Paths from Spiritual Support to College Self-Efficacy in Southeastern Christian and Southeastern Public University Students

Mollie Dianne Kaye Carter

doi:10.46303/jcsr.2022.2

Abstract

Using a modified portion of Lent’s (2004) normative model of life satisfaction, this study assessed the role spiritual models play in Southeastern Christian university students’ and Southeastern public university students’ traits of spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope, and the associations these traits had with college self-efficacy. Additionally, this study proposed perspective-taking as a moderator of the association between environmental support from spiritual models and spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope, such that college students high in perspective-taking would understand and internalize traits of models rather than only imitating the spiritual practices of the model. Participants (n = 384) in this one-time survey study were recruited from a Southeaster Christian university and a Southeastern public university. Results of the paths show spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope mediated the association between environmental support from spiritual models and college self-efficacy, but perspective-taking did not moderate associations from environmental support from spiritual models to the mediators. These findings supported the modified portion of Lent’s (2004) normative model of life satisfaction which states that environmental support, including support given by spiritual models, enhanced the development of healthy traits such as spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope. In turn, the healthy traits were associated with increased college self-efficacy.

Highlights

Robert Lent’s (2004; Lent et al 2007) normative model of life satisfaction suggests environmental support is bi-directionally associated with positive affect and personality traits, which in turn are associated with increased self-efficacy
Using a modified portion of Lent’s (2004) normative model of life satisfaction, this study assessed the role spiritual models play in Southeastern Christian university students’ and Southeastern public university students’ developing traits of spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope, and the associations these traits had with college self-efficacy
These findings supported the modified portion of Lent’s (2004) normative model of life satisfaction which states that environmental support, including support given by spiritual models, enhanced the development of healthy traits such as spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope

Summary

Introduction

Robert Lent’s (2004; Lent et al 2007) normative model of life satisfaction suggests environmental support is bi-directionally associated with positive affect and personality traits, which in turn are associated with increased self-efficacy. Four malleable spiritual traits that can be learned through the influence of others are spirituality, mindfulness, forgiveness, and hope (Davidson, Feldman, and Margalit 2012; Kiken et al 2015; Luskin, Ginzburg, and Thoresen 2005; Oman et al 2007; Oman et al 2009). Each of these spiritual traits are correlated with forms of self-efficacy (Duffy and Lent 2008; Keye and Pidgeon 2013; Macaskill and Denovan 2013), pointing toward a path from environmental support from spiritual models to the four spiritual traits, which in turn may be associated with college selfefficacy

Methods

Results

Conclusion