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We tested preregistered hypotheses (a) examining the structure of supernatural beliefs and perceived experiences and (b) predicting supernatural engagement from the Big Five and cognitive styles. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of self-report data in the U.S. undergraduates (Study 1: n = 1,401; Study 2: n = 1,939) showed that beliefs and perceived experiences were characterized by two factors. Positive and Negative Agents factors related strongly to religious belief salience and were defined by God, the devil, angels, demons, and ghosts/spirits, whereas Forces and Spirits factors were unrelated to religious belief salience and were defined by fate/destiny, karma, and ghosts/spirits. Extraversion, conscientiousness, experiential processing, schizotypy, and dissociative tendencies related positively to supernatural engagement. With some nuances, agreeableness, neuroticism, and need for closure were positive predictors, whereas skepticism and analytical-rational processing were negative predictors. Openness and intellectual humility did not relate positively to supernatural engagement, contradicting expectations. Because the literature on individual differences predictors of supernatural engagement is not well integrated, these results may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated how gratitude to God (GTG) functions within the context of negative events. Specifically, we sought to locate the position of GTG within the affective circumplex and to test whether GTG relates to higher levels of perceived closeness to God (PCTG). In a cross-sectional study, participants (N = 142 U.S. undergraduate believers in God) completed self-report measures pertaining to a negative event (and positive event, for comparison purposes). Supporting preregistered hypotheses, (a) GTG was located in the pleasant half of the affective circumplex (in the activated quadrant for the negative event and the deactivated quadrant for the positive event), and (b) GTG associated with higher levels of PCTG uniquely from affect, general gratitude, and the tendency to draw close to God when stressed (for both events). These results contribute to nascent knowledge about GTG and underscore the potential importance of GTG in the process of growing spiritually through adversity.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research examined the relations between the Big Five factors of personality, religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles (tensions, conflicts, and strains pertaining to r/s life), and well-being. Participants comprised U.S. adults from an online sample (N= 1,047) and an undergraduate sample (N= 3,083). Regressions showed that people who reported higher Neuroticism and Openness, as well as lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, reported higher lifetime frequency of r/s struggles and a higher degree of current r/s struggles. In turn, both lifetime history of r/s struggles and current r/s struggles explained a modest amount of variance in different domains of well-being (psychological, hedonic, and social) above and beyond the Big Five. These results held when controlling for religiousness. Thus, lifetime history of r/s struggles and current r/s struggles may represent unique aspects of psychological experience with implications for well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Struggles with religious/spiritual (r/s) doubt occur when uncertainty, questions, and hesitancy about aspects of r/s beliefs and experiences become a source of conflict. Cross-sectional research suggests that doubt-related struggles correlate with anxiety, yet no studies have investigated the temporal patterning of the associations between these constructs. We employed three large samples (Ns = 268, 527, 292) to examine concurrent and prospective associations between struggles with r/s doubt and anxiety over three time frames: 2 weeks, 1 month, and 1 year. Analyses revealed that (a) each construct exhibited high cross-temporal stability; (b) there were moderate, positive concurrent associations between anxiety and doubt-related struggles; (c) anxiety predicted increases in doubt-related struggles over each time frame; and (d) there was mixed evidence regarding whether doubt-related struggles predicted changes in anxiety over time. The discussion focuses on how anxiety may begin to undermine confidence in one’s r/s worldview, thus destabilizing one’s r/s beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]