Love Thy Self? How Belief in a Supportive God Shapes Self-Esteem
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4233344 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Schieman (0000-0003-2882-0417, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Scott Schieman, Alex Bierman (0000-0003-2573-0969, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada), Laura Upenieks (0000-0002-9881-0639, University of Toronto), C G Ellison (0000-0002-6585-5160, University of Texas, San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 293-318 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of Religious Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2211-4866 • E-ISSN: 0034-673X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s13644-017-0292-7 |
| OpenAlex | W2605580976 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 51 |
| References cited | 104 |
Previous research raises the question of self-esteem as a fundamental human need, but also indicates that self-esteem is an inherently social product. Is religious involvement influential-and does it depend on beliefs about God? In this research, we examine the associations between multiple dimensions of religious involvement and self-esteem, and specifically focus on the belief in a supportive higher power ("divine support") as a central influence in this relationship. Analyses of a national probability sample of adults from the US (2004 General Social Survey) reveal two central findings: (1) divine support helps to explain a positive association between religious involvement and self-esteem; (2) divine support strengthens that association. These findings contribute to the growing discussion about beliefs about God-especially as an engaged, involved, and influential force in everyday life-and the association with different components of the self-concept. Our observations underscore the need for more research on the intersection of beliefs and practices in shaping various facets of personal functioning
Association (psychology) · Belief in God · Epistemology · Power (physics) · Product (mathematics) · Religious belief · Self · Self-esteem · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology
God Representations and Ideal Selves
Meaning in Religious Contexts
Religious attitudes and self-control as predictors of self-esteem in Peruvian Christians
Does religious bonding moderate the association between divine struggles and depressive symptoms among married adults
Does Religious Participation Predict Future Expectations About Health? Using a Life Course Framework to Test Multiple Mechanisms
God, Father, Mother, Gender
Transcendental Realities
Give Thanks in All Circumstances? Gratitude Toward God and Health in Later Life after Major Life Stressors
Belonging and Social Class at a Religious University
No Evidence for Transactional Effects Between Religiosity and Self-Esteem in a Secular Country
Religious Deconversion and Well-Being Among Emerging Adults. Mediating Role of Oversexualization and Body Image
Belonging without believing
Does Funding Impact Our Research? Causality, Normativity, and Diversity in 40 Years of U.S. Sociology of Religion
Matters of the Heart
Through Him and With Him? A Longitudinal Study of How God-Mediated Control Beliefs Shape the Relationship between Divine Forgiveness and Physical Health in Later Life
God’s Plan, God’s Community? Divine Control, Congregational and Spiritual Support, and the Association with Subjective Well-Being in the United States
Religion, Combat Casualty Exposure, and Sleep Disturbance in the US Military
Perceptions of Dignity, Attachment to God, and Mental Health in a National US Sample
Are Religious People Any Happier? Probing the Divine Relationship, Organizational Religiosity and the Role of Education and Income in the United States
Polish Validation of a 14-Item Version of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS-14)
Resilience in the Aftermath of Childhood Abuse? Changes in Religiosity and Adulthood Psychological Distress
Childhood Abuse, Goal-Striving Stress and Self-Esteem
Sin in the Digital Flesh? Religiosity and the Sexting Behavior of Women and Men in the United States
Religion, Spirituality, Community, and Change at a Residential Homeless Shelter
Religiosity and well-being among Nigerians
The Nature of Power
The moderating role of offspring religiosity in the intergenerational transmission of parental psychopathology
Searching for meaning
Perceived God support as a mediator of the relationship between religiosity and psychological distress
Belief in Supernatural Agents and Lay Explanations About the Causes of Poverty
Deifying College
Does Religious Service Attendance Condition the Link between Relationship Status and Mattering to Others? Evidence From the United States during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Perceived Neighborhood Disorder, Self-Esteem, and the Moderating Role of Religion
The Sociology of Prayer
Financial Hardship, Religious Experience, and Health
Creative Work, Divine Struggles, and Self-Esteem
Belief in Divine Support and Sense of Mattering
Religiosity over the Life Course and Flourishing
How Does Religious Commitment Affect Satisfaction with Life during the Covid-19 Pandemic? Examining Depression, Anxiety, and Stress as Mediators
The Mediating Effect of Dispositional Gratitude on the Relationship between Religious Struggles and Self-Esteem
God's Benevolent Love in the Time of Covid-19 Pandemic
Nonorganizational Religious Involvement and Psychosocial Well-Being Among African American and Caribbean Black Youth
Gaining Faith, Losing Faith
Do Racial Differences in Coping Resources Explain the Black-White Paradox in Mental Health? A Test of Multiple Mechanisms
Parental Sanctification, God Images, and Parental Happiness and Satisfaction in the United States
Divine Relations as a Basis of Subjective Social Status During Later-Life
Mattering to God and to the Congregation
Beyond 'Heartless Conservative' and 'Bleeding Heart Liberal' Caricatures
Sleep Quality and the Stress-Buffering Role of Religious Involvement
Aspiration Strain and Mental Health
Religious Involvement and Allostatic Resilience
The Political Effects of the Born-Again Phenomenon
Religion in the Lives of African Americans
Psychosocial Resources and the Stress Process
Self–Forgiveness
Understanding the Link Between Low Self-Esteem and Depression
Using heteroskedasticity-consistent standard error estimators in OLS regression
Coping Resources, Coping Processes, and Mental Health
The Sense of Divine Control and the Self-Concept
Forgiveness as a psychotherapeutic goal with elderly females.
Aging, Religious Doubt, and Psychological Well-Being
God-Mediated Control and Psychological Well-Being in Late Life
Cross-Cultural Correlates of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem
Stress and Religious Involvement Among Older Blacks
Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality for Health Research
Target Article
Human Nature and the Social Order
The Religion-Health Connection
God images and self-worth among adolescents in Scotland
Prayer, Attachment to God, and Symptoms of Anxiety-Related Disorders among U.S. Adults
Forgiveness as a mediator of the religiosity—health relationship
Causal Schemata and the Attribution of Supernatural Causality
Beliefs about Life-After-Death, Psychiatric Symptomology and Cognitive Theories of Psychopathology
The Self-Concept
Self, Identity, Stress, and Mental Health
To Parcel or Not to Parcel
Introducing the New Indices of Religious Orientation (Niro)
Using Parcels to Convert Path Analysis Models Into Latent Variable Models
Quantifying and Testing Indirect Effects in Simple Mediation Models When the Constituent Paths Are Nonlinear
Why Do People Need Self-Esteem? A Theoretical and Empirical Review
Ordinary Spiritual Experience
God-Mediated Control, Religiousness, Attributes of God and of the Ideal Religious Life
The Relationship between Core Self-Evaluations, Views of God, and Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religious Motivation
Item Parceling in Structural Equation Modeling
For a Social Psychology of Prayer
Religiosity and Self-Esteem among Older Adults
Church-Based Social Support and Health in Old Age
Religious Social Identity as an Explanatory Factor for Associations Between More Frequent Formal Religious Participation and Psychological Well-Being
Prayer and Subjective Well-Being
Research
Eliminating Defense and Agreement Bias from Measures of the Sense of Control
Religiosity, Socioeconomic Status, and the Sense of Mastery
How Does Prayer Help Manage Emotions
Self-Rejection and the Explanation of Deviance
Acts of Faith
Rediscovering the Religious Factor in American Politics
Religion as Poetry
Cognitive reactions to smoking relapse
I Am Woman
Human Nature and the Social Order
The psychology of religion
When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated
Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality
America's Four Gods
The Charismatic Movement
The Psychology of Religion and Coping
The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem
Turning to Prayer
Bible Believers
He Made a Way out of No Way
Religious Involvement, Stress, and Mental Health
Religious Doubt and Health
Exploring Race Differences in the Relationship between Social Interaction with the Clergy and Feelings of Self-Worth in Late Life
Bible Believers
Stressors and Problem-Solving
Divine Relations, Social Relations, and Well-Being
The Psychology of Religion
Religious Involvement and Social Resources
Religion and Well-Being among Canadian University Students
Religious Involvement, Social Ties, and Social Support in a Southeastern Community
The Charismatic Movement
And Thy Neighbor as Thyself
The Sacred Canopy
God Image as a Function of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control
Acts of Faith
The Moment I Became Born-again the Pain Disappeared
Sense of Divine Involvement and Sense of Meaning in Life
Dispositional Optimism and the Emergence of Social Network Diversity
A Psychometric Evaluation of Poloma and Pendleton's (1991) and Ladd and Spilka's (2002, 2006) Measures of Prayer
Religious Involvement, Beliefs About God, and the Sense of Mattering Among Older Adults
Prayer, God Imagery, and Symptoms of Psychopathology
Social Involvement in Religious Institutions and God-Mediated Control Beliefs
God in America
Self-Directing Religious Coping
Assessing the Relationships Among Prayer Expectancies, Race, and Self-Esteem in Late Life
Inward, Outward, and Upward
Childhood Misfortune, Ultimate Redemption? A Stress Process-Life Course Analysis of Adult Born-Again Experiences
Born Again in Balaka
Socioeconomic Status and Beliefs about God's Influence in Everyday Life
Religious Activities and Changes in the Sense of Divine Control
Images of a Loving God and Sense of Meaning in Life
Spiritual Struggles and Psychological Distress
Daily Spiritual Experiences and Psychological Well-being Among US Adults
| Unique citing works | 51 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,38 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 47 |