The Implicit Image of God: God as Reality and Psychological Well-Being

Research has widely demonstrated that religiosity is related to psychological well-being even in situations of severe illness. To assess religious beliefs, explicit measures have generally been used. In this study, we measured the belief that God is reality as opposed to myth or abstraction by using...

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Authors: Testoni, Ines (Author) ; Visisntin, Emilio Paolo (Author) ; Capozza, Dora 1941- (Author) ; Carluzzi, Maria Concetta (Author) ; Shams, Malihe (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2016]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2016, Volume: 55, Issue: 1, Pages: 174-184
Further subjects:B coping responses to stress
B automatic religious beliefs
B cancer patients
B anxiety symptoms
B controlled religious beliefs
B Single Category Implicit Association Test
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Summary:Research has widely demonstrated that religiosity is related to psychological well-being even in situations of severe illness. To assess religious beliefs, explicit measures have generally been used. In this study, we measured the belief that God is reality as opposed to myth or abstraction by using an implicit technique (the Single Category Implicit Association Test). The study was carried out in Italy, where a large majority of the population is Catholic, and the prevailing image of God is that of a compassionate and supportive father. Participants were cancer patients identifying themselves as believers. As expected, the automatic belief that God is reality (vs. abstraction) was related to beneficial outcomes: lower reported psychophysical anxiety symptoms and a weaker use of avoidance strategies to cope with stress. Thus, also, automatic religious beliefs may affect feelings and behaviors.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12252