Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Religious and Psychological Implications of Positive and Negative Religious Coping in Iran

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the religious and psychological implications of religious coping in Iran. University students (N = 224) responded to the Brief Positive and Negative Religious Coping Scales along with measures of Religious Orientation, Integrative Self-Knowledge, Self-Control, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Self-Esteem, Guilt, Shame, and Self-Criticism. As in previous research elsewhere, Positive Religious Coping was stronger on average than Negative Religious Coping, and Positive and Negative Religious Coping predicted adjustment and maladjustment, respectively, In addition, this study demonstrated that direct relationships between Positive and Negative Religious Coping appeared to be reliable in Iran; that Positive Religious Copings was broadly compatible with, and Negative Religious Coping was largely irrelevant to, Iranian religious motivations; and that Negative Religious Coping obscured linkages of Positive Religious Coping with religious and psychological adjustment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abu-Raiya, H., & Hill, P. C. (2014). Appraising the state of measurement of Islamic religiousness. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(1), 22–32. doi:10.1037/a0035082.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abu-Raiya, H., & Pargament, K. I. (2015). Religious coping among diverse religions: Commonalities and divergences. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 7(1), 24–33. doi:10.1037/a0037652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abu-Raiya, H., Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2011). Examining coping methods with stressful interpersonal events experienced by Muslims living in the United States following the 9/11 attacks. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3(1), 1–14. doi:10.1037/a0020034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abu-Raiya, H., Pargament, K. I., Mahoney, A., & Stein, C. (2008). A psychological measure of Islamic religiousness: Development and evidence for reliability and validity. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 18(4), 291–315. doi:10.1080/10508610802229270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ai, A. L., Peterson, C., & Huang, B. (2003). The effect of religious-spiritual coping on positive attitudes of adult Muslim refugees from Kosovo and Bosnia. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 13(1), 29–47. doi:10.1207/S15327582IJPR1301_04.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, T. M., Krägeloh, C. U., & Henning, M. A. (2014). Religious coping, stress, and quality of life of Muslim university students in New Zealand. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 17, 327–338. doi:10.1080/13674676.2013.804044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Mousavi, A., Watson, P. J., & Chen, Z. (2011a). Integrative self-knowledge and the harmony of purpose model in Iranian autoimmune patients. Electronic Journal of Applied Psychology, 7(2), 1–8. doi:10.7790/ejap.v7i2.226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Chen, Z., & Norballa, F. (2012). Self-compassion in Iranian Muslims: Relationships with integrative self-knowledge, mental health, and religious orientation. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 22, 106–118. doi:10.1080/10508619.2011.638601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Farhadi, M., & Chen, Z. (2014). A multi-process model of self-regulation: Influences of mindfulness, integrative self-knowledge, and self-control in Iran. International Journal of Psychology, 49, 115–122. doi:10.1002/ijop.12033.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., & Hargis, M. B. (2008). Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale: Correlations and incremental validity of a cross-cultural measure developed in Iran and the United States. Journal of Psychology, 142, 395–412. doi:10.3200/JRPL.142.4.395-412.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., & Khan, Z. (2007). Theoretical, empirical, and potential ideological dimensions of using Western conceptualizations to measure Muslim religious commitments. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 2, 113–131. doi:10.1080/15564900701613041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Omidbeiki, M., & Chen, Z. J. (in press). Muslim attachments to God and the “perfect man” (ensān-e kāmel): Relationships with religious orientations and psychological adjustment in Iran. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Rezazadeh, Z., & Cunningham, C. J. L. (2011b). Dialogical validity of religious measures in Iran: Relationships with integrative self-knowledge and self-control of the “perfect man” (ensān-e kāmel). Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 33, 93–113. doi:10.1163/157361211X552209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Salimian, M., & Chen, Z. (2013). Shame and guilt: Relationships of test of self-conscious affect measures with psychological adjustment and gender differences in Iran. Interpesona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 7(1), 97–109. doi:10.5964/ijpr.v7i1.118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., & Weathington, B. L. (2009). Mindfulness in Iran and the United States: Cross-cultural structural complexity and parallel relationships with psychological adjustment. Current Psychology, 28, 211–224. doi:10.1007/s12144-009-9060-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Zarehi, J., & Shamohammadi, K. (2010). Muslim extrinsic cultural religious orientation and identity: Relationships with social and personal adjustment in Iran. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 31, 15–28. doi:10.1080/13617671003666670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorsuch, R. L., & McPherson, S. E. (1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E-revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28, 348–354. doi:10.2307/1386745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafizi, S., Koenig, H. G., Arbabi, M., Pakrah, M., & Saghazadeh, A. (2014). Attitudes of Muslim physicians and nurses toward religious issues. Journal of Religion and Health, 53, 1374–1381. doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9730-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hood, R. W, Jr, Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (1996). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamble, S. V., Watson, P. J., Marigoudar, S., & Chen, Z. (2014). Attitude toward Hinduism, religious orientations, and psychological adjustment in India. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 17, 161–172. doi:10.1080/13674676.2013.773967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Z. H., Sultana, S., & Watson, P. J. (2009). Pakistani Muslims dealing with cancer: Relationships with religious coping, religious orientation, and psychological distress. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 20, 217–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Z. H., & Watson, P. J. (2006). Construction of the Pakistani religious coping practices scale: Correlations with religious coping, religious orientation, and reactions to stress among Muslim university students. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 101–112. doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr1602_2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Z. H., Watson, P. J., & Chen, Z. (2011). Differentiating religious coping from Islamic identification in patient and non-patient Pakistani Muslims. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14, 1049–1062. doi:10.1080/13674676.2010.550040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, Z. H., Watson, P. J., & Chen, Z. J. (2016). Muslim spirituality, religious coping, and reactions to terrorism among Pakistani university students. Manuscript under review.

  • Khanjari, S., Oskouie, F., & Langius-Eklöf, A. (2012). Psychometric testing of the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer scale in an Iranian sample of family caregivers to newly diagnosed breast cancer women. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 573–584. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03850.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miner, M., Ghobary, B., Dowson, M., & Proctor, M. (2014). Spiritual attachment in Islam and Christianity: Similarities and differences. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 17, 79–93. doi:10.1080/13674676.2012.749452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neff, K. D. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223–250. doi:10.1080/15298860309027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., & Abu-Raiya, H. (2007). A decade of research on the psychology of religion and coping: Things we assumed and lessons we learned. Psyke & Logos, 28, 742–766.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Feuille, M., & Burdzy, D. (2011). The Brief RCOPE: Current psychometric status of a short measure of religious coping. Religions, 2, 51–76. doi:10.3390/rel2010051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajabi, M., Saremi, A. A., & Bayazi, M. H. (2012). Ertebate beyne olgohai mogabeleh dini ba salamat ravan va shadkami [The relationship between religious coping patterns, mental health and happiness]. Ravanshenasi Tahavoli, 8, 362–372. (in Persian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohani, C., Khanjari, S., Abedi, H., Oskouie, F., & Langius-Eklöf, A. (2010). Health index, sense of coherence scale, brief religious coping scale and spiritual perspective scale: Psychometric properties. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66, 2796–2806.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–322. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J., & Dearing, R. (2002). Shame and guilt. New York: Guilford Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tekke, M., Watson, P. J., Kayadibi. S., & Chen, Z. J. (2016). Amanah and Muslim identity: Relationships with religious and psychological adjustment in Malaysia. Manuscript under review.

  • Tekke, M., Watson, P. J., İsmail, N. A., & Chen, Z. J. (2015). Muslim Religious Openness and ilm: Relationships with Islamic religious reflection, religious schema, and religious commitments in Malaysia. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 37, 295–320. doi:10.1163/15736121-12341313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R., & Zuroff, D. C. (2004). The levels of self-criticism scale: Comparative self-criticism and internalized self-criticism. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 419–430. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00106-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. J., Chen, Z., & Ghorbani, N. (2014). Extrinsic cultural religious orientation: Analysis of an Iranian measure in university students in the United States. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 35, 61–78. doi:10.1080/13617672.2014.884849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P. J., Ghorbani, N., Vartanian, M., & Chen, Z. (2015). Religious openness hypothesis: II. Religious reflection and orientations, mystical experience, and psychological openness of Christians in Iran. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 34, 114–124.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Nima Ghorbani & Sahar Tahbaz

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, #2803, 350 Holt Hall – 615 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, TN, 37403, USA

    P. J. Watson

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Zhuo Job Chen

Authors
  1. Nima Ghorbani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. J. Watson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sahar Tahbaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhuo Job Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. J. Watson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ghorbani, N., Watson, P.J., Tahbaz, S. et al. Religious and Psychological Implications of Positive and Negative Religious Coping in Iran. J Relig Health 56, 477–492 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0228-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0228-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation