Running Head: RELIGIOSITY and STRESS

Religiosity In Coping 4

Running head: RELIGIOSITY AND STRESS

Religiosity In Coping With Stress

Kelly Carrier

North Carolina State University

Abstract

Previous research has left the question ongoing as to the effect that religiosity has on stress. While some studies (i.e. Frankel & Hewitt, 1994) have suggested that religiosity aides individuals in stressful situations by interpreting the circumstance as less stressful, other research does not validate this finding. For this reason, this study was conducted in order to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between religiosity and stress. Religiosity was measured to determine if individuals scoring high in this area experience lower perceived stress, as expected. Students enrolled in an introductory psychology class responded to surveys regarding their perceived stress level, daily spiritual experiences, and emotional support received from their church. A correlation was found between emotional support and religiosity. However, no significant findings were found regarding the relationship between religiosity and stress. This indicates that religiosity does not appear to influence stress in this population.

Religiosity In Coping With Stress

Stress has been revealed to have negative effects on cognitive and emotional functioning, as well as health and various other important facets of life. As a result, many individuals may experience detrimental consequences when experiencing stress over long periods of time if they do not cope effectively with stressful situations. Religion may possibly have a beneficial influence in regard to coping with stress and may impact the way in which individuals interpret and perceive stress (Frankel & Hewitt, 1994). One such influence is caused by the wider network of social support with peers often offered by religious organizations that the individual may not develop otherwise. Many different aspects of everyday life affect stress; thus, it is important to gain an understanding of the factors that influence how stress is perceived.

Current research has revealed findings on both sides of the argument regarding the link between religiosity and stress. For example, in a study conducted by Graham, Furr, Flowers, and Burke (2001), surveys were given to counseling students measuring their degree of religiosity, spirituality, and stress. This study found that students who reported being religious as well as spiritual were more adaptive in coping with stress and as a result, a “greater immunity to stressful situations.” On the other hand, a study led by O’Connor, Cobb, and O’Connor (2002) did not support the hypothesis that religiosity lessens perceived stress levels or has positive effects on mental well-being or health. One must consider that there may be other variables interacting with religiosity and stress that may influence the outcome, such as personality constructs, as research by Fabricatore, Handal, and Fenzel (2000) has indicated. This study found a significant interaction between stress and religiosity, in addition to satisfaction with life and affective well-being.

For the purposes of this study, the degree of religiosity will be measured in comparison to the amount of perceived stress reported. It is expected that a higher degree of religiosity will be related to lower levels of perceived stress. Because individuals who report a high level of religiosity may be expected to interpret and perceive their stress levels as being less intense than those who report a low level of religiosity. Three Pearson correlations will be used to analyze the collected data. The relationship between religiosity and emotional support received from church will also be examined, in addition to emotional support and level of perceived stress.

METHOD

Participants. The participants included in this experiment consisted of two sessions of 15 students currently enrolled in a general introductory psychology class at North Carolina State University. No restrictions were set for the purpose of the study regarding who was allowed to sign up. Volunteers chose to sign up to participate in this experiment based on a list of available experiments as one mean to fulfill a requirement for their psychology class. In order to maintain the integrity of the study, no information revealing the nature of the hypothesis were provided to prevent individuals from forming preconceived notions as to what was being measured and to maintain that a random sample was obtained.

Apparatus. Volunteers completed a 10 item Perceived Stress Scale developed by Cohen and Mermelstein (1983) measuring their level of perceived stress. This scale included such items as “In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and ‘stressed’?” and “In this last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?” Participants then completed a modified Daily Experiences Scale, a 17 question survey including one question pertaining to the frequency the individual attends church that originated from an Organizational Religiousness questionnaire (Idler, 1999). Individuals indicated the degree they experienced spiritual experiences, such as “I feel God’s presence” and “In general, how close do you feel to God?” Finally, students related their relationships with others in their church by describing these relationships on a scale of 1 to 4 in reference to frequency of certain behaviors, such as “How often do the people in your congregation make you feel loved and cared for?” and “”How often do the people in your congregation express interest and concern in your well-being?” Three additional questions measured the extent on a Likert scale that others would be willing to help them in a difficult situation.

Procedure. Students were provided with two informed consent forms to read and sign upon arrival, one of which they kept for their records. After this was completed, the participants were presented with three surveys: a Perceived Stress Scale, a Daily Spiritual Experiences scale, and an Emotional Support Scale measuring emotional support from their church, respectively. Participants were given approximately 25 minutes to complete the surveys and were asked to remain until everyone had finished, at which point the participants were debriefed verbally and in a written format as to the purpose of this study. The length of the study was 30 minutes in duration, after which students were given one class credit for having completed the study.

Level of stress were compared between groups reporting a high level of religiosity and those that report a low level of religiosity as measured by responses on the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale. In addition, the relationship between stress and emotional support from members of one’s church were examined, as well as the relationship between level of religiosity and emotional support received from one’s church.

RESULTS

The relationship between levels of perceived stress, religiosity, and emotional support was analyzed by comparing the means of these categories utilizing three Pearson correlation coefficient measures. No statistical significance was indicated in the relationship between the level of religiosity and perceived stress, with an obtained r of -0.0490 when using a one tailed test with a level of significance of .05, as indicated in table 1. Appendix A1 designates the relationship between levels of perceived stress and religiosity. The amount of variability in perceived stress attributed to changes in religiosity and vice versa was found to be .002404.

Table 1. Obtained Values of Perceived Stress, Spiritual Experiences, Support, and Age.

*Note: p < .05, one tailed with n = 27.

Although no significant difference was noted in regard to the relationship between level of emotional support and level of perceived stress or age and level of stress, it was found that there was a correlation between support and spiritual experiences where r = .349 at a level of significance of .05 for a one tailed test.

DISCUSSION

This study did not support the hypothesis that individuals who are higher in religiosity appraise stressful situations as being less stressful than individuals who are lower in religiosity. This is in accord with prior research findings by O’Connor et al (2002), while conflicting with other studies such as those led by Frankel & Hewitt (1994), Graham et al (2001), and Case & McMinn (2001). This finding would suggest that religiosity has no effect regarding perceived stress.

In this study, there were several outliers on the perceived stress scale and daily spiritual experiences scale with either very high scores or very low scores, which may have influenced the interpretation of the data. A restriction of range was noted in this sample in that the majority of participants were 18-19 year old male college students. This may not provide a complete spectrum of how the general public might respond to the questionnaires and may not represent the general population. In addition, altering the Daily Spiritual Experiences questionnaire by adding a question regarding how many times the individual attended religious services may have affected the reliability of the scale.

Because the relationship between religiosity and perceived stress is not clearly understood and findings are somewhat new, more research should be conducted in order to determine if there is a correlation and to gain a better understanding of the relationship.

References

Case, P.W. & McMinn, M.R. (2001). Spiritual coping and well-functioning among psychologists. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 29(1), 29-40.

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385-396

Fabricatore, A.N, Handal, P.J, & Fenzel, M.L. (2000). Personal spirituality as a moderator of the relationship between stressors and subjective well-being. Journal of Psychology & Theology, 28(3), 221-229.

Frankel, B.G. & Hewitt, W.E. (1994). Religion and well-being among Canadian university students: The role of faith groups on campus. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. (33)1, 62-73.

Gillard, M., & Paton, D. (1999). Disaster stress following a hurricane: The role of religious differences in the Fijian Islands. The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, 3(2), NP.

Graham, S., Furr, S., Flowers, C. & Burke, M.T. (2001). Religion and spirituality in coping with stress. Counseling & Values, 46(1), 2-14.

Idler, E. (1999). Organizational Religiousness. Retrieved October 23, 2003 from http://www.fetzer.org/resources/resources_multidimens.htm. 75-79.

Krause, N. D. (1999). Religious Support. Retrieved October 23, 2003 from http://www.fetzer.org/resources/resources_multidimens.htm. 57-63.

O’Connor, D.B., Cobb, J., & O’Connor, R.C. (2002) Religiosity, stress and psychological distress: No evidence for an association among undergraduate students. Elsevier Science, 34(2), 211-217.

Underwood, L. G. (1999). Daily Spiritual Experiences. Retrieved October 23, 2003 from http://www.fetzer.org/resources/resources_multidimens.htm. 11-17.

Appendix A

Figure 1. Correlation of Perceived Stress and Spiritual Experiences.

Figure 2. Correlation of Perceived Stress and Support.

Figure 3. Correlation of Spiritual Experiences and Support.

Appendix B

Perceived Stress Scale

The questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, you will be asked to indicate by circling how often you felt or thought a certain way.

0 = Never 1 = Almost Never 2 = Sometimes 3 = Fairly Often 4 = Very Often

In the last month, how often have you been upset
because of something that happened unexpectedly? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable
to control the important things in your life? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed”?

0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability
to handle your personal problems? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt that things
were going your way? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope
with all the things that you had to do? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you been able
to control irritations in your life? 0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?

0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you been angered
because of things that were outside of your control?

0 1 2 3 4

In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties
were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?

0 1 2 3 4

Age ______Gender (Circle): M F

Appendix C

DAILY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

You may experience the following in your daily life. If so, how often?

1. I feel God’s presence.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I experience a connection to all of life.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. During worship, or at other times when connecting with God, I feel joy which lifts me out of my daily concerns.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I find strength in my religion or spirituality.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I find comfort in my religion or spirituality.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I feel deep inner peace or harmony.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I ask for God’s help in the midst of daily activities.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I feel guided by God in the midst of daily activities.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day

3 – Most days

4 – Some days

5 – Once in a while

6 – Never or almost never

1. I feel God’s love for me, directly.

1 – Many times a day

2 – Every day