Towards a Psychological Understanding of Servanthood: An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Orthodox Beliefs, Experiential Avoidance, and Self-Sacrificial Behaviors among Christians at a Religiously-Affiliated University

Abstract

The authors utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the relationship between orthodox Christian beliefs, experiential avoidance, and self-sacrificial Christian behaviors among adults at a religiously-affiliated university. Results revealed that lower experiential avoidance was linked to more orthodox Christian beliefs, which, in turn, was related to more self-sacrificial Christian behaviors, similar to the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) model that emphasizes accepting the inner world in order to adopt and live out a set of well-defined values in the outer world. Therefore, the authors proposed ACT-based interventions designed to help Christians cultivate an attitude of acceptance when relating to difficult private encounters, which may help followers of Christ to more fully believe in and implement his teachings. Further research is needed to generalize and replicate these preliminary results.