Religious Problem-Solving Styles and Life Satisfaction: Exploring God, the Will and the Way

AbstractA proliferation of empirical studies over the past few decades has examined the connection between religiosity and health; an extension of this literature has focused on the association between three styles of religious problem-solving —collaborative, self-directing and deferring—and psychological adjustment. Few studies, however, have examined variables that may mediate this association. The present study utilized a cross-sectional design to examine the pathways (means to attain goals) and agency (goal-directed energy and det ermination) components of hope as mediators in the association between religious problem-solving styles and psychosocial adjustment. Students (n = 91) at a midsize Southeastern university completed a demographic questionnaire, the Religious Problem-solving Styles Scale, Adult Hope Scale, and the Life Satisfaction Scale. Mediation analyses revealed that both the collaborative and deferring religious problem-solving styles were positively associated with life satisfaction through agency thinking, but the self-directing religious problem-solving style was negatively associated with life satisfaction through agency thinking. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant indirect effect of any of the religious problem-solving styl es on life satisfaction via pathways thinking. These results suggest that approaching problems within a specific religious framework is associated with psychosocial adjustment, and that each religious problem-s...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research