Religiosity and US adolescents’ well-being: The moderating role of trait reactance

A large body of evidence has connected religiosity and spirituality to well-being, especially during the crucial adolescent years. This study examines whether trait reactance, a personality predisposition to resist external influences and threats to one's freedom, moderates the links between re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Authors: Russell, Cristel Antonia (Author) ; Alderman, Jillian (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2022
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B USA / Teenagers (14-17 Jahre) / Reactance (Psychology) / Religiosity / Spirituality / Self-worth appreciation / Mental health
RelBib Classification:AE Psychology of religion
AG Religious life; material religion
KBQ North America
Further subjects:B trait reactance
B Well-being
B Self-esteem
B Adolescents
B Religiosity
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Summary:A large body of evidence has connected religiosity and spirituality to well-being, especially during the crucial adolescent years. This study examines whether trait reactance, a personality predisposition to resist external influences and threats to one's freedom, moderates the links between religiosity/spirituality, self-esteem, and well-being over the course of adolescence. We test these interactive effects with survey data from a nationally representative sample of children aged 13–17 (N = 419). Our results indicate that religiosity/spirituality is generally related to higher levels of self-esteem and that self-esteem positively relates to happiness. However, the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and self-esteem changes as a function of both age and trait reactance. Among young adolescents (14 years of age), lower reactance and lower religiosity/spirituality are associated with lower self-esteem, and among older adolescents (17 years of age), higher reactance and higher religiosity/spirituality are associated with the highest levels of self-esteem.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12789