Article Abstracts
December 2006

Church-Based Social Support and Change in Health Over Time

Neal Krause
University of Michigan

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the effects of two types of church-based social support on change in health over time. The first is anticipated support, which is defined as the belief that assistance will be forthcoming in the future should the need arise. The second is enacted support, which refers to assistance that has actually been provided by fellow church members. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older adults suggest that anticipated support is associated with more favorable changes in health, whereas enacted support is associated with a slight decline in health over time. Further analyses suggest that feelings of personal control partially mediate the effect of anticipated support on change in health.

How Religious Couples Perceive the Influence of God in Their Marriage

Michael A. Goodman
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

David C. Dollahite
Brigham Young University

This article builds on the work of Annette Mahoney and her colleagues regarding “sanctification of marriage” by focusing on religious married couple’s perception of God’s involvement in their marriages. The study includes qualitative analyses of in-depth interviews with 32 middle-aged Christian, Jewish and Muslim couples married an average of twenty years. Couples’ views of God’s purposes influenced the pathways and processes of perceived divine involvement in their marriages. The extent and pathways in which couples perceived God to be involved in their marriage correlated with specific beliefs and practices. Several patterns emerge and a theoretical model is proposed to illustrate the pathways of perceived involvement and outcomes.

Religiousity, Altruism, and Altruistic Hypocrisy: Evidence From Protestant Adolescents

Chang-Ho C. JI
Lori Pendergraft
Matthew Perry

La Sierra University

What influence does religion have on altruistic belief and prosocial behavior? This is a question of substantial ethical and religious relevance that currently has no consensual answer. We attempt to address this question by applying measurements of personal religious orientations, doctrinal orthodoxy, and faith maturity to the data from an extensive survey of adolescents in an evangelical Protestant church. Results suggest that horizontal or “love-of-neighbor” faith is a powerful predictor of altruism. Intrinsic and orthodox religion are aligned with positive views toward helping others but inversely related to actual altruistic behavior. This link between altruistic hypocrisy and intrinsic-orthodox religion is striking; therefore, potential explanations on the source of this relationship are explored.

Fear of Personal Death as a Predictor of Motivation for Religious Behavior

Aryeh Lazar
College of Judea and Samaria

Based on the notion that both fear of death and religious motivation are expressions of deeper basic human concerns, the relation between fear of personal death and religious motivation was examined using multidimensional measures of both constructs. Hierarchical regression analysis of the responses of 123 Israeli Jews showed that, after controlling for demographic variables and for religiosity, interpersonal, intrapersonal and transpersonal fear of death measures contributed to the prediction of corresponding interpersonal, intrapersonal and transpersonal measures of religious motivation.

The Clergy as a Source of Mental Health Assistance:
What Americans Believe

Christopher G. Ellison
Margaret L. Vaaler
University of Texas at Austin

Kevin J. Flannelly
The Healthcare Chaplaincy, New York

Andrew J. Weaver
Boston Wesleyan Association

Although clergy remain a popular source of advice and assistance for persons dealing with mental health issues, there is little solid empirical evidence about this type of help-seeking. Using data from a special mental health module in the 1996 NORC General Social Survey, we examine popular attitudes toward the role of clergy as frontline mental health workers. Among the key findings: (1) Regular church attenders are more likely to approve of this role, as are biblical literalists, while Catholics are less prone to regard clergy as an appropriate source of mental health assistance. (2) Older persons (ages 60 and over) are much more likely to endorse a mental health role for clergy, while the effects of other sociodemographic characteristics are minimal. (3) Clergy are seen as less appropriate sources of help in cases of certain specific problems, e.g., schizophrenia, and for persons who are perceived to pose a danger to others. Implications of these findings and study limitations are discussed, and several important research directions are identified.

Coping with Ministry: Development of a Multidimensional Measure of
Internal Orientation to the Demands of Ministry

Maureen Miner
Martin Dowson
University of Western Sydney

Sam Sterland
National Church Life Survey Research

Secularization, with its accompanying loss of institutional legitimation and plurality of belief systems, poses difficulties for clergy. Some ministers respond to these difficulties by developing an internal orientation to ministry through reliance on spiritual practice, autonomy and a sense of personal competence. Others rely on external sources of legitimation, such as their congregation or denomination, and exhibit an external orientation to ministry. This paper describes the development and initial validation of a multidimensional measure designed to investigate the structure of an internal orientation to the demands of church ministry in the context of a secularized society. Study 1 details the construction of the Orientation to the Demands of Ministry Survey (ODM-S) and its initial testing with a sample (N=112) of ministry trainees. The factor structure of the measure supports dimensions comprising spiritual practice, autonomy and competence. Study 2 comprises a validation of the refined ODM-S measure with a sample of ministers from four Protestant denominations (N=261). Substantial replication of the factor structure in Study 2 supports the ODM-S’s construct validity. Implications for the psychological impact of secularization are discussed, together with recommendations regarding future research using the ODM-S.