This study examined the associations among beliefs in free will and determinism (or divine sovereignty and/or providence), meaning in life (MIL), and meaning judgment, as well as whether religious commitment moderates these associations. Guided by the Tripartite Meaning in Life Model, we tested a moderated mediation model using a Christian sample ( N = 239). Results revealed that at low levels of religious commitment, stronger deterministic beliefs were associated with lower MIL, which in turn predicted lower meaning judgment. This indirect effect shifted in valence and had a smaller effect size at higher levels of religious commitment, where deterministic beliefs showed a slight positive association with MIL and meaning judgment. These findings highlight that religious commitment shapes how deterministic beliefs connect to both MIL and meaning judgment, with lower religious commitment amplifying negative associations and higher religious commitment attenuating or reversing them.
Granqvist (2020) identified attachment security as a moderating factor in the cultural transmission of parents’ religious ideas to their children, finding that securely attached children with religious parents tend to replicate their parents’ God representations, but insecurely attached children do not. To aid religious parents in effective faith transmission, the Conectere critical participatory action research study provided attachment training for Christian parents and primary caregivers alongside group reflection on practices for sharing faith and values with children at home. The study utilized mixed-methods data collection, psychometric instrument scoring, and thematic analysis. Forty parents and caregivers reported perceiving external cultural threats to their religious values and brought protective parenting impulses. In learning about attachment, they articulated new representations of God as a divine caregiver offering a safe haven and a secure base. Accordingly, they sought to reposition their caregiving and faith sharing within a safe haven and secure base, moving from rigidity to flexibility in their approach to faith transmission. They articulated a desire not to replicate attachment insecurity or religious malformation they may have experienced but instead to extend a balance of protection and freedom for their own children in hopes that they might achieve secure representations of God.
Christian theology has been critiqued from an ecological perspective for desacralising the natural world. This desacralisation, it is proposed, leads to a conceptual separation between God and nature, which ultimately devalues the natural world, leading to exploitative environmental attitudes. In response, some Christian ecotheologians have advocated for the notion that God permeates the natural world. In keeping with the ‘Greening of Religion’ hypothesis, we provide empirical scrutiny of the intuition that conceptions of God/Nature overlap relate to environmentalism. In two studies, we found only two significant correlations between differing conceptualisations of God/Nature overlap and several published scales on pro-environmental attitudes and intentions. This null result calls into question the long-standing notion that conceptualising God as overlapping with Nature inevitably leads to pro-environmentalism. Instead, consistent with previous literature, we conclude that conceptualising the Self as psychologically close to Nature is a far more robust positive predictor of environmentalism.
Nurses in Nigeria who worked on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to face significant work-related stressors and mental health challenges. Religiosity as a meaning-making system may provide support in response to such stressors; however, the psychological processes enabling this effect remained unclear. Guided by Stress and Coping Theory, this study examines whether emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between religiosity and resilience among nurses in the post-COVID-19 context. This cross-sectional study took place in three federal government hospitals in south-east Nigeria. Participants completed self-report measures assessing religiosity, emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and resilience. Results showed that religiosity independently and significantly predicted resilience. More frequent use of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated this association, as did less frequent use of expressive suppression; both strategies were associated with higher resilience. These findings indicate that religiosity may increase resilience among nurses by supporting adaptive emotion regulation strategies.
There is a wide body of research on the impact of stress on pastors’ physical, psychological, and emotional well-being. However, we are unaware of any published studies exploring how using emotional regulation (ER) strategies influences pastors’ work-related affective well-being (AWB). This article seeks to address this gap by reporting the findings of a study that utilised a Critical Realist methodology to identify the causes and conditions producing New Zealand Baptist pastors’ AWB. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 pastors. The interviews were analysed thematically, and then through the process of abduction, the utilisation of ER strategies was identified as a plausible explanation for the variation in pastors’ AWB. We found that Baptist pastors utilise a range of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies. In our view, pastors who utilise adaptive strategies experience long-term positive benefits for their AWB. We suggest it would be beneficial for pastors to engage in psychoeducation on ER, contextualised for pastoral ministry, to help increase their utilisation of adaptive strategies.
Compassionate theodicy (CT), recently theorized by Bethany Sollereder, proposes a new paradigm for evaluating theodicies based on their psychological utility for individuals who suffer. While CT suggests that theodicies can foster resilience, the cognitive processes underlying this effect remain unclear. This article addresses that gap by integrating Crystal Park's Meaning-Making Model and Janoff-Bulman's Shattered Assumptions Theory to explain how benevolent theodical beliefs may help restore meaning and coherence following trauma. Drawing on 14 empirical studies employing the Views of Suffering Scale, this review examines correlations between benevolent theodicies (e.g., Soul-Building, Providence, Suffering God) and psychological outcomes such as reduced distress, post-traumatic growth, and vocational satisfaction. Findings consistently support CT's central claim that theodical beliefs play a constructive cognitive role in resilience and coping. By bridging empirical psychology and contemporary theology, this study shows how theodicies can contribute to processes of meaning restoration.
African Americans face disproportionate exposure to psychosocial stressors-such as systemic racism, poverty, and neighborhood disadvantage-that adversely impact mental health. Despite these exposures, they remain significantly less likely than White Americans to seek formal mental health services, often turning instead to faith leaders and church communities for support. In response, this article describes Renew Your Mind (RYM), a culturally tailored, spiritually integrated mental health training for African American clergy, co-developed through the CHURCH (Congregations as Healers, Uniting to Restore Community Health) Project, a community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) initiative. Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, RYM integrates evidence-based mental health strategies with Black church traditions and theological frameworks to enhance faith leaders' ability to provide informal psychosocial support. Although designed for clergy, RYM first invites leaders to experience its benefits before adapting and modeling it within their ministries. The study is presented using Provus's program evaluation framework, with emphasis on the first two. A brief overview of evaluation plans and preliminary findings is included, with detailed results forthcoming. RYM represents a novel, community-grounded model that bridges formal and informal care systems, addressing long-standing mental health disparities through faith-based, culturally congruent approaches.
In the past decade, the role of humility and empathy in promoting forgiveness of interpersonal hurts has been increasingly highlighted in the literature. The present study aimed to replicate and extend the study conducted by Kim et al. investigating the humility-empathy-forgiveness link by using a longitudinal design. One hundred and thirty-nine participants were recruited from a large Christian university and completed a series of measures of religious hurt, religious intellectual humility (RIH), empathy, and forgiveness over the course of 6 weeks. However, only participants who completed all three waves of surveys were included in the analysis (n = 81). The results of this study supported the findings of Kim et al., in that RIH and empathy both predicted forgiveness at a later time, and empathy mediated the relationship between RIH and forgiveness. However, when baseline forgiveness was controlled for, empathy and humility no longer significantly predicted forgiveness at a later time. The results of this study suggest that the predictive power of baseline forgiveness may overshadow the effects of empathy and humility over time. Limitations, practical applications, and directions for future research on the humility-empathy-forgiveness link are also discussed.
This article explores how Christian visual artists perceive and represent the divine and faith through inner visual imagery and art-making. Based on qualitative interviews and collaborative art processes with 10 UK-based artists, the study investigates the cognitive, emotional, and embodied dimensions of religious imagination. Rather than focusing on traditional iconography, the research reveals how artists engage the divine through inner images, metaphors, and material explorations shaped by lived experience. The findings suggest that faith and divine presence are often perceived not as fixed theological objects but as dynamic, felt realities emerging in artistic processes. By shifting focus from depictions of faith to the perception and embodiment of faith through imagery, this study offers new insight into theological cognition and artistic epistemologies.
The God representations of people with intellectual disabilities remain largely unexplored in the psychology of religion. This Canadian arts-based study investigates how Christians with intellectual disabilities perceive God and themselves through Photovoice, guided interviews, the LAMBI God representation scale, and an adapted Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Eleven adult participants shared theological and psychological insights through photos, art, and conversation. The research challenges assumptions that theological reflection depends on heightened cognitive capacity and emphasizes the value of including neurodiverse voices in conversations about divine realities and self-identity. Findings show that even inclusive methods require ongoing adaptation to support meaningful engagement. Standardized quantitative tools often fall short in this regard, while creative, relational approaches reveal rich conceptions of God and self. This paper contributes to growing conversations around divine representation, self-worth, and the theological significance of disabled perspectives in shaping a more expansive understanding of God, identity, and the human experience.
This article is a response to Bland and Hoard's article, "The Christian Filter: Lacan and being a 'Good Enough' Christian." Rather than critiquing, we further engage with the concept of perfectionism through an empirical lens, examining its valence, directionality, and sociocultural domains in which ideals are constructed. Drawing from the multidimensional perfectionism literature, we highlight how perfectionism is not merely an intrapsychic phenomenon but also socially prescribed and culturally embedded. Placing Bland and Hoard's Lacanian framing in dialogue with empirical models of perfectionism, we offer additional language for understanding Lucas's oscillation between religious zeal and self-condemnation, as well as the interpersonal and symbolic forces that sustain the "Christian filter." Ultimately, we suggest that clinical integration is enriched when psychological research and psychoanalytic-theological reflection are held together, allowing clinicians to see perfectionism as both a source of suffering and a space of grace where desire, lack, and faith may be reimagined.
I am pleased to introduce the fourth installment of the Clinical Integrative Practice (CIP) section, a special issue dedicated to the integration of psychology and Christianity through clinical practice and case study. In this section, Bland and Hoard present a Lacanian conceptualization of moral and spiritual perfectionism through the metaphor of the "Christian filter," drawing on a clinical case with Lucas to explore the tension between the ideal, the demands of evangelical culture, and "unknown." In their responses, Taylor, Allen-Peck, and Lin and Wang engage perfectionism from psychoanalytic, cultural-religious, clinical, and empirical perspectives.
This theoretical article examines Roman Catholic confession as a key sacramental practice for experiencing Divine Forgiveness (DF), with a focus on Spanish-speaking Catholic contexts. It argues that the theology, ritual structure, and culturally embedded relational dynamics of confession provide insights that have not been fully integrated into the psychological literature on DF. The analysis has three aims: (1) to articulate confession as a relational and mediating space for seeking and receiving DF through the sacramental stages of contrition, confession, penance, and absolution; (2) to assess leading psychological models of DF, including sequential and relational accounts of seeking and experiencing DF, and to examine their relevance and limitations for understanding sacramentally mediated forgiveness; and (3) to conceptualize the experience of confession among Spanish-speaking Catholics, examining how cultural norms of relationality, communal belonging, and pastoral authority may shape the internalization of DF. The article concludes by outlining implications for future research and pastoral practice and emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive approaches that integrate theology and psychology to better understand DF and its impact on spiritual and psychological well-being across diverse Catholic settings.
This piece responds to Bland and Hoard's work on The Christian Filter by focusing on the psychological function of the Christian filter for hiding. The theme of hide-and-seek is explored to understand the patient's relationships with God and with his clinician. The difference between being sought and being shamed helps expand the understanding of therapeutic action. The mechanism of hiding is also used to explore how various forms of filters impact clinicians' understanding of their patient's experience with God. An argument is also presented for understanding the necessity of hiding as a function of emerging self-agency and how it differs from shame-driven hiding.
Recent discussions on the integration of psychology and Christian theology have highlighted the need for contextual specificity with regards to how one talks about integration and for what purpose. Using descriptors such as domains or waves of integration, different authors have attempted to clarify how meanings and processes of integration may shift depending on the setting and circumstance. Using a psychoanalytic clinical case this article engages the activity of clinical integration by exploring the notion of perfection as understood in the normative experience of evangelical Christian life, particularly in relation to guilt, shame, and trying hard. Musing through clinical material from a more traditional psychoanalytic lens, we shift to a critique and an expanded perspective of perfection considering Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. We end with psychoanalytically informed reflections on how perfection as a theological construct may impact everyday Christian experience.
Religious orientations, such as intrinsic (IRO), extrinsic (ERO), and quest (QRO), may influence individuals' sense of meaning in life and life satisfaction. This study examined these relationships among 392 Spanish Catholic undergraduates using the Religious Orientation Scale, Purpose in Life-10 Items, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Correlational analyses showed that IRO was positively related to both meaning in life and life satisfaction, while ERO showed no significant relationships, and QRO was linked to life satisfaction but not meaning in life. Mediation analysis using bootstrapping indicated that meaning in life significantly mediated the relationship between IRO and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that intrinsic religiosity enhances life satisfaction by fostering a sense of meaning, highlighting the importance of cultural context in understanding the pathways from religiosity to well-being.
Religion and spirituality (R/S) in mental health care has gained growing recognition, with institutions such as the Nation Health Service, World Health Organization, and World Psychiatric Association emphasizing its significance in clinical practice. However, limited attention has been given to how mental healthcare clinicians understand and interpret patients' religious experiences. This study explores clinicians' interpretive frameworks and practices using a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews with eight UK-based clinicians (psychiatrists, psychologists, and CBT practitioners). Transcripts were analyzed both thematically and structurally, guided by the Four Voices of Theology. Findings are discussed through the lens of the Four Voices of Theology and offer insights into how clinicians negotiate meaning, context, and diagnosis regarding religious experiences. This research enhances understanding of clinician-patient engagement around R/S and highlights the need for more reflective, context-aware approaches in mental health care.
This article presents two studies on the well-being and help-seeking attitudes of those in ministry. Study 1 examined Baptist ministers and Study 2 explored Baptist ministry spouses and paired couples data to test whether well-being can be predicted from interpersonal variables. Key findings include significant relationships between well-being variables and one's number of close friends; significant positive relationships between resilience, satisfaction in ministry, and occupational distress and psychological well-being in ministry spouses; and a partner effect between a pastor's levels of occupational distress and his spouse's spiritual well-being without the reverse being true. These studies add to the clergy well-being literature with a denominational group not frequently studied in the past. The article provides suggestions for future research and implications for denominational leaders as well as counselors working with clergy populations.
Clergy wives occupy a unique informal role in the clergy and congregational system, though limited attention has been given to their experiences. This article aims to bring insight into the understudied experiences of clergy wives and fill gaps in knowledge about clergy wives' roles and perspectives. Drawing on archival data of 549 clergy wives from the United States and Canada, collected October 2021 to January 2022, this article extends current knowledge about clergy wives' sense of calling, the roles they have, the challenges they face, and the resources that support their well-being and resilience. Findings reveal a range of perspectives on calling, including a sense of calling to support their husband and be the primary person managing the children and home, while others expressed an individual sense of calling, and others a joint calling. Regarding their ministry role, many shared about filling ministry needs, while others saw their role as an involved member using their unique gifts. The primary challenges faced by clergy wives included unrealistic expectations and criticism, financial pressure, loneliness/isolation, and desire for recognition and support. Supports that clergy wives accessed for their well-being and resilience included spiritual resources, boundaries, and other resources.
In recent years, the integration of religious references in the psychotherapy process has gained significant attention. Based on the principles of logotherapy developed by Viktor Frankl, this article analyzes the role of the patient's religious references as a supportive factor in the therapeutic change process. A detailed case study of Ms Sabrina, a middle-aged patient struggling with deep personal loss and emotional difficulties, illustrates how her personal faith, including practices such as prayer, contributed to emotional stabilization, self-transcendence, and the development of adaptive coping strategies. The therapeutic process, conducted from an integrative perspective, highlights the importance of respecting and incorporating the patient's spiritual experiences into treatment. The conclusions point to the positive potential of integrating religious references into psychotherapy and emphasize the need for further research on religious therapies, advocating for the inclusion of spirituality as a significant component of effective psychotherapy.
