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Why do people make supernatural attributions (SA) for events? This article focused on five possible predictors: stressfulness, unusual events, religiousness, seeing a supernatural explanation as meaningful, and seeing supernatural entities as powerful. We also predicted that people would be more likely to adopt supernatural explanations seen as highly accessible, motivating, and plausible. We focused primarily on SA in general and secondarily on specific entities. We tested preregistered hypotheses using survey data in two samples of undergraduates: one reporting life‐changing events (N = 594) and another reporting on an event with a supernatural air, or supernaturally perceived events (N = 475). Results supported all proposed predictors except for stressfulness. Path analyses revealed that, in both samples, predictors were linked with seeing supernatural explanations as accessible, plausible, and motivating; these ratings, in turn, had positive associations with SA. These results begin to integrate previous theory and research on individual predictors of SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do supernatural attributions to God and the devil relate to a sense of meaning in life? We investigated this question by conducting a three-week experience sampling study (N = 75), in which we measured daily causal attributions for both positive and negative events and assessed daily meaning (n = 1,425 total daily reports). Correlational and multilevel path analyses revealed several reliable between-person associations. People who made more attributions to God (particularly for positive events) had higher meaning, and people with stronger religious worldviews who made more attributions to the devil/demons (particularly for negative events) had higher meaning. These findings were largely robust when controlling for relevant meaning and religious/spiritual covariates. We did not find evidence for within-person associations; daily changes in attributions and meaning were not related. Consistent and enduring attributions to God and the devil/demons may be particularly meaningful ways of understanding the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What types of attributions and appraisals predict gratitude to God (GTG)? After preregistering key hypotheses, we did an Internet survey of 1078 U.S. adults focused on a recent positive event. Even when controlling religiousness and God belief, GTG was strongly related to divine attributions for the event, which seemed more plausible when God was seen as powerful and loving and when divine attribution made the event seem more meaningful. In addition to these cognitive judgments, divine attributions and GTG were linked with desire: wanting to see God as a cause. Relationally, GTG was associated with seeing God's intentions as positive (trying to help, love, comfort, encourage, or protect), with actually feeling loved, cherished, valued, or appreciated by God in response, and with seeing the event as a divine gift – a perception more likely when people saw God as a gift-giver: giving gifts often to many people, including themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people believe in supernatural entities, which might be personal (deities, devils, ghosts) or impersonal (fate/destiny, karma, luck). Some people see such entities as causing events in the world, including experiences in their own lives. Our study draws on social, motivational, and cognitive frameworks to predict beliefs and experiences involving supernatural entities. We hypothesized that positive predictors of beliefs in specific entities (God, the devil, ghosts/spirits, impersonal forces of fate/destiny, luck and karma) would include being taught about the entities early in life, anticipating positive reactions from peers about one's beliefs, and wanting to believe in such entities. We also proposed that beliefs in specific entities, along with beliefs that such entities can affect the natural world, would predict more perceived experiences with these entities. We preregistered and tested these hypotheses in two samples (Ns = 475 and 290) of undergraduates. Path analytic results were largely consistent across entities. Being taught to believe in a specific entity early in life predicted current desire to believe in the entity but anticipated reactions from peers did not. Current desire to believe, in turn, strongly predicted belief in the entity, belief that the entity can affect the natural world, and perceived experiences with the entity. Belief in supernatural entities strongly predicted perceived experiences with them. These results map the structure of relations between relatively stable predictors of supernatural attributions, with an emphasis on social, cognitive, and motivational factors, and they suggest some plausible pathways by which such beliefs and experiences might develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two national samples in the United States, we aimed to determine the extent to which GTG is distinct from both general gratitude and general religiousness, using statistical methods to determine (1) if GTG shows patterns of association with other variables distinct from general gratitude and religiousness, and (2) whether GTG predicts wellbeing above and beyond both general gratitude and religiousness. Online studies were conducted with 267 (Study 1) and 184 (Study 2) adults. Results across the two studies were consistent in demonstrating that GTG shows associations with relevant constructs that are distinct from both general religiousness and general gratitude. Further, GTG independently predicted aspects of psychological wellbeing, although findings were not consistent across all aspects. These findings indicate GTG is a unique construct warranting future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research relating personality variables to gratitude to God (GTG) is in its nascent stages, as only a few descriptive, correlational studies have been conducted on this topic. We investigated whether two kinds of personality variables—positive emotional traits and adaptive relational styles—predicted higher GTG. Hypotheses linking these variables to GTG were based on a novel, preregistered conceptual framework. We also explored whether general gratitude statistically mediated these links. In a cross-sectional study of N = 698 undergraduates from the United States, participants completed self-report measures of personality predictors, situational GTG and situational general gratitude in response to a positive event, as well as trait GTG. Correlations showed strong support for hypotheses connecting GTG (situational and trait) with positive emotional traits (extraversion, optimism, vitality, self-esteem). Correlations also supported hypotheses for one adaptive relational style (agreeableness) but not others (honesty–humility, lack of entitlement, secure attachment). General gratitude was a mediator of associations between positive emotional traits and both trait and situational GTG, and general gratitude mediated associations between adaptive relational styles and trait GTG. These results provide initial evidence suggesting that positive emotional traits have consistent, direct (and indirect via gratitude) links to GTG, whereas the evidence for adaptive relational styles was more inconsistent and indirectly mediated via general gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When good things happen, what thoughts elicit gratitude to God (GTG)? Building on work highlighting divine attributions and appraisals, we examined whether consciously priming people to think about God would increase subsequent reports of GTG. U.S. adult participants (N = 553) completed an online survey asking them to describe a positive event from the past month. They were then randomly assigned to one of six conditions, five of which brought up beliefs about God or the idea that God might work indirectly through natural events. Contrary to preregistered predictions, there were no statistically significant differences between conditions on an open-ended or a Likert measure of GTG. Yet GTG reports differed dramatically between the open-ended question (only 20% of participants reported GTG) and a Likert item (81% of participants, and 93% of those who believed in God, endorsed some GTG). The most endorsed response on the 5-point Likert scale was 5, indicating that most people reported feeling extremely grateful to God. These results suggest that the methods used to assess GTG could have a major impact on conclusions about GTG prevalence. Yet, regardless of assessment method, and directly replicating earlier finding, several factors emerged as consistent GTG predictors: religiousness, belief in a loving, powerful, and generous God with positive intentions, attributing the positive event to God, feeling loved in response, and framing the event as a gift from God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]