Investigation of Positive and Negative conception of God and its Relation with Pathological and Non-Pathological Guilt Feeling

Abstract

Type of God conception plays an important role in mental health of individuals. While pathological guilt feeling seems to correlate with the types of God conception, but non-pathological guilt feeling has no correlation with it. This research is conducted in order to evaluate positive and negative conceptions of God and its relation with pathological, non-pathological guilt feeling and mental health among university students. Samples of the research consist of 100 students (50 males and 50 females) which were selected according to cluster sampling. Instruments used are: 1.RSI (Religious Status Inventory), 2.Guilt Questionnaire, 3.GHQ (General Health Questionnaire). Results show There is a negative correlation between pathological guilt feeling and positive conception of God. Results also indicate that positive conception of God has positive correlation with non- pathological guilt feeling. There is no significant gender difference in non-pathological feeling of guilt and there is a significant gender difference in positive conception of God. Mental health has positive correlation with positive conception of God and negative correlation with pathological guilt feeling. In sum, negative conception of God has correlation with pathological guilt and both factors have key role in mental health.