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The Relationship Between Trust-in-God, Positive and Negative Affect, and Hope

Authors:
  • Claremeont Graduate Univesity

Abstract

We aimed to test the relationships between Trust-in-God, positive and negative affect, and feelings of hope. A sample of university students (N = 282, 50 % female) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale, and a Persian measure of Trust-in-God for Muslims. The results of a series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that Trust-in-God was positively associated with participants' scores for hope and positive affect but was negatively associated with their scores for negative affect. The results support the relationship between Trust-in-God and indices of mental health.
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Relationship Between Trust-in-God, Positive
and Negative Affect, and Hope
Javad S. Fadardi
1,2
Zeinab Azadi
1
ÓSpringer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract We aimed to test the relationships between Trust-in-God, positive and negative
affect, and feelings of hope. A sample of university students (N=282, 50 % female)
completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale,
and a Persian measure of Trust-in-God for Muslims. The results of a series of hierarchical
regression analyses indicated that Trust-in-God was positively associated with participants’
scores for hope and positive affect but was negatively associated with their scores for
negative affect. The results support the relationship between Trust-in-God and indices of
mental health.
Keywords Trust-in-God Hope Positive affect Negative affect
Introduction
Human beings are known to be creatures who deliberately set goals and pursue them based
on their beliefs and desires (Knight et al. 2004). Individuals’ reactions to life events do not
depend solely on their age, gender, social culture, religious beliefs, and other factors.
Almost all of what a person does is to achieve a goal, i.e., everything that people want to
achieve, perform, experience, or create (Snyder et al. 2002). Goals may be long-term, and
months or even years may be spent in achieving them, or they may be short-term and
require only a few minutes or seconds. In addition, goals may be abstract and general or
objective and specific. Therefore, from an ideographical viewpoint, people may differ in
&Javad S. Fadardi
j.s.fadardi@um.ac.ir
Zeinab Azadi
Azadi_zeinab@yahoo.com
1
Department of Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2
Bangor University, Bangor, UK
123
J Relig Health
DOI 10.1007/s10943-015-0134-2
their attempts to pursue similar goals such as work, marriage, and self-growth (Klinger and
Cox 2011).
Hope, as a master personality variable, influences the achievement of goals. As Snyder
(2002) elegantly puts it, hope resembles a rainbow or a prism that scatters the light into
various colors, each of which can raise individuals’ spirits under different conditions and
help them accomplish their goals with success and joy. Therefore, in the work of many
positive psychologists, hope is a central concept, and closely related to other concepts such
as creativity, optimism, happiness, courage, and interpersonal skills (Feldman and Snyder
2005), one of the human strengths that can shed light into people’s lives (Peterson 2000).
The two-component model of hope proposed by Snyder et al. (1991) contains (a) an
agency component, which indicates that feelings of success have resulted from being
determined to achieve goals in the past, present, and future; (b) a pathway component,
which refers to the feeling of being able to create plans in order to achieve goals. Goals can
be achieved through a combination of sources and pathways. Therefore, higher levels of
hope in areas related to cognitive–emotional functioning and physical activity could be
related to higher levels of adaptive functioning (Wells 2006). There is much empirical
evidence on the positive role of hope in predicting mental and physical health. For
instance, evidence indicates that hope is inversely related to depression and negative
emotion (Snyder et al. 1991,1996).
According to the theory of hope, goals are an individual’s main source of excitement. A
feeling of positive excitement can result from achieving a goal or from believing that one
will soon be able to do so; in contrast, a negative emotion can result from failing to achieve
a goal or from believing that one is far from achieving it (Snyder et al. 2002). Evidence
based on the motivational model of substance abuse (Cox and Klinger 2011) indicates that
reduced chances of success have reportedly been associated with increases in negative
emotions, which, in turn, have been associated with increases in the possibility of resorting
to substance abuse (Fadardi and Cox 2008).
Watson et al. (1988) developed a measure of affective states called the Positive and
Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). A positive affect (PA) is the state by which one
shows the experience of positive emotions such as enthusiasm, joy, and alertness (Watson
2000). Those who experience high PA usually experience a strong sense of well-being
which is associated with strong interpersonal relationships (Thoresen et al. 2003), feelings
of high energy, full concentration and enjoyable engagement with their environment, and
better health (Freak-Poli et al. 2015). In contrast, people with low PA usually suffer from
sadness and lethargy: They tend to withdraw from their environment, do not try hard
enough to enhance their positive mood and emotion, and do not have a positive view of
themselves. Moreover, high NA indicates a general dimension of internal discomfort and
unpleasant engagement in anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness (Watson
et al. 1988). The two emotional dimensions are associated with broad classes of psycho-
logical factors. NA is experienced along with stress and is correlated with poor coping,
health-related complaints, and experiencing unpleasant events (Mulligan et al. 2014; von
Ka
¨nel et al. 2005). This dimension is an underlying common factor in anxiety and
depression (Payne and Schnapp 2014). Positive affect, by contrast, is related to social
satisfaction, hope, enthusiasm, happiness, and consciousness, and its reduction is the
underlying and specific factor in depressive disorders (Bakhshipour and Dezhkam 2006).
Much attention has been paid in medical and psychological research to the effects of
religion and spirituality on individuals’ mental health (Lucchetti and Lucchetti 2014).
Psychologists, in fact, maintain that religiosity and spirituality play a major role in an
individual’s health (Hill and Pargament 2008). In many studies, the relationships between
J Relig Health
123
spirituality and religiosity, health and quality of life, and the ability to cope with disease
have been studied and interpreted (Bu
¨ssing et al. 2007a; Karademas 2010; Koenig et al.
2001; Lewis and Cruise 2006; McClain et al. 2003; Mclllmurray et al. 2003; Sloan and
Bagiella 2002; Sloan et al. 1999). The majority of the studies concluded that people of faith
are better able to cope with their disorders. Religiosity can also have a positive impact on
people’s relationships with others. In an experimental study, Tan and Vogel (2008) found
that, compared with less religious participants, those who were known to be more religious
were trusted more by their partners in a trust game.
According to the teachings of divine religions, Trust-in-God pertains to matters that are
outside of man’s authority and full control. Trust-in-God accompanies the truster in the
way ahead and assures the person that his/her actions are resourceful (Ghanbari 2010).
Trust-in-God brings the truster inner peace and confidence. One of the outcomes of Trust-
in-God is relying on one’s hope in God’s grace and blessing rather than solely on people.
Within the Islamic context of the present study, we quote two relevant verses from the
Quran: ‘And [Allah] will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever
relies upon Allah then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose.
Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.’ (65, 2–3).
Bu
¨ssing et al. (2009) found that relying on religion and spirituality (e.g., Trust-in-God)
as an internal resource of control was a strong predictor for coping with diseases associated
with chronic pain. Mickley et al. (1992) found that in cancer patients, hopefulness was
positively related to spiritual well-being and Trust-in-God. In patients with chronic pain,
positive religious coping strategies were associated with positive emotion and positive
religious consequences (e.g., developing spirituality, closeness to God, satisfaction from a
religious life) (Bush et al. 1999). In addition, elderly religious people had higher levels of
well-being and hope as well as better results on mental and physical health indices than
non-religious people of the same age (Van Ness and Larson 2002). Ciarrocchi et al. (2008)
reported that having a relationship with God and spiritual commitment were positive
predictors of hope and optimism. In Bu
¨ssing and Mundle’s (2009) study, depressed
patients showed less reliance on God’s help than substance abusers, whereas those with
high levels of reliance on God’s help showed less depression and higher levels of satis-
faction with life.
Although many studies have been conducted on the psychology of religion and spiri-
tuality (Lucchetti and Lucchetti 2014), there is still much to do on the interactive rela-
tionship between religion and science. As the outcomes of a study by Seybold and Hill
(2001) imply, even if there is not much evidence concerning the mechanisms by which
religious beliefs and strategies do good to believers, health researchers and health service
providers should not restrict their understanding of the important roles of religion and
spirituality in mental and physical health. There is still much for mental health practitioners
to do in relation to the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality (e.g.,
closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, and religious
activities) and how they can be related to mental and physical health (Hill and Pargament
2008; Nicdao and Ai 2014).
In Islamic beliefs, Trust-in-God is a belief in God’s will throughout the human lifespan,
and it includes entrusting affairs to Him (Allah). Such reliance is expected to increase
personal activity and mental composure in the truster, and it should also preserve the
person from feelings of hopelessness and negative emotions. A general command is given
to the Prophet Mohammad in the Quran (18, 23–24): ‘And never say of anything, indeed, I
will do that tomorrow, except for [when adding], If Allah wills.’’
J Relig Health
123
To summarize, it is generally believed that thinking and acting in accordance with the
rules of a divine religion are associated with a sense of inner peace, hope, and positive
emotions. Due to the scarcity of research within Islamic cultures on the relationship
between Trust-in-God and believers’ mental health indices, the present study was con-
ducted to test the relationship between Trust-in-God, positive and negative affect, and hope
among a sample of Iranian Muslim students.
Methods
Participants
Participants were selected from among undergraduate male and female students of Fer-
dowsi University of Mashhad living in the university’s campus residence halls. They were
approached randomly by the research assistant, who asked them to complete the study
questionnaires if they wished to take part in the study on a voluntary basis. Finally, 282
students (50 % female) took part in the study. This number met the sample size based on a
Power Analysis (see Table 2).
Table 1 Dimensions and relevant sample verses from the Quran that were used to develop questions for the
Trust-in-God Questionnaire (TGQ)
Dimension Sample verses from Quran Question/s in the TQG
Strength
of belief
‘Put your trust in Allah, and Allah is All-
sufficient as a Disposer of affairs.’’ (33: 3)
‘Those who are steadfast and on their Lord
they rely.’ (16: 42)
‘Excellent the reward of the workers. Who
are patient and on their Lord they rely.’’
(29: 58–59)
‘Thee do we serve, and Thee do we beseech
for help.’ (1: 5)
I do not believe in saying ‘If God is
willing.’
I will say ‘If God Is Willing’’ as soon as I
remember that I have forgotten it prior to
doing something.
Doing,
decision-
making
‘And make provision for yourselves.’ (2:197)
‘And never say of anything, indeed, I will do
that tomorrow, except for [when adding], If
Allah wills.’ (18: 23–24)
‘Allah belong the unseen secrets of the
heavens and the earth, and to Him goes
back every affair for decision: then
worship Him, and put your trust in Him:
your Lord is not unmindful of what you
do.’ (11: 123)
When I am about to do something, I say ‘If
God is willing.’
When I am going to make a decision, I keep
God in mind.
Future and
certainty
‘And will provide for him from where he
does not expect. And whoever relies upon
Allah then He is sufficient for him. Indeed,
Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah
has already set for everything a [decreed]
extent.’ (65: 2–3)
‘Nothing will happen to us except what Allah
has decreed for us: He is our protector. In
Allah let the believers put their trust.’’(9:
51)
I say ‘If God Is Willing’’ before talking
about something which may happen in the
future.
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123
Instruments
The Trust-in-God Questionnaire
The Trust-in-God Questionnaire (TGQ) is a researcher-compiled questionnaire designed to
measure the extent to which people believe in God and His role in their lives from an
Islamic viewpoint. It consists of five questions in response to which participants select one
of five choices (never, sometimes, often, most of the times, always). The content validity of
the measure is based on verses from the Quran. The relevance of the measure’s questions to
Trust-in-God n accordance with Islamic beliefs was confirmed by several experts in
Islamic issues. Table 1shows five dimensions that we extracted based on verses of the
Quran which describe the necessity for believers to have Trust-in-God and also encourage
them to take personal responsibility in the course of their daily affairs—those that can be
under their own control. The questionnaire was administered twice to the current sample of
80 university students, and a test–retest reliability of r=0.78 was calculated for the
measure. The test–retest interval was between 6 and 8 weeks. Participants received the
electronic version of the TGQ 6 weeks after the test phase and mailed it back after
completing it. A Cronbach’s alpha of a=0.67 was calculated for the TGQ as the mea-
sure’s internal consistency. In addition, to address the question of whether our TGQ is a
spiritual measure or simply another facet of the personality dimension of agreeableness or
conscientiousness (Schuurmans-Stekhoven 2013), we conducted a separate correlational
study with a sample of 52 university students (N=52, mean age =21.50; SD =2.25;
55 % female). The results of a correlational analysis, partialling out for the effects of age
(Laursen et al. 2002), showed a nonsignificant relationship between scores on the TGQ and
Goldberg’s agreeableness,r=0.15; p=0.14, and Goldberg’s conscientiousness sub-
scales, r=0.22; p=0.060 (Joshanloo and Afshari 2009; Kjell et al. 2013).
A critical reader might argue that part of the associations observed in the present study
could result from a response bias of positivity in ratings or acquiescence: that is, a tendency
to agree with the statements (Knowles and Nathan 1997). However, research suggests that
acquiescence is mostly observed in surveys which employ questions that are related to
truism (e.g., giving donations is a good thing), especially when the person is in doubt as to
which side of a statement to choose, or when social desirability is an issue (e.g., when
taking a personality test whose results a clinician is going to interpret) (Knowles and
Nathan 1997). We believe that the TGQ questions do not include social truism; that the
questions are not vague; and that, due to participant anonymity (e.g., Lelkes et al. 2012),
social desirability could be less of a factor than it would be otherwise. Moreover, the TGQ
has one question (Question 1) which is reverse-keyed, a recommended technique to reduce
acquiescence (Erikson 2011). Meisenberg and Williams (2008) argued that there tends to
be less acquiescence bias among better educated and more intelligent respondents. How-
ever, future research can focus on testing the potential impact of this and other sources of
bias by employing the guidelines provided by Erikson (2011) and Podsakoff et al. (2003).
The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
The PANAS measures people’s current affective status. The measure’s total scores range
from 10 to 50 for each positive and negative affective state. There is sufficient evidence in
support of the validity and reliability of the PANAS (Watson et al. 1988) and of a Persian
version of the measure (Azizi 2010).
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123
The Adult Hope Scale (AHS)
Snyder et al. (1991) developed the AHS as a self-report hope questionnaire for people over
the age of 15. The AHS contains the two subscales of pathway and motivation (Snyder
et al. 1991,1996). A total score can be calculated through summing up the subscale scores.
A Cronbach’s alpha of a=0.77 was calculated for the Persian version of the AHS as an
index of the measure’s internal consistency.
Procedure
After obtaining the necessary permissions from the Ethics Committee of the Department of
Psychology and the university headmasters of student residence halls, the research assistant
approached potential participants at their places of residence. After explaining the study to
them (as a psychological study based on a series of self-report questionnaires) and
obtaining their informed consent for their participation, the research assistant asked them
to complete the study questionnaires individually. Participants were not required to write
their personal information on any forms. Upon returning the completed questionnaires,
participants were debriefed about the goals of the study and thanked for their participation.
Because participation in the study was voluntary, no payment was made to the participants.
Results
The means and SDs of participants’ ages, and their scores on the TGQ, AHD, and PANAS,
are presented in Table 2.
Table 3shows the results of Spearman and Pearson correlations among the study
variables. The pattern of correlations among gender, age, and education and Trust-in-God,
hope, PA, and NA provides a rationale for controlling their effects in the regression model
testing the study’s hypotheses. Moreover, the table shows a negative correlation between
NA and hope (Table 4).
Three hierarchical regression models were used to test the study’s hypotheses con-
cerning the relationship between Trust-in-God, hope, and positive and negative affect. In
all models, the effects of gender, age, and education were controlled in the first step, and
scores from the TGQ were entered into the second step as the predictor variable. The
Table 2 Demographic charac-
teristics of participants according
to gender
Gender
Female (n=140) Male (n=142)
MSD MSD
Age 19.94 2.21 20.47 1.31
Education (term) 3.40 1.99 3.38 1.43
Trust-in-God 19.68 3.82 17.65 4.02
Hope 25.11 3.73 24.85 3.81
Positive affect 34.34 6.63 35.72 6.20
Negative affect 28.38 8.72 25.36 7.80
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predicted variable in the models were scores indicating the participants’ hope, PA, and NA,
respectively (Table 4).
In the first regression model, the first step (age, gender, and education) accounted for
4 % of the hope variance (R
2
=0.04, F
(3,275)
=3.51, p\0.05). The second step (Trust-
in-God) led to a significant 4 % increment in the variance of hope over the proportion
already accounted for in the first step (DR
2
=0.06, F
(3,274)
=4.05, p\0.01).
The second regression model regressing Trust-in-God on PA led to significant change in
the first step (R
2
=0.03, F
(3,275)
=2.59, p\0.05) and the second step (DR
2
=0.10,
F
(1,274)
=7.51, p\0.05), indicating that Trust-in-God, per se, could positively predict
10 % of change in the variance of PA.
In the third regression model, the first step accounted for 5 % of NA variance
(R
2
=0.05, F
(3,275)
=5.17, p\0.01). However, in the second step, Trust-in-God
accounted for a 6 % increment in the variance of NA (DR
2
=0.06, F
(1,274)
=4.27,
p\0.01) after controlling for the effects of variables in the first step of the model.
Discussion and Conclusions
Bender (2008) has suggested that religious coping is based on religious beliefs and
activities and that it helps believers restrain emotional stress and subsequent physical
discomfort. Religious coping is defined as a way in which religious resources such as
prayer and trust in and recourse to God enhance one’s coping mechanism (Bu
¨ssing et al.
2007b).
The goal of the present study was to test the relationship between a group of Iranian
students’ Trust-in-God and their affective status and feelings of hope. In summary, we
found that the strength of the students’ Trust-in-God was negatively associated with their
scores on negative affect and positively associated with their scores on positive affect and
feelings of hope. The results of the study support previous findings from other cultures on
the positive relationships between Trust-in-God, hope, and positive affect (Bush et al.
1999;Bu
¨ssing and Mundle 2009; Ciarrocchi et al. 2008; Lewis and Cruise 2006; Mickley
et al. 1992; Van Ness and Larson 2002). According to Feldman and Snyder (2005), hope is
a glimpse into the nature of the meaning of life, and spirituality has been seen as a path
directing one to find meaning in life (Bu
¨ssing et al. 2007a,b). The theory of hope states
that despair refers to all barriers that prevent people from achieving their goals. Barriers
may include one’s internal and external conditions, facts, characteristics or events
Table 3 Correlation matrix among variables entered into the regression models
Trust-in-God Gender Age Education Hope Positive affect
Gender -.24***
Age -.02 .14**
Educations -.12* .01 .51***
Hope .14** -.02 .19*** .09
Positive affect .24*** .13** .08 -.04 .54***
Negative affect -.05 -.18*** -.03 .12* -.30*** -.27***
Gender was coded as female =0; male =1
*p\0.05; ** p\0.01; *** p\0.001
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123
Table 4 Results of three hierarchical regression analyses regressing Trust-in-God on hope, positive affect and negative affect, separately, after controlling for age, gender,
and education
Steps Variables BSE BbtDR
2
p
Hope PA NA Hope PA NA Hope PA NA Hope PA NA Hope PA NA Hope PA NA
1 Age .40 .38 -.40 .14 .25 .32 .20 .11 -.09 2.84** 1.35 -1.28
Gender .29 1.43 -2.69 .41 .72 .92 -.04 .12 -.17 -.70 1.99* -2.93** .04 .03 .05 .05 .05 .01
Education .02 -.35 .81 .15 .26 .34 -.01 .09 .16 -.13 -1.31 2.38*
2 Trust-in-God .13 .44 -.16 .06 .10 .13 .14 .28 -.08 2.34* 4.66*** -1.24 .06 .10 .06 .01 .001 .01
Hope Adult Dispositional Hope Scale, PA PANAS positive affect, NA PANAS negative affect
*p\0.05; ** p\0.01; *** p\0.001
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123
(Uffelman 2005). Therefore, a person’s affective states or emotions in response to
threatening events (e.g., disease, natural disasters, and failure) can be quite debilitating.
The ability to give meaning to a threatening life event, having trust in God’s will and
power, and also having trust in oneself can preserve a person’s hope and emotional state.
Trust-in-God also makes a person less likely to see himself/herself as needing to rely
solely on material or social resources for support. If Trust-in-God is associated with a
better affective status and higher levels of hope, then we assume that the person who has
such trust should be more active than passive and feel more adequate in pursuing his/her
goals than those who lack it. Moreover, such a person would be expected to show better
problem-solving skills, more perseverance, and higher levels of contentment and patience
when facing problems that delay or even prevent the person from attaining goals. The
existing literature suggests that such qualities are commonly associated with enhanced
mental well-being.
To conclude, the results of the present study support earlier findings that Trust-in-God
could be related to one’s positive mood and hope; however, such relationship could not be
causal because the variables could be all related to a third factor, or the relationship could
be mediated or moderated by other qualities that have not been identified in the previous
and present research.
Acknowledgments The authors greatly thank Dr. Colleen Donagher for her helpful comments on an
earlier version of the manuscript.
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... There is, however, a study examining trust in God concerning Islam. In this religious context, Fadardi and Azadi [46] found results regarding positive relationships between trust in God and positive emotions, as well as negative relationships between the former variable and negative emotions, that support the association between trust in God and mental health indices. ...
... The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) [79] has been widely used to assess affect and emotions. In fact, it has been previously used in studies to analyze the relationship between trust in God and emotions [46]. This instrument has two subscales: one for positive emotions and the other for negative emotions, with ten items each. ...
... These findings are very similar to those obtained in Fadardi and Azadi's [46] research and thus support the relationship between trust/mistrust in God with indicators of mental health, in this case, positive and negative emotions. In this sense, this study appears to demonstrate similar results as other important studies in this field [30,[38][39][40], which show the positive and negative effects of trust and mistrust in God, respectively, on mental health. ...
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Trust in God implies the conviction that God looks after a person’s own interests. The first evidence of a relationship between this construct and people’s psychological and emotional health dates back several centuries. However, the literature on this is limited, especially for people with physical health conditions, such as cancer. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test the relationships between trust/mistrust in God, social support and emotions in people affected by cancer. The sample consisted of 177 women and men in Spain diagnosed with cancer. The instruments used were the Trust/Mistrust in God Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were performed to compare several explanatory models for the dependent variables: positive and negative emotions. The results show significant relationships between all variables. It was observed that, when trust/mistrust in God is included in the model, only mistrust in God predicts both types of emotions. In addition, both social support and some sociodemographic variables help to predict the dependent variables. This study shows that valuing the religiosity and spirituality of oncology patients in healthcare settings can have a significant positive impact on the health of these individuals. Moreover, it represents an important approach to the study of trust/mistrust in God in the context of a traditionally Catholic country.
... In any case, the relationship of these variables with trust/mistrust in God has been studied. For example, Fadardi and Azadi (2017) have found positive associations between trust in God and positive emotions, as well as negative associations between the former variable and negative emotions. Likewise, Maselko et al. (2011) have observed direct relationships between trust in God and social support within the study of social determinants of health. ...
... In other words, we can conclude that trust in God is associated with higher levels of positive emotions and social support, and lower levels of negative emotions, with the opposite happening in the case of mistrust in God, results that are similar to those found by Rosmarin et al. (2011). Similarly, other research has found the same type of relationships between trust/mistrust in God and social support (Maselko et al. 2011), as well as positive and negative emotions, including affective disorders such as depression, anxiety, stress (Rosmarin et al. 2009a(Rosmarin et al. , 2009b(Rosmarin et al. , 2010Krumrei et al. 2013;Fadardi and Azadi 2017). ...
... These findings have several implications in the area of health care. First, in the face of a threatening life event such as a cancer diagnosis, the ability to make sense of the event by having trust in God can help preserve a person's positive emotional state (Fadardi and Azadi 2017). This, given the positive association between positive emotions and mental and physical health, might lead one to think that promoting trust in God within medical practice in those patients with religious and/or spiritual needs could be beneficial. ...
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Trust/Mistrust in God have turned out to be two constructs that have great relevance in the study of the relationship between religion, spirituality, and health. In Spain, there are no instruments adapted to measure trust/mistrust in God, which limits the work of researchers interested in these aspects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to validate the Brief Trust/Mistrust in God Scale (BTMGS) in Spanish. The scale translated into Spanish was applied in a sample of 178 oncologic patients together with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the significant others subscale of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, due to the existing evidence of relationships between the variables evaluated by these measures. Internal consistency, structural validity, convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated. The Spanish adaptation of the BTMGS obtained high internal consistency, both for trust subscale (α = 0.95) and for the mistrust subscale (α = 0.86). Furthermore, the correlations found between the BTMGS and the measures of positive and negative emotions and social add evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. These results suggest that the Spanish version of the BTMGS is a valid and reliable measure to be used in research on religion, spirituality and health in Spanish-speaking contexts.
... In addition, higher levels of spirituality have been shown to be associated with higher levels of hope (Abdolahrezaee et al., 2020). Furthermore, while the authors did not test a mediation model, Fadardi and Azadi (2017) found that higher levels of trust in God were associated with higher levels of hope and lower levels of negative affect in Iranian university students. It is important to note, though, that the construct of hope proposed by Snyder et al. (2003), has been challenged by social scientists (Colla et al., 2023;Weingarten, 2010) and theologians (Pembroke, 2010) alike for not recognizing a systemic/relationship component to hope. ...
... While the construct of hope is strongly associated with faith in God in religious discourse, there is also increasing evidence that hope is a useful construct in positive psychology (Fadardi & Azadi, 2017). The findings of this study are helpful in highlighting that construct of hope is multidimensional and that not all forms of hope may be relevant to understanding the associations between faith in God/spirituality and better mental health. ...
... Trust in God has been linked with fewer depressive symptoms in an American sample of older adults (Krause, 2015a). Finally, Fadardi and Azadi (2017) find that trust in God is negatively associated with negative affect and positively associated with positive affect in a sample of Muslim students. ...
... First, as was acknowledged in a recent review piece on this topic (see Hook et al., 2021), there has been insufficient attention paid to research on trust in God and well-being, this despite the centrality of trust in God to religious life. Indeed, we could only identify a handful of studies that had previously explored this topic (Fadardi & Azadi, 2017;Krause, 2015aKrause, , 2015bRosmarin et al., 2009). In an effort to address this empirical gap, we found that trust in God was indeed linked to better mental and physical health. ...
... In empirical literature of psychology, trust in God or reliance on God and secure/positive attachment to God somewhat overlap with the concept of tawakkul. According to Fadardi and Azadi (2017), trust in God refers to the belief in God's will and entrusting one's affairs to Him. This trust tends to increase mental composure in the individual and protects him/her from negative mental states and hopelessness. ...
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... In line with Islamic belief, the medical outcome for many Muslims depends on their faith. They are confident that God will remove barriers and enable individuals to reach their goals, which may, in turn, result in higher levels of hope [23]. The first hypothesis of this study, therefore, was that Muslim Palestinians people diagnosed with cancer would report higher levels of hope in comparison to those reports by their Jewish Israeli counterparts. ...
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Studies have shown that allowing people to answer questionnaires completely anonymously yields more reports of socially inappropriate attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and researchers have often assumed that this is evidence of increased honesty. But such evidence does not demonstrate that reports gathered under completely anonymous conditions are more accurate. Although complete anonymity may decrease a person's motivation to distort reports in socially desirable directions, complete anonymity may also decrease accountability, thereby decreasing motivation to answer thoughtfully and precisely. Three studies reported in this paper demonstrate that allowing college student participants to answer questions completely anonymously sometimes increased reports of socially undesirable attributes, but consistently reduced reporting accuracy and increased survey satisficing. These studies suggest that complete anonymity may compromise measurement accuracy rather than improve it.
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Revised and updated to reflect the most recent developments in the field, the second edition of the Handbook of Motivational Counseling presents comprehensive coverage of the development and identification of motivational problems and the most effective treatment techniques. Equips clinicians with specific instructions for enhancing clients' motivation for change by targeting their maladaptive motivational patterns Provides step-by-step instructions in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the motivational assessments, along with details of how to implement the counseling procedures Updated to reflect the most current research and effective treatment techniques, along with all-new chapters on motive-based approaches, motivational counseling with the dually diagnosed, cognitive and motivational retraining, meaning-centered counseling, and motivation in sport Showcases various basic motivational techniques and their adaptations, such as bibliotherapy, individual therapy, and group counseling, while demonstrating specialized uses of the techniques, such as in work settings and rehabilitation medicine.
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Defining hope as a cognitive set that is composed of a reciprocally derived sense of successful (1) agency (goal-directed determination) and (2) pathways (planning of ways to meet goals), an individual-differences measure is developed. Studies with college students and patients demonstrate acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and the factor structure identifies the agency and pathways components of the Hope Scale. Convergent and discriminant validity are documented, along with evidence suggesting that Hope Scale scores augmented the prediction of goal-related activities and coping strategies beyond other self-report measures. Construct validational support is provided in regard to predicted goal-setting behaviors; moreover, the hypothesized goal appraisal processes that accompany the various levels of hope are corroborated.
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Although several studies have examined the contribution of specific countries, journals, and authors in different scientific disciplines, little is known about the contribution of different world countries, journals, and authors to scientific research in the field of "Spirituality, religion, and health" (S/R). The present study aims to analyze the last 15 years of research in the field of spirituality and religiousness (S/R) through a bibliometric analysis. Using the Pubmed database, we retrieved all articles related to S/R field for the period 1999-2013. We then estimated the total number of publications, number of articles published per year, articles published per country, journals with most publications in S/R field, most productive authors, and most used keywords. We found a growth of publications in the last years, most from the United States and the United Kingdom and published in the English language. Noteworthy, some developing countries such as India, Brazil, Israel, and Iran are at higher positions in this list. The S/R articles were published in journals embracing all fields of research, including high impact journals. In the present study, we took a closer look at the field of "Spirituality, religion, and health," showing that this field of research has been constantly growing and consolidating in the scientific community.