Religious Coping Style, Concept of God, and Personal Religious Variables in Threat, Loss, and Challenge Situations

Abstract

This study explored the important mediating role of personal religious variables and God concept in the use of religious coping in threat, loss, and challenge situations. One hundred and twenty‐nine undergraduates completed questionnaires which included a God concept adjective checklist (Schaefer and Gorsuch 1992), a stressor scenario (Bjorck and Cohen 1993), and a measure of religious coping adapted from the BAV model (Gorsuch 1988). Results suggest that personal variables such as God concept and perception of others' beliefs played important mediating roles in religious coping in stressor situations. The relationship between coping style and stressor scenario was not entirely state‐dependent, but influenced by personal variables. Strong relationships existed among God concept, the importance individuals placed on their religious and spiritual lives, and participation in religious activities.