Spirituality During COVID-19
Faculty Mentor
Philip Watkins
Document Type
Poster
Start Date
10-5-2023 9:00 AM
End Date
10-5-2023 10:45 AM
Location
PUB NCR
Department
Psychology
Abstract
We conducted a study of gratitude for God that was present during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gratitude towards God has been shown to be important to spiritual well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine how the confidence in the existence of God impacted the relationship between gratitude to God and spiritual struggles during the Pandemic. This study was conducted with online self-report questionnaires. 236 participants were randomly assigned to describe either a positive event or an important positive spiritual event. Participants either recalled “the three most important positive experiences in their lives” or “the most important spiritual experience in their life.” They then wrote about the most important experience. The questionnaire also had items that queried participants’ current emotions, one’s disposition toward gratitude to God, and various aspects of emotional well-being. Participants also answered questions about their religious/spiritual struggles during the pandemic.
Results showed that the relationship between spiritual struggles and gratitude to God depended on their confidence in the existence of God. From the questionnaire we were able to break down the participants' confidence in the existence of God into three groups (little or none [0%-40%] moderate [50%-70%] and strong [80%-100%]). Individuals showing very little confidence in God’s existence showed a positive association between spiritual struggles and gratitude to God. However, participants showing a strong belief in God showed significant negative correlation between gratitude to God and spiritual struggles, suggesting that for individuals who are confident in God’s existence, gratitude to God may protect them from spiritual struggles.
Recommended Citation
Baber, Rebecca, "Spirituality During COVID-19" (2023). 2023 Symposium. 42.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2023/res_2023/p1_2023/42
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Spirituality During COVID-19
PUB NCR
We conducted a study of gratitude for God that was present during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gratitude towards God has been shown to be important to spiritual well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine how the confidence in the existence of God impacted the relationship between gratitude to God and spiritual struggles during the Pandemic. This study was conducted with online self-report questionnaires. 236 participants were randomly assigned to describe either a positive event or an important positive spiritual event. Participants either recalled “the three most important positive experiences in their lives” or “the most important spiritual experience in their life.” They then wrote about the most important experience. The questionnaire also had items that queried participants’ current emotions, one’s disposition toward gratitude to God, and various aspects of emotional well-being. Participants also answered questions about their religious/spiritual struggles during the pandemic.
Results showed that the relationship between spiritual struggles and gratitude to God depended on their confidence in the existence of God. From the questionnaire we were able to break down the participants' confidence in the existence of God into three groups (little or none [0%-40%] moderate [50%-70%] and strong [80%-100%]). Individuals showing very little confidence in God’s existence showed a positive association between spiritual struggles and gratitude to God. However, participants showing a strong belief in God showed significant negative correlation between gratitude to God and spiritual struggles, suggesting that for individuals who are confident in God’s existence, gratitude to God may protect them from spiritual struggles.
