The Association Between Strength of Religious Faith ... - Springer Link

Pastoral Psychology, Vol. 48, No. 5, 2000

The Association Between Strength of Religious Faith and Psychological Functioning Thomas G. Plante,1,2,4 Scott Yancey,1 Allen Sherman,3 and Mira Guertin1

Recently researchers have begun examining the benefit of religious faith on mental and physical health outcomes. This study examined the relationship between religious faith and psychological functioning in 342 university students in diverse educational and geographic settings including a private West Coast Catholic college (sample 1), a Southern public state university (sample 2), and a Southern private Baptist college (sample 3). Participants completed several self-report measures. Strength of religious faith was significantly associated with optimism and experiencing meaning in life among sample 1. Results from sample 2 suggest that strength of religious faith was significantly associated with coping with stress, optimism, experiencing meaning in life, viewing life as a positive challenge, and low anxiety. Strength of religious faith was significantly associated with viewing life as a positive challenge and self-acceptance among sample 3. Although modest correlations surfaced, results suggest that strength of religious faith is associated with several important positive mental health benefits among college students.

INTRODUCTION Religious faith is very important to most Americans, with approximately 95% of Americans reporting belief in God and about 50% being active in church organizations (Gallup & Castelli, 1989). Despite the widespread prevalence of religious beliefs in society, researchers have maintained that religion and religious beliefs are often neglected in psychological research (Jones, 1994; Plante, 1

Psychology Department, Santa Clara University. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine. 3 Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Arkansas Medical School. 4 Address correspondence to Thomas G. Plante, Psychology Department, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053-0333. Electronic mail address: [email protected].

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405 © 2000 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

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Plante, Yancey, Sherman, and Guertin

1996). However, a growing body of research has begun to recognize the influences of religion and religious faith on human behavior and psychological functioning (Jones, 1994). More specifically, recent research has examined the relationship between religious faith and positive physical and mental health benefits. Positive contributions to overall mental and physical health have been attributed to religious devotion (e.g., Donahue & Benson, 1995; Ellison, 1991; Larson et al., 1992). For example, Ellison (1991) found that individuals with strong religious faith reported higher self-esteem, greater personal happiness, and fewer negative consequences from traumatic life experiences. Ross (1990) found lower levels of psychological distress among people maintaining strong religious beliefs, while Swensen, Fuller, and Clements (1993) found that terminally ill cancer patients at more mature stages of religious faith reported higher overall quality of life. Previous research using the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) has found that those with stronger degrees of religious faith tend to be significantly less interpersonally sensitive, exhibit a greater belief in personal control, and maintain higher self-esteem than those lower in faith (Plante & Boccaccini, 1997a). With increasing empirical evidence supporting a positive relationship between religion and mental and physical health, the authors and their associates initiated several recent studies that examined the relationship between strength of religious faith and psychological functioning measured by the SCSORF. In one study, strength of religious faith was positively correlated with a positive outlook on life and optimism, while negatively correlated with anxiety and depression among OBGYN and bone marrow treatment cancer patients (Sherman et al., in press). In another study, strength of religious faith was positively correlated with optimism, desire to nurture others, and viewing life as a positive challenge, while negatively correlated with anxiety among recovering addicts (Pardini, Plante, & Sherman, under review). The present study examined the relationship between several key indices of mental health and strength of religious faith among three diverse college student samples using the same instruments that the Sherman et al. and the Pardini et al. studies used in the clinical samples mentioned above. METHOD Participants Sample 1 consisted of 199 undergraduate students from a West Coast private Catholic university (40 males, 159 females, M= 18.75 years, SD = 221). Within this sample, 51% reported being Catholic, 22% reported other, 15% reported having no religious affiliation, 10% reported being Protestant, and less than 1% reported being either Jewish or Muslim. Sample 2 consisted of 91 undergraduate students from a Southern public university (29 males, 62 females,

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Faith and Psychological Functioning

M = 18.80 years, SD= 1.28). Within this sample, 35% reported being Protestant, 10% reported being Catholic, 4% reported having no religious affiliation, 2% reported being Jewish, and 52% reported being other (in this sample, many subjects who listed "other" wrote in Baptist). Sample 3 consisted of 52 undergraduate students from a Southern private Baptist university (10 males, 42 females, M = 20.02 years, SD = 3.55). Within this sample, 77% reported being Protestant, 17% reported other, and 4% reported having no religious affiliation. All of the subjects in the experiment were enrolled in a General Psychology course. Measures Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF; Plante & Boccaccini, 1997a; 1997b). The SCSORF Questionnaire is a 10-item measure scored on a 4-point scale assessing strength of religious faith regardless of denomination (e.g., "I pray daily"). Research has found coefficient alphas between .94 and .95 and split-half reliability between .90 and .96. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated that high scores on the SCSORF were significantly correlated with intrinsic religiousness on the Age Universal Religious Orientation Scale (ATJROS; Gorsuch & Venable, 1983), and with external and internal religious dimensions on the Religious Life Inventory (RLI; Batson & Ventis, 1982). In a more recent study by Plante, Yancey, Sherman, Guertin, & Pardini (in press) pearson correlation coefficients indicated that high scores on the SCSORF were significantly correlated with "overall religious involvement" on the Duke Religious Index (DRI; Koenig, 1997) and with "religious motivation" on the Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale (IRMS; Hoge, 1972). Purpose in Life Scale (PIL; Crumbaugh & Maholick, 1964). The PIL is a 20-item measure of perceived purpose or meaning in life, where each response is scored on a 7-point scale (e.g., "My personal existence is..."; 1 = utterly meaningless and without purpose to 7 = very purposeful and meaningful). Studies with community, medical, and psychiatric samples have demonstrated high internal consistency (Spearman-Brown = .90 to .92), and evidence of construct and concurrent validity (Crumbaugh & Maholock, 1964; Crumbaugh, 1968; Crumbaugh, Raphael, & Shrader, 1970; Thomas & Weiner, 1974). Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985). The LOT contains 8 items plus 4 filler-items designed to assess dispositional optimism and pessimism and the tendency to expect positive or negative outcomes across situations (e.g., "Things never work out the way I want them to"). Items are rated on a 5-point scale. The instrument has demonstrated adequate reliability (Cronbach alpha = .76) and convergent and discriminant validity in samples of college students (Scheier & Carver, 1985), and predictive validity in samples of breast cancer (Schultz, Bookwala, Knapp, Scheier, & Williamson, 1996; Carver et al., 1993) and cardiac patients (Scheier et al., 1989).

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Hardiness Scale (short form) (HS; Bartone, Ursano, Wright, & Ingraham, 1989). The HS is a 30-item questionnaire designed to measure dispositional resilience to stress based on a 4-point scale (e.g. "By working hard you can always achieve your goals"). It includes three subscales: commitment, control, and challenge. Studies have reported adequate internal consistency (Chronbach alpha = .83 for the total score, .56 to .82 for each of the subscales), and construct and predictive validity (Bartone et al., 1989) in a military sample. Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC; Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). The MC is a 20-item, true-false measure of social desirability, or tendency to present oneself in a favorable light (e.g., "I have never intensely disliked anyone"). It has demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson 20 = .73 to .87) and construct validity in diverse samples (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960; Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972). Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (short-form; TMAS; Bendig, 1954). The shortform of the TMAS is a 20-item, true-false measure of trait anxiety (e.g., "I work under a great deal of tension"). This is a widely used instrument with established internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson 21 = .75) and validity (Bendig, 1954). Self-Righteousness Scale (SRS; Falbo & Belk, 1985). This 7-item scale measures self-righteousness, the conviction that one's belief and behaviors are correct relative to those of others (e.g., "People who disagree with me are wrong"). It yields a total score and two subscales: self-righteousness and acceptance. The instrument has demonstrated modest internal consistency (Chronbach alpha = .60 and .58, respectively), and initial evidence of construct and concurrent validity (Falbo & Belk, 1985). Author-Designed Questions. Additional questions included a series of 10point scale questions measuring strength of religious faith, perceived stress, and perceived coping. Procedure Subjects agreed to participate in the study in order to receive research participation credit for their General Psychology course. Questionnaires were administered in group sessions. At each session, subjects were informed of the purpose of the study and were assured of confidentiality. After signing a consent form and agreeing to participate, subjects completed the series of questionnaires. RESULTS Means and standard deviations for strength of religious faith and psychological functioning variables are presented in Table 1 by the 3 groups. Pearson correlations between strength of religious faith and study variables are provided in Table 2. A series of ANOVAs were performed and revealed significant differences between the 3 samples in SCSORF scores [F(2, 342) = 40.80, p < .01],


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Table 1. Means and Standard Deviations for Study Variables by Sample

n = 199 West Coast Private Measure SCSORF (strength of faith) Total PIL (meaning in life) LOT (optimism) MC (social desirability) SRS (self-righteousness) TMA (anxiety) HS (hardiness) Challenge Acceptance Author Designed: Coping

n=91 Southern Public

n=52 Southern Private

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

26.57 108.90 20.16 9.81 16.33 7.58

8.72 12.92 3.83 3.27 2.20 4.53

33.07 109.74 19.73 9.84 15.68 7.49

6.74 16.16 3.67 3.66 2.44 4.75

36.00 110.35 20.78 10.18 15.45 6.58

5.98* 11.36 3.38 3.96 2.03* 3.87

25.08 7.78 6.47

3.11 1.87 1.99

25.8 8.40 6.65

3.66 2.21 2.08

24.58 9.24 6.54

2.52 2.11* 1.89*

*p .05) and the SRS self-righteousness scale (r = —.02, p > .05). For the Southern public university sample, high scores on the SCSORF reliably were found to correlate positively with the PIL meaning in life scale


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(r = .26, p < .05), the LOT optimism scale (r = .23, p < .05), the life as a positive challenge subtest from the Hardiness Scale (r = .19, p < .05), and the authordesigned degree of coping question (i.e. "How well does your religious faith help you in coping with stress?"; r = .28, p < .01). High scores on the SCSORF were found to correlate negatively with the TMAS anxiety scale (r = —.24, p < .05). No correlation was found with the MC social desirability scale (r = —.09, p > .05) and the SRS self-righteousness scale (r = —.14, p > .05). For the Southern private Baptist university sample, pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the SCSORF and various measures of mental health. High scores on the SCSORF were reliably found to correlate positively with the life as a positive challenge subtest from the Hardiness Scale (r = .26, p < .05) and the personal acceptance scale (r = .37, p < .05), while no correlation was found with the MC social desirability scale (r = -.06, p > .05) and the SRS self-righteousness scale (r = —.04, p > .05). A two-tailed t-test for independent groups was conducted for each sample in order to examine gender differences. No significant differences were found in any of the samples. DISCUSSION Consistent with recent research, our results suggest that strength of religious faith was associated with positive psychological functioning. However, these benefits differed for the three college student samples surveyed. Specifically, strength of faith was associated with meaning in life and optimism among the West Coast private and the Southern public samples but not the Southern private college sample. Strength of faith was associated with experiencing life as a positive challenge among the two Southern college samples but not among the West Coast college sample. Faith was associated with positive coping and low anxiety among the Southern public college students but not among the other two samples. Furthermore, social desirability and self-righteousness were not associated with strength of faith among any of the three college samples. Although mixed results emerged, findings suggest that strength of faith is associated with several important mental health benefits that vary among the college samples. Although all of the participants in the study were young college students they differed in terms of geographic location, religious background, and type of college institution. For example, the Southern university students were generally from Baptist or other Protestant backgrounds while the West Coast sample were generally from Roman Catholic backgrounds. Overall, more positive associations between faith and psychological functioning (as well as the strength of the associations) were found among the Southern college students than the West Coast students. Furthermore, the Southern samples scored significantly higher on strength of faith than the West Coast sample. Results from this study are somewhat


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consistent with research conducted using the same questionnaires among clinical samples (i.e., cancer patients and addicts in recovery; Sherman et al., in press; Pardini et al., under review). Specifically, in all of these investigations, strength of faith was associated with optimism and low anxiety. Contrary to many public perceptions, a high degree of religious faith was unrelated to self-righteousness and social desirability in all three samples. Thus, those who were stronger in religious faith were not more likely to be self-righteousness or try to present themselves in a favorable light. Results from the current study must be viewed cautiously due to several important factors. First, results were not consistent across all samples. Second, significant correlations were modest ranging form .13 to .37 accounting for 14% of the variance at most. Third, only college students were used in the current study and thus generalizability to other groups is limited. Despite these limitations in the current study, its results provide further support for the potential positive psychological functioning benefits of religious faith.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was funded by a research grant awarded to the first author from the Bannan Institute for Jesuit Education and Christian Values, Santa Clara University. The authors wish to thank A. Sandra Willis and Dustin Pardini for their assistance in data collection.

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