Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being
Religious and spiritual struggles (R/S struggles)—tension or conflicts regarding religious or spiritual matters—have been robustly linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being. Most research in this area has relied on samples consisting predominantly of participa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/8/242 |
| _version_ | 1818303791026405376 |
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| author | Aaron E. Sedlar Nick Stauner Kenneth I. Pargament Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs David F. Bradley |
| author_facet | Aaron E. Sedlar Nick Stauner Kenneth I. Pargament Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs David F. Bradley |
| author_sort | Aaron E. Sedlar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Religious and spiritual struggles (R/S struggles)—tension or conflicts regarding religious or spiritual matters—have been robustly linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being. Most research in this area has relied on samples consisting predominantly of participants who believe in god(s). Limited research has examined R/S struggles among atheists, generally conflating them with agnostics and other nontheists. This study investigated the prevalence of R/S struggles among atheists and compared atheists to theists in two samples (3978 undergraduates, 1048 Internet workers). Results of a multilevel model showed that atheists experience less demonic, doubt, divine, moral, and overall R/S struggles than theists, but similar levels of interpersonal and ultimate meaning struggles. Correlation and regression analyses among atheists demonstrated links between moral, ultimate meaning, and overall R/S struggles and greater distress (depression and anxiety symptoms) as well as lower well-being (life satisfaction and meaning in life). Even after controlling neuroticism, ultimate meaning struggles continued to predict lower well-being and higher distress across samples; moral struggles also predicted distress independently. This study demonstrates the relevance of R/S struggles to atheists and reinforces the applicability of previous results to atheist samples, but also highlights substantial differences between atheists and theists in certain R/S struggles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:00:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c60318f0d1694d8eb4ab286ead812a7d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-c60318f0d1694d8eb4ab286ead812a7d2022-12-21T23:57:22ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442018-08-019824210.3390/rel9080242rel9080242Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-BeingAaron E. Sedlar0Nick Stauner1Kenneth I. Pargament2Julie J. Exline3Joshua B. Grubbs4David F. Bradley5Psychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAPsychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAPsychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USAReligious and spiritual struggles (R/S struggles)—tension or conflicts regarding religious or spiritual matters—have been robustly linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being. Most research in this area has relied on samples consisting predominantly of participants who believe in god(s). Limited research has examined R/S struggles among atheists, generally conflating them with agnostics and other nontheists. This study investigated the prevalence of R/S struggles among atheists and compared atheists to theists in two samples (3978 undergraduates, 1048 Internet workers). Results of a multilevel model showed that atheists experience less demonic, doubt, divine, moral, and overall R/S struggles than theists, but similar levels of interpersonal and ultimate meaning struggles. Correlation and regression analyses among atheists demonstrated links between moral, ultimate meaning, and overall R/S struggles and greater distress (depression and anxiety symptoms) as well as lower well-being (life satisfaction and meaning in life). Even after controlling neuroticism, ultimate meaning struggles continued to predict lower well-being and higher distress across samples; moral struggles also predicted distress independently. This study demonstrates the relevance of R/S struggles to atheists and reinforces the applicability of previous results to atheist samples, but also highlights substantial differences between atheists and theists in certain R/S struggles.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/8/242atheismreligionspiritualitydepressionanxietyspiritual struggles |
| spellingShingle | Aaron E. Sedlar Nick Stauner Kenneth I. Pargament Julie J. Exline Joshua B. Grubbs David F. Bradley Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being Religions atheism religion spirituality depression anxiety spiritual struggles |
| title | Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being |
| title_full | Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being |
| title_fullStr | Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being |
| title_short | Spiritual Struggles among Atheists: Links to Psychological Distress and Well-Being |
| title_sort | spiritual struggles among atheists links to psychological distress and well being |
| topic | atheism religion spirituality depression anxiety spiritual struggles |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/8/242 |
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