Research and theory combine to suggest that the relationship between religious belief and psychological well-being should be more positive among Black than among White individuals. Further, this relationship should be mediated by social psychological aspects of religion that have positive implications for well-being, such as self-enhancing religious attributions and a positive social identity associated with one's religious affiliation. These predictions were examined in a sample of 66 Black and 59 White university students. Religious belief salience and psychological well-being were moderately positively correlated, but only among Black subjects. The relationship between religious belief and well-being was partially mediated by attributions to God that enhance life meaning and positive social identification resulting from one's religious affiliation, again only among Black subjects. Implications of these results for the self-maintenance of Black college students are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allport, G. W. , & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432-443.
2.
Baker, M. , & Gorsuch, R. (1984). Trait anxiety and intrinsic-extrinsic religiousness. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 21, 119-122.
3.
Beck, A. T. , & Beck, R. W. (1972). Screening depressed patients in family practice: A rapid technic. Postgraduate Medicine, 52, 81-85.
4.
Beck, A. T. , Weissman, A., Lester, D., & Trexler, L. (1974). The measurement of pessimism: The hopelessness scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 861-865.
5.
Beeghley, L. , Van Velsor, E., & Bock, E. W. (1981). The correlates of religiosity among Black and White Americans. Sociological Quarterly, 20, 49-62.
6.
Bergin, A. E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical reevaluation and meta-analysis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 14(2), 170-184.
7.
Bergin, A. E. (1991). Values and religious issues in psychotherapy and mental health. American Psychologist, 46, 394-403.
8.
Bergin, A. E. , Masters, K. S., & Richards, P. S. (1987). Religiousness and mental health reconsidered: A study of an intrinsically religious sample. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 197-204.
9.
Blaine, B. , Crocker, J., & Tomaka, J. (1992). Sources of self-esteem: Structural analysis and individual differences. Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Buffalo.
10.
Carver, C. S. , Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267-283.
11.
Crocker, J. , Luhtanen, R., Blaine, B., & Broadnax, S. (1993a). Judgments of personal and group disadvantage and discrimination: L African-American, Asian, and White college students evaluate their lot. Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Buffalo.
12.
Crocker, J. , Luhtanen, R., Blaine, B., & Broadnax, S. (1993b). Judgments of disadvantage, prejudice, and discimination: I. African-American, Asian, and White college students evaluate their lot. Unpublished manuscript, State University of New York at Buffalo.
13.
Crocker, J. , Luhtanen, R., Blaine, B., & Broadnax, S. (1994). Collective self-esteem and psychological well-being among White, Black, and Asian college students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 503-513.
14.
Crocker, J. , & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Buletin, 96, 608-630.
15.
Crocker, J. , Voelkl, K., Testa, M., & Major, B. (1991). Social stigma: The affective consequences of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 218-228.
16.
Diener, E. , Emmons, A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale: A measure of life satisfaction. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
17.
Dovidio, J. F. , & Gaertner, S. L. (1986). Prejudice, discrimination, and racism: Historical trends and contemporary approaches. In J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 1-34). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
18.
Ellison, C. G. (1991). Identification and separatism: Religious involvement and racial orientations among Black Americans. Sociological Quarterly, 32, 477-494.
19.
Gallup, G.,Jr. (1984). The religion report: Religion in America. Princeton, NJ: Gallup Report
20.
Greenwald, A. G. (1980). The totalitarian ego: Fabrication and revision of personal history. American Psychologist, 35, 603-618.
21.
Hammond, P. E. (1988). Religion and the persistence of identity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 27, 1-11.
22.
Hathaway, W. L. , & Pargament, K. I. (1990). Intrinsic religiousness, religious coping, and psychosocial competence: A covariance structure analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 423-441.
23.
Hathaway, W. L. , & Pargament, K. I. (1991). The religious dimensions of coping: Implications for prevention and promotion. Prevention in Human Services, 9, 65-92.
24.
James, L. R. , & Brett, J. M. (1984). Mediators, moderators, and tests for mediation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 307-321.
25.
Janoff-Bulman, R. , & Wortman, C. B. (1977).Attributions of blame and coping in the "real world": Severe accident victims react to their lotJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 351-363.
26.
Johnson, G. D. , Matre, M., & Armbrecht, G. (1991). Race and religiosity: An empirical evaluation of a causal model. Review of Religious Research, 32252-266.
27.
Judd, C. M. , & Kenny, D. A. (1981). Process analysis: Estimating mediation in treatment evaluations. Evaluation Review, 5, 602-619.
28.
King, M. B. , & Hunt, R. A. (1975). Measuring the religious variable: National replication. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14, 13-22.
29.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. , & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Attachment theory and religion: Childhood attachments, religious beliefs, and conversion. Journal for the Scientitic Study of Religion, 29, 315-334.
30.
Luhtanen, R. , & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one's social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Buletin, 18, 302-318.
31.
Malpass, R. S. , & Symonds, J. D. (1974). Value preferences associated with social class, sex, and race. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 5, 282-300.
32.
Neff, J. A. , & Hoppe, S. K. (1993). Race/ethnicity, acculturation, and psychological distress: Fatalism and religiosity as cultural resources. Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 3-20.
33.
Nelson, P. (1989). Ethnic differences in intrinsic/extrinsic religious orientation and depression in the elderly. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 3, 199-204.
34.
Paloma, M. M. , & Pendleton, B. F. (1988). Religious domains and general well-being. Social Indicators Research, 22255-276.
35.
Paloutzian, R. F. (1980). Purpose in life and value changes following conversion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 1153-1160.
36.
Payne, I. R. , Bergin, A. E., Bielema, K. A.,& Jenkins, P. H. (1991).Review of religion and mental health: Prevention and the enhancement of psychosocial functioning. Prevention in Human Services, 9, 11-40.
37.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Conceiving the selfNew York: Basic Books.
38.
St George, A. , & McNamara, P. H. (1984). Religion, race, and psycho-logical well-being. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 23, 351-363.
39.
Shaver, P. , Lenauer, M., & Sadd, S. (1980). Religiousness, conversion, and subjective well-being: The "healthy-minded" religion of modern American women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1563-1568.
40.
Smith, C. B. , Weigert, A. J., & Thomas, D. L. (1979). Self-esteem and religiosity: An analysis of Catholic adolescents from five cultures. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 18, 51-60.
41.
Solomon, S. , Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1988). Terror management theory of self-esteem. In C. R. Snyder and D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 21-40). New York: Pergamon.
42.
Spilka, B. , Shaver, P., & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (1985). A general attribution theory for the psychology of religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 24, 1-20.
43.
Steele, C. (1992, April). Race and the schooling of Black Americans. Atlantic Monthly, pp. 68-78.
44.
Stout, H. H. (1975). Ethnicity: The vital center of religion in America. Ethnicity, 2204-224.
45.
Taylor, R. J. (1988). Structural determinants of religious determinants of religious participation among Black Americans. Review of Relgious Research, 30, 114-125.
46.
Taylor, S. (1983) . Adjustment to threatening events: A theory of cognitive adaptation. American Psychologist, 38, 1161-1173.
47.
Taylor, S. E. , & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Buletin, 103, 193-210.
48.
Taylor, R. J. , Thornton, M. C., & Chatters, L. M. (1987). Black Americans' perceptions of the sociohistorical role of the church. Journal of Black Studies, 18, 123-138.
49.
Thompson, S. (1981). Will it hurt less if I can control it? A complex answer to a simple question. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 89-101.
50.
Ullman, C. (1982). Cognitive and emotional antecedent of religious conversion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 183-192.
51.
Watson, P. J. , Morris, R. J., & Hood, R. W. (1987). Antireligious humanistic values, guilt, and self-esteem. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 26, 535-546.
