The Contribution of Meaning Making and Religiosity to Individuals' Psychological Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prosocial Orientation Matters

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected individuals' psychological well-being worldwide, thus representing a challenge for flourishing among emerging adults. To understand psychological processes involved in the positive adaptation to this challenge, the present study examined the role of meaning in life and religious identity as crucial resources for flourishing in a sample of 255 Italian emerging adults. Specifically, as in the midst of a stressful event individuals may experience the potential for flourishing through the process of search for meaning, the study examined the mediated role of existential, spiritual/religious and prosocial orientations as the three primary trajectories for building meaning. Results from path analytic mediation models revealed a positive influence of presence of meaning and in-depth exploration on flourishing. Findings also suggested the contribution of prosocial orientation in building meaning and, ultimately, in increasing flourishing. Implications are discussed. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Europe's Journal of Psychology is the property of Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Paranormal Beliefs, Vaccine Confidence, and COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake

Conservative religious ideologies have been linked to vaccine hesitancy. Yet, little is known about how paranormal beliefs relate to vaccine confidence and uptake. We hypothesize that paranormal beliefs will be negatively related to both confidence and uptake due to their association with lower levels of trust in science and a greater acceptance of conspiratorial beliefs. We test this hypothesis using a new nationally representative sample of U.S. adults fielded in May and June of 2021 by NORC. Using regression models with a sample of 1,734, we find that paranormal beliefs are negatively associated with general vaccine confidence, COVID-19 vaccine confidence, and COVID-19 vaccine uptake. These associations are partially or fully attenuated net of trust in science and conspiratorial belief. Although not a focus of the study, we also find that Christian nationalism's negative association with the outcomes is fully accounted for by measures of trust in science and conspiratorial beliefs. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Sociology of Religion is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Do fear and perceived knowledge of Covid-19 drive sustainable consumption behaviour in Muslims? The mediating role of religiosity

PurposeThis research aims to investigate the impact of fear and perceived knowledge (PK) of Covid-19 on the sustainable consumption behaviour (SCB) of Muslim consumers and to test the mediating role of (intrinsic) religiosity.Design/methodology/approachA total of 417 responses were collected during Covid-19 lockdown through an online structured survey using the snowball technique. A two-step research approach was adopted. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis was performed on the SCB measurement scale through SPSS. In Study 2, hypothesised associations were analysed using SmartPLS-SEM.FindingsPK of Covid-19 pandemic directly motivates SCB in Muslim consumers, whereas fear has no direct effect on any factor of SCB. Religiosity is found to be a significant driver of SCB. Indirect effects also depict that religiosity positively mediates the association between fear and SCB as well as PK and SCB.Practical implicationsThe study may guide policymakers and marketers in using the current pandemic as a tool to inspire sustainable consumption. Religious values, teachings and knowledge about the pandemics can be publicised to create awareness and induce desired behaviour to cope with adverse events and adopt sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles among Muslim consumers.Originality/valueThe article is the pioneer of its kind to present survey research about Covid-19 fear and PK's impact on SCB through religiosity. It adds to the Islamic marketing literature about religiosity, coping theory, PK and fear of pandemics and their role in transitioning Muslim consumers towards SCB. Moreover, the use of partial least squares structural equation modelling in the context of Covid-19 research was extended.

Believing in science: Linking religious beliefs and identity with vaccination intentions and trust in science during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite evidence supporting numerous scientific issues (e.g. climate change, vaccinations) many people still doubt the legitimacy of science. Moreover, individuals may be prone to scepticism about scientific findings that misalign with their ideological beliefs and identities. This research investigated whether trust in science (as well as government and media) and COVID-19 vaccination intentions varied as a function of (non)religious group identity, religiosity, religion-science compatibility beliefs, and/or political orientation in two online studies (N = 565) with university students and a Canadian community sample between January and June 2021. In both studies, vaccination intentions and trust in science varied as a function of (non)religious group identity and beliefs. Vaccine hesitancy was further linked to religiosity through a lack of trust in science. Given the ideological divides that the pandemic has exacerbated, this research has implications for informing public health strategies for relaying scientific findings to the public and encouraging vaccine uptake in culturally appropriate ways.

Openness relates to COVID-19 vaccination rates across 48 United States but politics Trump personality

Does geographic variation in personality across the United States relate to COVID-19 vaccination rates? To answer this question, we combined multiple state-level datasets: (a) Big Five personality averages (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness;Rentfrow et al., 2008), (b) COVID-19 full-vaccination rates (CDC, 2021a), (c) health-relevant demographic covariates (population density, per capita gross domestic product, and racial/ethnic data;Webster et al., 2021), and (d) political and religiosity data. Analyses showed openness as the strongest correlate of full-vaccination rates (r = 0.51). Controlling for other traits, demographic covariates, and spatial dependence, openness remained significantly related to full-vaccination rates (r(p) = 0.55). Adding political and religiosity data to this model diminished openness effects for full-vaccination rates to non-significance (r(p) = 0.26);however, extraversion emerged as a significant correlate of full-vaccination rates (r(p) = 0.37). Although politics are paramount, we suspect that states with higher average openness scores are more conducive to novel thinking and behavior-dispositions that may be crucial in motivating people to take newly-developed vaccines based on new technologies to confront a novel coronavirus.

Trust in God: The COVID‐19 Pandemic's Impact on Religiosity in China

Emerging research shows the COVID‐19 pandemic has made substantial changes to the religious climate of several nations. Surprisingly, China, the outbreak center of the pandemic, has been scarcely researched. Our study investigates how the COVID‐19 pandemic has evoked new religious disaster responses and provided psychological coping mechanisms during the pandemic. We also explore how the pandemic explains surprising rates of religiosity in China. Scholars have long proposed that religious resurgence in China has been a result of individuals seeking stability in turbulent times. We bridge parallel literature in these areas and treat the pandemic as natural experiment for evaluating religious behavior over time as conditioned by heightened risk perception. Utilizing a difference‐in‐differences estimation strategy with panel data, our study reveals that the pandemic has led to a significant increase in religiosity in China, particularly in religious areas most affected by the pandemic. We propose that even in a highly regulative religious environment, with most of its population being religiously unaffiliated, religion is a significant resource for coping in China. We take an innovative approach to demonstrate this utilizing online search data. Our research speaks to the sociology of religion, the social psychology of risk perception, and makes application to emerging research on the unfolding COVID‐19 pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Impact of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Religiosity: Evidence from Germany

How does a major external shock that potentially threatens the community and the individual impact religiosity in the context of ongoing secularization? Do individuals in a rich and secularized society such as Germany react to potential community‐level (sociotropic) and individual‐level (egotropic) threat with heightened religiosity? We estimate multilevel regression models to investigate the impact of sociotropic and egotropic existential security threats associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic on individuals' religiosity. Our data come from a rolling cross‐sectional online survey conducted in Germany among 7,500 respondents across 13 waves in 2020. Our findings suggest that a global health pandemic such as COVID‐19 increases individuals' perception of existential and economic threat, which, in turn, leads to an increase in religiosity. However, this relationship is only true for egotropic existential security threat but not for sociotropic threat. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

COVID-19 and spiritual well-being: implications for social work

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented health challenges across all strata in society throughout the world. During this time, spiritual care forms a vital component of holistic health management, especially in terms of coping, coming to terms with illness, sufferings, and ultimately death. Spiritual care deals with the provision of compassion and empathy during the time of heightened stress, distress, and anxiety. Spirituality refers to the individual's personal experience that provides a greater sense of inner peace, harmony, hopefulness, and compassion for others and oneself. The term "Spiritus” is a latin word which means "the breath,” that is the most vital element for life. Religiousness may focus on the personal attitude, emotions, and personality factors. Spirituality may encompass positive emotions- love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, trust, gratitude, and awe. Religion refers to the interpersonal and institutional aspects of religio-spirituality based on the doctrine, values, and traditions of a formal religious group. This paper seeks to highlight the role of spirituality in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic with use of social work throughout this process.

The Correlation Between Religiosity and Death Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Palestine

Previous studies have demonstrated that religiosity may be a predictive factor for anxiety related to death among adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic;however, current study variables have not been examined among Palestinians. This correlational study was the first to test the association between religiosity and death anxiety among Palestinians in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sample data consisted of 548 Palestinian adults. Data was collected through online advertisements, e-mail, and social media campaigns. Findings confirmed that death anxiety negatively correlated with religiosity (r = -.31, p<0.01). Regression analysis for predicting anxiety related to death determined that religiosity accounted for statistical and significant variance in death anxiety (B=-.191, SE=.040, fl=-.20). It is recommended that further studies be conducted to explore the correlation between our current study variables and other related variables. This study also recommends the development of intervention programs to decrease death anxiety during pandemics or crises and enhance the protective factors of individuals.

Epidemics and the Imaginary of the Sinful City

Epidemics have always had a very close link with cities, represented as the place characterized by differences, exchanges and contaminations. The cause of this urban connotation of epidemics, however, is the result not only of physical and urban features of the cities but also of their cultural traits and of their symbolic representation, their being always imagined as the place of licentious mores, of perdition and sin. Today, in the years of the pandemic by Covid-19, again, the precautions suggested by science are accompanied by those related to the need to keep a respectful behaviour of religious dictates to be able to rely on divine benevolence. Within the process of pluralization which characterizes postmodernity, alongside heuristic models based on models of scientific rationality, others attributable to criteria and categories linked to religion have found some space. Sometimes attributable to a specific religious belief, others to a more general religiosity that often disregards a more structured feeling of belonging towards a subjective spirituality. Also the research whose results are being discussed, has revealed a profound religiosity differentiated in form and intensity, and has showed how much the process of rationalization is related to the one of `re-enchantment' of the world.

Religion and Religiosity in the Time of Coronavirus: a Quanti-Qualitative Research During the First Italian Confinement

This article describes the results of a research carried out in Italy in the spring of 2020, during the first confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal was to understand how collective religiosity was reconfiguring after the sudden change in rituals and ways of being a community. The questionnaire, disseminated through the networks of contacts and religious groups present on social media, collected 913 responses on a largely self-selected non-probabilistic and convenience sample. From the analysis of the results, it emerged that the respondents did not experience an increase in their religious sentiment, so much so that confinement did not question their value scale, while it strongly influenced daily life and interpersonal sharing, with respect to faith, to belonging and to religious practice, with an expansion of the mediated and mediatic dimensions of religiosity.

THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN EFFECTS ON MENTAL WELL-BEING AND RELIGIOSITY: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA

We investigate the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on frequency of online search on mental well-being and religiosity-related terms in Indonesia using high-frequency data from Google Trends and Bank Indonesia Consumer Survey from January 1st, 2018, to February 28th, 2021. Monthly search terms and consumer survey data are merged at the provincial level, which results in a total of 131,300 individual observations. Using event analysis and instrumental variable approaches, our study suggests that lockdown policy is significantly associated with higher search intensity of mental well-being and religiosity-related terms compared to the pre-lockdown period. Our findings suggest that mentally disturbed people tend to lean on religion to cope with stressful events during a crisis. Our study has substantial policy implications on ensuring appropriate government interventions that minimize the detrimental effect of COVID-19 on mental well-being. © 2023 University of Ljubljana - Veterinary Faculty. All rights reserved.

The Sabbath Observer, the Idiosyncratist, and the Religious Organization: How the EEOC Imagines Religion at Work

Charged with enforcing Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plays an overlooked but profoundly important role in shaping American religious life. While scholars of religion, law, and American culture have devoted a great deal of energy to analyzing the ways that federal courts define religion for the purposes of protecting it, they have paid less attention to the role of administrative agencies, like the EEOC. In this article, I argue that the private workplace offers a critical site for understanding how the state regulates and manages American religious life. I look to the EEOC's regulatory guidelines and compliance manuals as important sources for understanding the shifting relationship between religion, law, and work in the United States. I identify three modes of religiosity—or three types of religious actors—existing in tension in the EEOC archive, each bearing a distinct genealogy: the Sabbath Observer, the Idiosyncratist, and the Organization. While gesturing to very different notions of what religion is, the figures of the Idiosyncratist and the Organization both assume that demands of religion and work can be neatly reconciled. They presume that religion can be seamlessly integrated into the workplace without disrupting the functioning of capitalism. However, for those concerned about economic inequality, corporate power, and neoliberal working conditions, I suggest that it may be useful to revisit the EEOC's Sabbath Observer, who insists on the right to collective forms of life and value outside of work and the market.

Effects of religiosity, halal knowledge and halal certification on the intention of Muslims to use the halal vaccine during Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effect of religiosity (RE), halal knowledge (HK) and halal certification (HC), attitudes, subjective norms and vaccine quality on the Muslim community's intention to use halal vaccines in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach: This study involved 725 Muslim respondents in 32 Indonesian provinces. The model used was based on the theory of reasoned action development with the partial least squares structural equation modeling as the data processing tool. Findings: The study discovered that RE, HK and HC did not affect the intention of Muslims to use halal vaccines. In addition, the MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia – Indonesia Council of Ulama) fatwa permitting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine despite the haram ingredients was considered an excuse for Muslims to administer non-halal vaccines. However, several parties disagreed on the fatwa because the emergency legal standing for its permissibility did not apply to all regions. The reason was that each had different rates of confirmed cases, ranging from high-risk areas to those with zero confirmed Covid-19 cases. Originality/value: This study examines the Muslim community's intention toward using halal vaccines in several regions in Indonesia. In addition, this study conducted in-depth interviews as samples in several regions. This study also conducted interviews to determine the public's views on government obligation about the Covid-19 vaccine. Finally, this study proposes a vaccine to avoid the possibility of controversy over the use of non-halal vaccines. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Online religiosity in the COVID-19 pandemic

The period characterized by restrictions due to COVID-19 represented a unique opportunity to study completely new social phenomena. In fact, what was previously a possibility, such as entertaining activities through online media, become a forced condition to satisfy one's need for sociality and search for meaning. Starting from reflections about mediated interactions, social presence and online religiosity, this work focuses on a case study involving an evangelic religious community. In this context, the changing dynamics in the passage from <<real world to a <<virtual one, were analysed. The participants' words-gained through interview and focus group discussions-enabled to reconstruct the phases of online activities, the ambivalence about <<social presence as well as the opportunities and limits of online worship. As a consequence, the uniqueness of the place of cult for an authentic religious experience emerged. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Italian) Il periodo di restrizioni legato al Covid-19 ha rappresentato un'occasione unica per studiare fenomeni sociali inediti: cio che prima era una possibilita, come svolgere attivita online, si tramuta in una condizione coatta per poter soddisfare i bisogni di socialita e di ricerca di senso. Partendo dalla riflessione sui temi dell'interazione mediata, della presenza sociale e della religiosita online, il presente lavoro offre un contributo di ricerca, mediante l'analisi del caso di una comunita religiosa evangelica, finalizzato ad indagare la molteplicita delle dinamiche che possono originarsi nel passaggio da un contesto <<reale a quello <<virtuale. Le parole dei partecipanti - raccolte mediante intervista al Pastore e focus group con i membri della comunita religiosa - consentono di ricostruire le fasi di implementazione dell'attivita online, l'ambivalenza legata alla <<presenza sociale nonche le opportunita e limiti del culto online, riflessioni dalle quali emerge la definizione del luogo di culto come cronotopo unico per un'esperienza religiosa autentica. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

A SOCIOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL RELIGION, WORSHIP AND PIETY IN CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY IN NIGERIA

Religion has found its way to the digital space. Digital religion, worship and piety are becoming more conspicuous than ever in Christianity in Nigeria. This reality has raised a great deal of questions concerning the compatibility of religion and the cyberspace. The moral and community aspects of religion have also been somewhat thwarted and the academic study of religion became even more complex. This study interrogates the digital religion, worship and piety phenomenon in the light of Emile Durkheim's functional theory of religion and Jeremy Bentham's ethical theory, utilitarianism. This descriptive study garners data from focus group discussions, participant observation, interviews, and published literature, and adopts the inductive approach to research and analyzes data thematically. Findings show that the 2020 COVID-19 restrictions on physical contact heightened digital religion in Nigeria. A sociological and ethical analysis of the phenomenon of digital religion is instructive and reveals that digital religion is laced with a great deal of social and moral gains, as well as pitfalls. Digital religion also complicates the academic study of religion in contemporary times. To counter all these, this paper recommends, among other things, that caution should be taken in order not to make a total transition to digital religion, but rather use a hybridized form. Again, the paper recommends the deployment of rule utilitarianism in order to clearly define acceptable rules for digital religion, worship and piety, and scholars of religion should use the already available knowledge of digital methodologies to be able to better analyze the evolution of religion in contemporary times.

The intention of small and medium enterprises' owners to participate in waqf: the case of Malaysia and Indonesia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owners' intentions to participate in waqf, involving two countries, which are Malaysia and Indonesia, using the theory of planned behavior. SMEs are the backbone of many economies, representing 95% of all companies worldwide and accounting for 60% of employment. Based on this fact, this paper analyzes the influence of religiosity, knowledge and attitude to predict the intentions of SMEs' owners in waqf participation in Malaysia and Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachData were randomly obtained from 175 SMEs owners from Malaysia and Indonesia with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) used for analysis.FindingsThe empirical analysis data suggest that knowledge and attitude show a significant impact on the intentions of SMEs' owners to participate in waqf, while religiosity does not have a significant impact on the intentions of Malaysian and Indonesian SMEs' owners to participate in waqf.Practical implicationsThis study aims to assist SMEs in Malaysia and Indonesia to formulate appropriate strategies and marketing using waqf for the sustainability of SMEs which represent more than 90% of business establishments in both countries. The strategy is a necessity, especially because the government is targeting to promote a sustainable Islamic financial system, improve governance policy and halal industry for SMEs, strengthen the development of Malay Reserve land, providing as financial independence to higher learning institutions and invest in digitalization and advanced technology through waqf funds. Therefore, both countries should take the initiative to provide training to equip SMEs with extensive knowledge through multiple platforms to further encourage their participation in waqf.Originality/valueBecause of the increasing interest in waqf participation both in Malaysia and Indonesia, this study claims three essential contributions. First, it aims to examine the intention of SMEs in waqf participation among the business owners in Malaysia and Indonesia. Second, the study findings are expected to benefit the development of literature in accordance with Islamic social finance, particularly waqf. Third, this study provides an insight into the inclusive knowledge and attitude of SME owners and their intention to participate in waqf.

COVID-19 related stress, quality of life, and intrinsic religiosity among college students during the global pandemic: A cross-sectional study

The purpose of this correlational, cross-sectional design study was to examine the relationships between COVID-19-related stress, quality of life (QOL), and intrinsic religiosity of university students during the pandemic. Data were collected using the Psychological General Well-being Index, Impact of Events Scale-Revised, and Duke University Religiosity Index and analyzed using Pearson's r, bivariate analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. For the sample of 422 participants, COVID-19-related stress was negatively associated with QOL, while religiosity was positively associated with participants' QOL. Religiosity, however, did not moderate the relationship between stress and QOL. Institutions of higher education should consider providing additional mental health support and self-care initiatives to improve student stress responses. Understanding the effects of religiosity on student stress responses and QOL would allow faculty and institutions to prioritize holistic care, including spiritual care in conjunction with religiosity. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Awe Correlates With Resilience to COVID-19 Stressors Independent of Religiosity.

Awe is an emotion defined by an experience of vastness and cognitive accommodation that is unique among other positive emotions in that its cognitive effects are more similar to those of negative emotions. The current study posits that because of its unique cognitive effects, awe may related to resilience to stressors introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hypothesized that awe would significantly correlate with resilience to COVID-19 even when controlling for religiosity. Religiosity was included in the analyses because of strong support in previous research connecting it to both awe and resilience. Regression analyses revealed that awe and religiosity were both significant correlates of resilience but when placed in the same model, the relationship between religiosity and resilience disappeared. An exploratory mediation analysis was conducted to further explore this result. Implications for understanding resilience in the face of COVID-19 and directions for future research are discussed.

SIGNIFICANCE OF APPLYING OF THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR, SELF-COMPASSION AND RELIGIOSITY IN COVID 19 PANDEMIC AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This paper aims to determine the relationship between self-compassion and religiosity in COVID 19 pandemic. Appreciation of religion (attadayyun) or religiosity is an important aspect in a person's life as it has a major influence on behaviour, practices and personality. Selfcompassion is an individual's self-perception that can help understand and persuade oneself with positive words when facing difficult times in life or when committing a transgression by not trying extreme self-criticism and admitting that all that happens is part of a good experience in life. The hypothesis in this study states that there is a positive relationship between self-compassion, Theory of Planned Behaviour and religiosity. This shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between self-compassion, Theory of Planned Behaviour and religiosity when facing the COVID 19 pandemic. This indicates that the higher the self-compassion, the higher the religiosity when facing the COVID 19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results is the property of ResearchTrentz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)