Search Results (654)

Religious doubt (RD) and emotions toward God (EtGs) are areas of religiosity and spirituality that can play a role in the development and well-being of youth. The aim of this study is to investigate whether RD and EtGs are related to self-esteem and meaning in life in adolescents and what factors may be associated with them in a secular setting. A sample of Czech adolescents (n = 984, mean age 16.61, SD 1.21; 28% male) participated in the online survey. We measured RD, EtGs, meaning in life (ML) divided into presence (ML-P) and seeking (ML-S), adolescents’ self-esteem (ASE), faith in the adolescent environment, the perception of religion and church, and religious education (RE). RD and negative EtGs were associated with reduced ML-P. Negative EtGs were associated with a reduction in ASE. However, positive EtGs were associated with an increase in ML-P. Respondents experiencing faith in their environment, having a positive view of church and religion, and enriching RE were more likely to report a decrease in RD and an increase in positive EtGs and vice versa. Our findings suggest that RD and EtGs are related to adolescents’ well-being and point to factors to be adequately addressed to minimize the negative impact of RD and promote positive EtGs. Full article

In Ancien Régime Spain, ecclesiastical wealth consisted of not only land, but also the rental income raised from tenancies of which the Church was proprietor. Therefore, the suppression of monasteries and convents in Spain cannot be studied only in terms of the transfer of their principal estates. The incoming Liberal State appropriated the Church’s rents for its own use, although many had fallen into abeyance before the suppressions began. To assess the true impact of ecclesiastical confiscation, it is necessary to consider how far developments in religious sensibility, whether or not associated with new conceptions of property, before and after the liberal revolution, may have affected the treatment of these rents. In this article, I aim to examine the geographical distribution of the different property rights of the regular clergy in Spain under the Ancien Régime and to observe the role of the Liberal State in their evolution and in the fate of monastery and convent buildings. We will see, in all cases, the significant roles of the payers and receivers of different types of rents. Thus, territories with the same legal regime and similar institutions passed through the process in very different ways. Full article

Background: Demographic changes are often prone to purely social perspectives, while individual differences are overlooked. This research examines the role of attachment and emotional intelligence in childbearing motivation. Methods: In total, 234 female students participated in an online survey, including sociodemographic data, adult attachment, emotional competencies, and parenting-related variables. Results: Statistical analyses revealed that the students express positive and negative childbearing motivation almost equally and moderately. They were both linked to religiosity and emotional management. We further explore the differences in relationship status and address the role of religious beliefs. The demographic measures identified as most important include healthcare availability for both mother and child, subsidizing housing loans or rent, and encouraging fathers to become more actively involved in the care of infants. Conclusion: These emerging trends deserve further investigation and social incentives. Full article

The background and motivation of the research presented in this article is the obligation of Public Theology to do justice to young Muslim refugees as a minority group in German society regarding the role of religiosity in the way they are coping with life. In the research process, the authors became increasingly aware that most instruments to measure religiosity have a Western and/or Protestant bias in that they are more interested in religious attitude than in religious practice and/or religious lifestyle, which is very important for Muslim religiosity. Therefore, this article focuses on the distinction between halal and haram as indicators of religious practice according to Muslim benchmarks. Both the concept and the operationalization of a two-dimensional instrument of living a halal life are described. The instrument distinguishes between the individual importance of halal goods (food, medicine, cosmetics) and services (doctors) and their availability in the local environment. Each of the two dimensions comprises four items. Construct validity is shown by confirmatory factor analysis (CFI_robust = 0.934, TLI_robust = 0.902, RMSEA_robust = 0.114 [0.073; 0.156]) of a sample of N = 155 Muslim adolescents who have fled to Germany from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. External validity is tested by analyzing the correlation of the measurement instrument developed by the authors with the Centrality of Religiosity Scale. The presented halal instrument offers an approach to Muslim lifestyle that meets the orthopractic character of this religion. At the same time, it addresses the consequential dimension of religion within quantitative research. Full article

Using semi-structured, qualitative interviews of 25 heterosexual Muslim women residing in the US, the author examines the extent to which respondents simultaneously constructed and deconstructed the gender dichotomy when explaining sexuality, countering reductionist accounts of Muslim women’s sexuality. Integrating concepts of religiosity and gender norms, respondents reconfigured the dominant discourse of power and sexuality in innovative ways. One of the main themes that emerged from this research is that male sex drive discourse, typically associated with power and “machismo” within the traditional sexual script, was reimagined by Muslim women as an indicator of women’s greater strength in the eyes of God. Full article

The main thesis presented in this article rejects the identification of the “death of God” idea with atheism. Atheism is a metaphysical claim stating that the signifier God has no signified. By contrast, the “death of God” notion conveys a moment of crisis in believers’ lives where the God that had been present in their lives is dead. The “death of God” idea led, on the one hand, to the negation of God’s relevance in human life, as presented by Nietzsche, and, on the other, to its perception as a constitutive moment for religion itself due to God’s presence in the believer’s inner life, as outlined by Kierkegaard, Simone Weil, and others. Both approaches agree on the crucial role of religiosity, whether or not it has a transcendent object. This analysis challenges the dichotomy claiming that, on the one hand, believers cannot accept the idea of the death of God and, on the other hand, those who endorse the death of God negate the idea of religiosity. Full article

Nietzsche is the world’s most (in)famous atheist, bearer of the monumental tiding of the Death of God. His works contain biting critiques of Christianity and, to a lesser degree, of Judaism as well. Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica [=RMY] (1800–1854) was a leading Hasidic master in 19th century Poland. Despite their seemingly incongruent world views and backgrounds, bringing the German philosopher and the Polish Rebbe into conversation bears significant fruit. The significance of my study is two-fold. First, based upon similar philosophical moves by both Nietzsche and RMY, I aim to establish a philosophical foundation upon which to create a secular religious space which, beyond the local discussion around Nietzsche and RMY themselves, is of vital importance in a world continuously divided along inter-religious and secular-religious grounds. In addition, I will sharpen what we mean when we discuss the “religiosity” of Nietzsche and how this religiosity may confront nihilism. I believe that Nietzsche’s orienting insight that God is dead can serve as an inspiration to create a phenomenologically religious “space” devoid of metaphysical and transcendental assertions and that there is a Hasidic master willing to meet him there. The quest of RMY was to reveal a Torah bereft of “Levushim”, that is to say, bereft of the familiar Jewish and kabbalistic mythical trappings. When the traditional Christian and Jewish myths which refer to a transcendent reality are discarded, the search for meaning is relocated onto the immanent stage of human (“All too Human”) phenomenology. Full article

Gratitude is a pivotal concept in the psychology of religion because it is one of the most frequently experienced emotions toward God. The authors developed a trait measure of Gratitude to God (GTG-T) and investigated the association between Gratitude to God and psychological and spiritual well-being in four studies. Study 1 provided evidence for the validity of the GTG-T as Gratitude to God was associated with overall well-being and predicted increases in spiritual well-being over time. Study 2 used a prospective design to show that Gratitude to God predicted increases in general gratitude. In a third study, results showed that Gratitude to God predicted increased grateful emotion and increased confidence in the existence of God over time. In Studies 2 and 3, mediation analyses supported the model that Gratitude to God enhances well-being by promoting generalized gratitude. Study 4 provided further valid evidence for the GTG-T and also showed that gratitude to God is much more strongly related to one’s heartfelt conception of God as loving than to their doctrinal conception of a loving God. Gratitude to God deserves additional scientific scrutiny in the psychology of religion and spirituality than it has received to date. Full article

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to understand the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and refusal in Indonesia using the Social–Ecological Model (SEM). (2) Methods: Data on demographics, religiosity, family dynamics, and perceptions of public health efforts were collected through an online survey and compared to the rates of vaccine hesitancy and refusal. (3) Results: Income and sex were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy. Based on a vaccine passport policy to enter public spaces, people who felt inhibited to enter public spaces or perceived privacy threats were twice as likely to exhibit vaccine hesitancy. Participants who believed that religious groups had a difficult time getting vaccinated were nearly twice as likely to exhibit vaccine hesitancy and three times more likely to exhibit vaccine refusal. However, participants who believed in a higher religious power were 58% less likely to exhibit vaccine hesitancy. Religious leaders significantly influenced participants to make the decision regarding vaccination. Individuals with vaccine refusal were more than twice as likely to share information with others without fact-checking. Notably, structural barriers such as distance and transportation were most strongly associated with vaccine hesitancy and refusal. (4) Conclusion: Cultural factors play a significant role in vaccine hesitancy and refusal. The SEM can be used to propose multi-level interventions with collaboration and communication among stakeholders to improve community health. Full article

Drawing on life-story interviews and ethnography conducted in Israel from 2009 to 2023, this article examines how members of the Spanish-speaking Moroccan–Jewish diaspora in Israel recalled their habits of eating non-kosher food in Morocco. We explore how these memories emerged in response to commonplace discourses that depict Moroccan Jews as a distinctly religious-traditional ethnic group, untouched by European secular influences, and dichotomous to modern secular cultures in Israel. Contrary to this image, members of the community whom we interviewed highlighted a Jewish Moroccan life that was deeply connected to Spanish colonialism and the broader Hispanic and Sephardi worlds. We focus specifically on the concept of selkear, a Haketia (Judeo-Spanish) term meaning to let something go, make an exception, or turn a blind eye. Our analysis of our participants’ memories provides a nuanced understanding of Jewish religiosity in the context of colonialism and of how Mizrahi–Sephardi immigrants in Israel reclaimed their Judaism. Highlighting the practice of eating non-kosher food is thus a strategy used to challenge dominant notions of rigid religious commitment within the Sephardi diaspora and their interpretation in Israel. Full article

Introduction: Members of consecrated life communities exhibit homogeneity with regard to factors that are relevant to health, including diet, daily activities, religiosity, and housing. This may be indicative of the manner in which the community influences the formation of the health-seeking attitudes of its members. Purpose of the study: The objective of this study was to validate a survey about health awareness and health-seeking attitudes among consecrated people and to identify potential issues to be improved. In addition, the study aspires to provide insights into the lifestyles of consecrated persons in Poland, based on the results of the survey and available data. Materials and Methods: The study group included 27 female participants, members of societies of apostolic life and non-habitual apostolic religious congregations of the Roman Catholic Church. The participants were invited to express their comments and suggestions on the survey, with the purpose of validating the survey before using it as a tool for a larger study. Results: All participants agreed that nutrition, rest, and physical activity had a significant impact on health. A total of 89% of participants considered their lifestyle as healthy and a similar proportion indicated that living in a consecrated community had a positive impact on their health, with the most positive influence of factors related to spiritual exercise, rhythm of the day, and sense of interpersonal connection within the community. Approximately 44% of participants indicated that their attitude was based on a healthy diet and adequate sleep quality. However, they identified an existing need to improve the balance between work and rest. Additionally, 4% of respondents admitted irregular eating habits, ignoring quality of alimentary products, non-satisfactory rest time, and insufficient sleep. Conclusions: Even though the purpose of this study was only to validate a survey predestined for a larger study, it already gives an insight into the level of awareness of health behavior and lifestyle of residents of religious communities. Full article

The ritual of marriage serves as a nexus for various dimensions of social and personal life, including sexuality, gender, religiosity, family, and parenthood. This pivotal event is laden with a multitude of expectations, hopes, and fears for all involved parties. The psychological energies converge not only within the spouses or participants but extend to encompass the entire cultural community. Simultaneously, it represents a ritualistic identification, where individuals, through the ritual, become what they are, establishing an identity. This article aims to provide a Lacanian interpretation of the marriage ritual, informed by the interpretation popularized by the Ljubljana school of psychoanalysis. Lacan’s framework allows for the conceptualization of identification as a socially mediated process, revealing the psyche as extending beyond the individual into intersubjective structures. This approach might help to clarify the inner logic of the ritual, allowing for a better understanding of the role of medialization. It will be shown, that under these lenses wedding photography and other forms of medialization do not only preserve memories of the event afterward but are already playing an active and even constitutive role during the event. Full article

(1) Background: Forgiveness is one way to deal with negative experiences. The protective–protective model and the resource-caravan model assume that positive resources come together and support coping. In this study, we tested the association of religiosity, decisional and emotional forgiveness, and the indirect associations running through self-compassion. In addition, negative experiences in childhood were considered as a moderator of the indirect model of associations. (2) Methods: The sample consisted of 309 participants. The measures included the Religious Meaning System Questionnaire, the Decisional Forgiveness Scale, the Emotional Forgiveness Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. SEM and PROCESS models were applied to test the moderated mediation model. (3) Results: The results partially supported our moderated mediation model. Self-warmth mediated the associations between religiosity and decisional forgiveness and between religiosity and emotional forgiveness—presence of positive emotions. Self-coldness mediated the relationship between religiosity and emotional forgiveness. The relationship between religiosity and forgiveness was fully mediated by self-compassion when ACEs were low. (4) Conclusions: Both religiosity and self-compassion are assets for forgiveness, and their influence is more pronounced in individuals with more negative childhood experiences. Full article

In the present business environment, the strategic challenge of increasing performance along multiple dimensions simultaneously—e.g., financial, social, and personal—has never been greater. Thus, the purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of how firms can successfully pursue diverse performance goals simultaneously. To that end, specifically, this study’s objectives are to not only explore whether entrepreneurs are more successful than their corporate manager peers in that pursuit but also to explore how being an entrepreneur and being spiritual provide possible paths to being successful in such a pursuit. We draw upon a recent survey of 168 medium-sized venture entrepreneurs and their corporate executive peers in the US to better understand how such integration of roles and goals can be managed. Results indicate that being an entrepreneur and being spiritual lead to greater synergies among the performance outcomes, with some exceptions. The holistic nature underlying the findings has implications for policy (e.g., resource allocation) and for practice in that all firms should be seeking ways to find synergies not only between pairs of outcomes (e.g., profits and CSR) but among networks of outcomes (and at different levels of impact). Full article

This paper studies the auto/biographies of high-caste middle-class Punjabi Khatri men, and those of cognate castes like Arora and Baniya, written in the first half of the twentieth century: men who were born in the second half of the nineteenth century or early twentieth century. While the discourse on caste under the colonial regime exploded, there was also an embarrassment about caste, or re-thinking its place in society among the upper-caste groups who invested in ideas of progress, improvement and scientism. It is argued that caste was referenced in the memoirs, life stories and self-reflexive writing when these men spoke of their familial backgrounds and admired the deep religiosity and devotionalism of their fathers even though some paternal practices were incongruent with the reformism of the sons. Caste is also in play when one traces the advantages of literacy, education, professional accomplishments, mobility, and reformist activities of men who came to have an important presence in public life. A number of these men had similar life trajectories, indicative of how some aspects of colonial educational and administrative structures could be utilized by them. Full article