Abstract
A growing number of researchers are testing potential problematic forms of religiousness that denote anxieties regarding sacred matters. However, only a few studies have assessed how religious/spiritual struggle is associated with positive outcomes. Because people’s coping responses to stressors are key determinants of their well-being, we expected that different coping strategies could be potential mediators between religious problems/tensions and life satisfaction. The research was conducted on a group of 744 Roman Catholics. We used the Religious Comfort and Strain Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) questionnaire. The outcomes show that religious comfort correlated positively with life satisfaction, while fear/guilt, negative emotions toward God, and negative social interactions surrounding religion correlated negatively with life satisfaction. Our research amplifies the understanding of the religious/spiritual struggles and life satisfaction relationship, mediated by “secular” coping strategies. It confirms that both religious and secular methods of experiencing different strains seem to coexist with multiple other strategies in the context of broadly understood life satisfaction.
Highlights
Religion is an integral part of the lives of many people worldwide (Zhang et al 2018) and has beneficial effects on their personal adaptation (Zarzycka and Zietek 2019)
The outcomes show that religious comfort correlated positively with life satisfaction, while fear/guilt, negative emotions toward God, and negative social interactions surrounding religion correlated negatively with life satisfaction
A few studies have assessed how religious/spiritual struggles are connected to positive dimensions of human life (Zarzycka and Puchalska-Wasyl 2019)
Summary
Religion is an integral part of the lives of many people worldwide (Zhang et al 2018) and has beneficial effects on their personal adaptation (Zarzycka and Zietek 2019). Religion helps individuals cope with stressors (Koenig 2009), maintain a sense of control (Sasaki and Kim 2011), regain psychological balance after experiencing stress (Zinnbauer and Pargament 1998), find meaning in life (Pargament 1997), deal with a serious disease (Cassibba et al 2014), and preserve social interactions (Páez et al 2018). Research in this regard shows that the efficiency of religion or spirituality is bound to the degree to which it is combined with the person’s existence (Pargament 2002). R/S struggles often appear to stem from stressful life events (Trevino et al 2019), which are typically associated with higher levels of depression (Ellison et al 2013; Vandecreek et al 2004; Vasegh et al 2012), anxiety (Abu-Raiya et al.2015), alcohol problems (Stauner et al 2019), post-traumatic stress disorder (Evans et al 2018), suicidal
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