Search

To examine the interplay among Gratitude to God (GTG) and daily life experiences and affect, we conducted a 14-day diary study in a national US sample of 184 adults. GTG minimally fluctuated across days. People who experienced more daily uplifts had more daily GTG relative to both their own baseline and to others in the study, while those who experienced more daily hassles had less GTG relative to their own baseline. Trait GTG (but not religiousness) buffered these associations. Specifically, trait GTG attenuated the positive association between uplifts and PA as well as the negative association between hassles and NA. However, daily GTG was unrelated to daily affect, effects not moderated by religiousness or trait GTG. GTG may be influenced by daily experiences and may have consequences for well-being, but associations are not straightforward. In some ways, GTG may lead to lower reactivity to both positive and adverse event. [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 who see themselves as having a relationship with God think of this bond in terms of love and safety. Yet some might also see this relationship in energetic terms: as exciting, lively, passionate, or fun. An online survey asked 871 U.S. adults who believed in God to reflect on a recent positive life event. Three measures assessed relational energy or excitement: a slider item, a Likert item, and a set of eight adjectives. Regressions consistently showed that even when controlling for perceived love and safety in the relationship, this energy/excitement dimension predicted more gratitude to God, more divine attributions and gift appraisals for the event, feeling more loved by God, and greater desires to pass on kindness to others. The predictive role of energy/excitement was not reducible to religiousness, God belief, state or trait gratitude, trait gratitude to God, feeling energized, subjective vitality, or social desirability. [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]

Given the prevalence of supernatural beliefs in the United States, some people may believe that God or the devil influenced people to create or receive COVID-19 vaccines. In an Internet sample of 3196 U.S. adults (with many preregistered hypotheses), divine vaccine attributions were more common than demonic attributions. Demonic vaccine attributions were linked with more anti-vaccination attitudes and lower odds of vaccination, whereas divine attributions showed the opposite pattern. Demonic (but not divine) attributions showed consistent positive connections with conspiracy beliefs (including QAnon), anger toward people and organizations seen as pro-vaccine, and seeing one's political opponents as enemies and as evil. Demonic attributions were also linked with more anxiety, depression, and spiritual struggle, and lower agreeableness and social desirability. Both demonic and divine attributions related positively to political conservatism, religious fundamentalism, Christian nationalism, authoritarian aggression, and traditional masculinity beliefs. Demonic (but not divine) attributions were also associated with being younger and having less education. Both demonic and divine vaccine attributions correlated positively with religiousness, belief in God and the devil, and seeing these entities as powerful, able to work through natural events, and intervening often in the world. Demonic and divine attributions also related positively to belief in heaven and hell, seeing many people as destined for hell, seeing life as a cosmic battle between good and evil, and apocalyptic or "end times" beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Struggle with ultimate meaning reflects concerns about whether one’s life has a deeper meaning or purpose. We examined whether this construct could be distinguished from presence of meaning in life and search for meaning. In two US samples – a web-based sample (N = 1047) and an undergraduate sample (N = 3978) – confirmatory factor analyses showed that struggle with ultimate meaning loaded on a factor that was distinct from but related to presence (negatively) and search (positively). Moderated regression analyses showed that people with low levels of presence combined with high levels of search for meaning were particularly likely to struggle with ultimate meaning. Additionally, when compared to presence and search, struggle with ultimate meaning related more strongly to depressive symptoms than presence or search. These results suggest that struggle with ultimate meaning represents a distinct component of how people grapple with meaning that has implications for mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and Aims: Internet pornography use is an increasingly common, yet controversial, behavior. Whereas mental health communities are divided about potentially problematic use patterns, many lay people identify as feeling dysregulated or compulsive in their use. Prior work has labeled this tendency perceived addiction to internet pornography (PA). This study's aims were to (1) assess the association between PA at baseline and other factors, including actual levels of average daily pornography use and personality factors and (2) assess the associations between baseline variables and PA 1 year later. Design: Two large‐scale community samples were assessed using online survey methods, with subsets of each sample being recruited for follow‐up surveys 1 year later. Setting: United States. Participants: Participants were adults who had used pornography within the past 6 months recruited in two samples. Sample 1 (n = 1507) involved undergraduate students from three US universities and sample 2 (n = 782) involved web‐using adults. Subsets of each sample (sample 1, n = 146; sample 2, n = 211) were surveyed again 1 year later. Measurements: At baseline, we assessed average daily pornography use, PA and relevant predictors (e.g. trait neuroticism, trait self‐control, trait entitlement, religiousness, moral disapproval of pornography use). One year later, we assessed PA. Findings: Cross‐sectionally, PA was correlated strongly with moral disapproval of pornography use [sample 1, Pearson's correlation: r = 0.68 (0.65, 0.70); sample 2, r = 0.58 (0.53, 0.63)]. Baseline moral disapproval [sample 1, r = 0.46 (0.33, 0.56); sample 2, r = 0.61 (0.51, 0.69)] and perceived addiction demonstrated relationships with perceived addiction 1 year later. We found inconclusive evidence of a substantial or significant association between pornography use and perceived addiction over time [sample 1, r = 0.13 (−0.02, 0.28); sample 2, r = 0.11 (−0.04, 0.25)]. Conclusions: Perceived addiction to internet pornography appears to be related strongly to moral scruples around pornography use, both concurrently and over time, rather than with the amount of daily pornography use itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior work has shown that religious individuals tend to be critical of Internet pornography (IP). Additionally, people who harbor negative views about their own IP use are more likely to experience psychological distress and religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles. The present research attempted to bring these bodies of research together by examining the relations between engaging with IP (perceived addiction to IP, actual IP use, and moral evaluations of IP), indicators of psychosocial adaptation (self-esteem and state anger), and r/s functioning (religiousness, anger toward God). A study was conducted using a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 1,070) who reported using IP and at least some belief in God. Correlational and network analyses revealed that religiousness was associated with moral disapproval of IP and perceived addiction to IP. Perceived addiction to IP (rather than actual IP use) was related to lower self-esteem, more anger, and more anger directed toward God. This study provides a partial psychological and r/s profile of college students varying in the degree to which they perceive themselves as addicted to IP. Potential clinical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, several works have reported on perceived addiction to internet pornography, or the potential for some individuals to label their own use of pornography as compulsive or out of control. Such works have consistently found that perceived addiction is related to concerning outcomes such as psychological distress, relational distress, and other addictive behaviors. However, very little work has specifically examined whether or not perceived addiction is actually related to increased use of pornography, cross-sectionally or over time. The present work sought to address this deficit in the literature. Using two longitudinal samples (Sample 1, Baseline N = 3988; Sample 2, Baseline N = 1047), a variety of factors (e.g., male gender, lower religiousness, and lower self-control) were found to predict any use of pornography. Among those that acknowledged use (Sample 1, Baseline N = 1352; Sample 2, Baseline N = 793), perceived addiction to pornography consistently predicted greater average daily use of pornography. At subsequent longitudinal follow-ups (Sample 1, Baseline N = 265; Sample 2, One Month Later, N = 410, One Year Later, N = 360), only male gender and baseline average pornography use consistently predicted future use. These findings suggest that perceived addiction to pornography is associated with concurrent use of pornography, but does not appear to predict use over time, suggesting that perceived addiction may not always be an accurate indicator of behavior or addiction., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)