Religious Crisis as an Independent Causal Predictor of Psychological Distress: Understanding the Unique Role of the Numinous for Intrapsychic Functioning

Religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles are tensions or conflicts one experiences in relationship to what is considered sacred or transcendent. In this study, we tested competing causal models of psychological distress as it relates to personality and R/S struggle using structural equation modeling. The study sample consisted of 226 (72.0%) females and 88 (28.0%) males (n = 314) drawn from the Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) worker population. We found that though the five-factor model (FFM) of personality was a robust predictor of psychological distress, the R/S struggle added significant, incremental predictiveness. SEM analyses supported our contention that R/S struggle may represent a new, causal pathway of psychological distress that is independent from the FFM. Our findings are taken as evidence that R/S struggles require unique ways of conceptualizing their causal impact on clinical impairment and that psychological interventions need to systematically address numinous constructs in order to ensure that all aspects of emotional dysphoria are considered and their influences treated

Cross-Cultural Generalizability of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale in India - Spirituality as a Universal Aspect of Human Experience

Spirituality can be perceived as a universal human experience, as evidenced by recent advances in theobiology and neurotheology. Our aspiration to find meaning within our own mortality is fundamental to human strivings. Spirituality has been found to comprise a unique factor to explain human behavior above and beyond the heritable features that comprise personality. However, little research has been conducted validating spiritual transcendence across diverse religious and cultural groups. The Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) along with additional attitude and personality measures were administered in an Indian sample of Hindus, Christians, and Muslims. Results showed structural validity of the STS and predictive validity independent of personality factors, consistent with U.S. samples. Gender differences between the three religious indicated that religiousness and spirituality are not isomorphic constructs. These results provided support for use of the STS in diverse samples and evidence of the universality of spiritual experience

Spiritual Transcendence and Psychological Time Perspective Drive Religious Non-Affiliation More than the Big 5 Personality Domains

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of psychological time perspective and spiritual transcendence as predictors of one’s belief status (e.g., religious believer vs. non-believer). The underlying assumption was that individual differences in engaging with broad existential issues would determine whether or not religious belief would be of value. Using a sample of 373 believers and 316 non-believers (411 women and 293 mean, mean age = 35.49), information on spiritual transcendence, Big Five Personality dimensions, and psychological time perspective was collected and the correlational and underlying structural relationships were evaluated. The results indicated that belief status was related to levels of spiritual transcendence (particularly Prayer Fulfillment), time perspective (particularly Present Fatalistic), and both measures of existential orientation, but not personality. SEM analyses indicated that time perspective was the root cause of both subjects’ numinous orientations, which in turn impacted belief status. The theoretical implications of these findings were discussed

Spiritual Transcendence and Psychological Time Perspective Drive Religious Non-Affiliation More than the Big 5 Personality Domains

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of psychological time perspective and spiritual transcendence as predictors of one’s belief status (e.g., religious believer vs. non-believer). The underlying assumption was that individual differences in engaging with broad existential issues would determine whether or not religious belief would be of value. Using a sample of 373 believers and 316 non-believers (411 women and 293 mean, mean age = 35.49), information on spiritual transcendence, Big Five Personality dimensions, and psychological time perspective was collected and the correlational and underlying structural relationships were evaluated. The results indicated that belief status was related to levels of spiritual transcendence (particularly Prayer Fulfillment), time perspective (particularly Present Fatalistic), and both measures of existential orientation, but not personality. SEM analyses indicated that time perspective was the root cause of both subjects’ numinous orientations, which in turn impacted belief status. The theoretical implications of these findings were discussed

Spiritual Crisis as a Unique Causal Predictor of Emotional and Characterological Impairment in Atheists and Agnostics: Numinous Motivations as Universal Psychological Qualities

While there is a tremendous literature documenting the positive value of religious and spiritual (R/S) constructs on an array of psychosocial outcomes (e.g., health, resilience, coping ability), Spiritual Crisis (SC) reflects the negative side of the numinous in a way that stresses the value and importance of R/S constructs for psychological functioning. This study examined whether numinous constructs are more relevant to theists or represent universal psychological qualities. Using an MTurk-based sample comprising both theists and atheists (N = 1399; 800 women and 595 men, four gave no response), the predictive ability of SC on both affective and characterological distress was examined using both regression and SEM analyses. The results indicated that both theists and atheists understood the numinous in similar ways and that scores on SC were of equal incremental predictiveness for both groups. SEM analyses supported the causal model that understood SC to be a unique and independent (from the personality domains of the Five-Factor Model) predictor of these clinical outcomes. These findings stress the value of the numinous for understanding all clients and that psychological assessment needs to systematically address numinous constructs in order to ensure comprehensive treatment of psychological impairment

Original article Sense of coherence: big five correlates, spirituality, and incremental validity

Background Antonovsky (1987) developed the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale to measure the “life orientation” that promotes an individual’s ability to recognize life stressors and then effectively utilize coping resources to adjust and maintain health. Although theoretically appealing, little empirical work has been conducted to isolate the qualities of the scale that facilitate health. Participants and procedure The present study examined the factor structure of the SOC scale, as well as its incremental validity over measures of personality, spirituality, and psychological meaning in the prediction of psychosocial outcomes (e.g., hope death anxiety, life satisfaction, well-being, social support, world view). Participants consisted of 298 adults living in the United States; 98 men and 195 women (5 individuals did not disclose their gender) ages 18 to 72 (mean: 36.77 years). Results Principal components analysis indicated that a single factor best represented the structure of the 13-item SOC scale, although this one factor explained only 31% of the total variance. The scale contained a diverse item content that was challenging to interpret personologically. The SOC scale added little explanatory variance over and above the selected covariates in the prediction of psychosocial outcomes. Conclusions It appears that the SOC scale represents one aspect of a larger dimension that already has other valid indicators