Beliefs About the Nature of God and Mental Health

Abstract

The chapter reviews the results of several studies of convenience samples of students in the U.S. and U.K. and two large national studies of American adults that examined the association between beliefs about God and mental health. These studies indicate that belief in a benevolent God has a salubrious association with mental health, whereas belief in a malevolent God has a pernicious association with mental health. Based on ETAS Theory, the salubrious effects are interpreted to mean that belief in a benevolent God and the sense of safety that this belief provides increases the threshold of what constitutes a threat, thereby lowering anxiety and related psychiatric symptoms. Belief in a malevolent God, on the other hand, acts to lower the threshold of what constitutes a threat because God not only fails to provide protection from harm, but poses a direct threat of harm. Results related to belief in God and self-esteem are also presented and discussed in light of ETAS Theory. The chapter explains that self-esteem and self-efficacy reduce anxiety because belief in oneself and one’s ability to address difficult situations and threats reduce the perception of the danger they pose. The chapter challenges the premise of Terror Management Theory that self-esteem evolved in humans as a buffer against fear of death, arguing instead, that both self-esteem and self-efficacy evolved long before our ancestors became aware or their own mortality. Finally, the chapter demonstrates that anxiety mediates the relationship between positive and negative beliefs about God and positive emotions (specifically, happiness).