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These Anagrams Make Me Want to Punch You: General Predictors of Coping Skills
Mark Handley and Jana Hackathorn Murray State University Introduction Materials and Procedure Results The relationship between anxiety and religiosity is a complicated one at best. Many studies have shown that religiosity is often related to anxiety and coping, but sometimes it is in mysterious ways. For example, some recent studies indicate that individuals with higher levels of intrinsic religiosity tend to have reduced anxiety (Jang, et al., 2013) and lower depression (among Jewish individuals; Krumrei, Pirutinsky, & Rosmarin, 2012). Intrinsic religiosity refers to individuals who experience religion as a means in itself. This is opposed to extrinsic religiosity in which religion is practiced as a means to an end (Koenig & Bussing, 2010). Conversely, individuals who were primed with “God”, are able to spend more time on a task, but also reported more anxiety symptoms, than those in an unprimed group (Toburen & Meier, 2010). Thus, the current study was interested in this differentiating influence of religiosity on coping skills. Specifically, we were interested in whether priming (cognitively leading one to think of religion) or intrinsic religiosity (the inherent nature of one’s religiosity) were more influential in coping skills. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups: religious prime (i.e., wrote about their religious beliefs), and a control (i.e., wrote about their favorite food). Participants were given three minutes to write about their respective topics, and then were asked to complete a series of unsolvable anagrams for two minutes. Following the anagram task, participants complete a brief packet of additional measures: Intrinsic Religiosity. The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL; Koenig & Bussing, 2007) was used, with higher scores indicating higher levels of intrinsic religiosity (α = .90). Need for Closure. The Need for Closure scale (NFCL; Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993) was used, with higher scores indicating a higher need for closure of events (α = .80). Emotional Regulation. Emotion Control Questionnaire (ECQ2; Berking & Znoj, 2008 ) was used, with higher scores indicating higher levels of emotional regulation on four subscales: Rehearsal (e.g., ruminating; α = .61), Emotion Inhibition (e.g., hiding feelings; α = .70 ), Aggression (e.g., proclivity for payback; α = .66) and Benign (e.g., taking risks; α = .39). Coping Skills. The COPE scale (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). was used, with higher scores indicating higher levels of coping skills (α = .89) . As the Emotion Regulation subscales were not correlated with coping skills (See Table 1), they were removed from the final analysis. Analyses indicated that the prime was not related to coping skills (r = .08, p = .57), but was related to religiosity (r = .25, p = .090), thus was included in the regression analysis as a control. Multiple Regression analysis indicated that the overall model was significant in predicting individuals coping skills (R2 = .74, R2Adj. = .52, F(3, 44) = 17.88, p < .001; See Table 2). Table 2. Multiple Regression table of Predicting Coping Skills Model B Beta t-value p-value Prime 1.04 .06 .60 .552 DUREL .66 .49 4.60 < .001 NFCL .51 4.94 Research Questions Conclusion Will priming religiosity influence one’s coping skills of anxiety, more so than intrinsic religiosity? Does religiosity predict coping above and beyond other factors (e.g., need for closure and emotion regulation)? Although priming religiosity did not predict coping skills, higher intrinsic religiosity predicted higher coping skills. This could be because those with higher intrinsic religiosity view their beliefs as a way to deal with the stressors of life, turning their problems over to a “higher power”; this in-turn increases their ability to cope with stressors. A high need for closure also showed to be a predictor of increased coping skills. This is surprising due to the ambiguous nature of the anagram task. However, it is unclear whether this may be interacting with religiosity, with which it was also positively correlated. Future studies may way to examine whether need for closure exacerbates coping skills for those individuals who are high (as opposed to low) in intrinsic religiosity. Limitations The sample mainly consisted of participants who were of a Christian denomination. This limits religious variation, but also (perhaps more importantly) under-represents those for whom intrinsic religiosity is not a necessary trait. Future studies should include a wider array of religious and non-religious denominations. Future Research Future studies should be examine how self-regulation may play a role in coping skills, as research has shown that those with higher levels of religiosity, have increased self-regulation abilities (Watterson & Giesler, 2012). References Upon Request Contact Info: Table 1. Correlations Coefficients for Coping Skills * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001 Participants Participants (N = 48) were recruited through introductory psychology courses at a regional Midwestern university. Participants’ age ranged from 18 to 34 years of age (M = 19.80, I = 2.8, Med = 19.00). Participants’ ethnicities were reported as predominantly Caucasian (84.8%), and African-American (4.4%), Asian (2.2.) Hispanic (2.2%), and others such as bi-racial (6.5%). Participants’ religious affiliations included predominantly Christian/Protestant religions (65.6%), Catholic (16.7%), and other religions (4.2%). Additionally, participants were Atheist/Agnostic or not spiritually affiliated (12.5%). DUREL NFCL Rehearsal Inhibit Aggression Benign -- .149 -.021 .161 Inhibition -.282 .075 -.336* .078 .092 -.360* .439** -.024 .076 -.133 .191 .397** COPE .55*** .58*** .008 -.24 -.10 .11
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