, locus of control, level of impairment, depression, and life satisfaction. Recent studies support the notion that religious commitment and an internal health locus of control orientation are negatively correlated with depression (Chang, Skinner, & Boehmer, 2001; Koenig. George, & Peterson, 1998; Dalgard, Bjork, & Tambs, 1995) and positively correlated with life satisfaction (Sowell et al., 2001; Flannelly & Inouye, 2001; Chan, 2000). Conversely, level of impairment in activities of daily living frequently exhibits a positive association with depression (Stouffer Calderon, 2001; Ramasubbu, Robinson, Flint, Kosier, & Price, 1998) and a negative association with life satisfaction (Germano, Misajon, & Cummins, 2001; Borman & Celiker, 1999). The high frequency of association among these variables suggests that underlying factors may be contributing to the observed results. In an attempt to expose a possible mechanism to explicate these relationships, the present study endeavored to build on the current body of literature by examining if and how these variables interact within a specific medical population. The present study posited that (1) Internal health locus of control (IHLOC) would moderate the relationship between level of impairment (ADL) and depression (CESD), that is, IHLOC and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in depression levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; (2) Religious commitment (RCI) would moderate the relationship between ADL and CESD, that is, RCI and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in depression levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; (3) IHLOC would moderate the relationship between ADL and life satisfaction (SWLS), that is, IHLOC and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in life satisfaction levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects; and (4) RCI would moderate the relationship between ADL and SWLS, that is, RCI and ADL would interact with one another and account for variance in SWLS levels over and above the additive combination of their main effects. Statistical analyses of the hypotheses and ancillary analyses yielded predominately non-significant results. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed, as are directions for future research.