Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Virgil Sheets

Second Advisor

Peggy Weber

Third Advisor

Patrick Bennett

Abstract

Spiritual Struggles occur when a person's spirituality has been threatened and must be modified or changed. Researchers explain that there are three types of struggles - divine, interpersonal and intrapersonal. In this study it was proposed that religious discrepancies could lead to spiritual struggles. There are two major types of discrepancies: actual/ideal and actual/ought. Actual/ideal discrepancies exist when there is a difference between what people think they ideally should be like and what they are actually. An actual/ought discrepancy is a difference between what people think they ought to be and what they actually are. It was proposed that religious behaviors, strength of spiritual beliefs, attachment to God and God concept would moderate the relationship between discrepancies and spiritual struggles. Results of this study indicated that religious behaviors did not moderate this relationship. However, strength of spiritual beliefs moderated an actual/ought/own discrepancy, attachment to God moderated an actual/ideal/own discrepancy, and God concept moderated an actual/ideal/other discrepancy. The implications were that self-discrepancies could be a cause of spiritual struggles and that spiritual beliefs, having a good relationship with God, and thinking of God positively could buffer individuals from spiritual struggles.

Download

Share

COinS