Religious Experience as a Predictor of the Meaning in Life and Life Satisfaction in the Lives of Polish Women after a Stillbirth.

Many researchers have demonstrated the relationship of religiosity with dimensions of mental health such as searching for meaning in life, the presence of meaning in life, and life satisfaction. Hence, this study attempts to link such aspects of religiosity with the experience of the presence and/or absence of God with the search for and presence of meaning in life and satisfaction with life among a group of Polish women who have experienced a stillbirth in the past five years. The study included 64 women who lost a baby through stillbirth after the 22nd week of gestation. All the women were born into Christian families and declared themselves to be Christians and actively practicing their faith. Women's ages ranged from 29 to 47 years. The research results showed that the experience of God's presence and absence have a positive and significant relationship with the search for meaning in life and the presence of meaning in life, as well as with the satisfaction with life in the lives of women after stillbirth. The strongest relationship was between the presence of meaning in life and life satisfaction (r = .72; p < .01), God's presence and life satisfaction (r = .66; p < .01), as well as the presence of meaning in life and the search for meaning in life (r = .57; p < .01). The structural equation model showed that the experience of God's presence and God's absence have a significant, direct impact on the search for meaning in life and the presence of meaning in life, and the satisfaction with life. These also have an indirect impact on the satisfaction with life in the lives of women who have lost a child to stillbirth.

The Relationship Between Meaning in Life, Life Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction with Religious Experience in the Life of Polish Nurses.

This article examines the relationship between mental health dimensions such as meaning in life, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction, and the religious experience of God's presence and God's absence in the lives of Polish nurses with a bachelor and master's degree. The research was carried out in the city of Kraków, Poland. All nurses were brought up in Catholic families and declared themselves believing and practicing. The following research tools were used: the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Satisfaction with Job Scale, and the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale. Data analysis showed that the education level of Polish nurses does not significantly differentiate the analyzed variables. The correlation analysis showed that the strongest relationship was between satisfaction with life and satisfaction with job in the group of nurses with a bachelor's degree and nurses with a master's degree. The regression analysis showed that the strongest predictor of God's presence in the group of nurses with a bachelor's degree was satisfaction with job, and in the group of nurses with a master's degree it was satisfaction with life. The structural equation analysis revealed that the satisfaction with life plays an important and positive mediation role between the presence of the meaning in life and the search for the meaning in life, and the experience of God's presence and the experience of God's absence in the life of nurses.

Psychological Analysis of Religiosity and Spirituality: Construction of the Scale of Abandonment by God (SAG).

The issue of religiosity and spirituality and their measurement are quite well developed fields in the psychology of religion. However, the literature shows a lack of research tools to measure the religious experience of the feeling of abandonment by God among followers of the Catholic religion. The purpose of this article is to fulfill this gap through the presentation of the notion of 'God abandonment', and its operationalization, by constructing the Scale of Abandonment by God: SAG (Skala Opuszczenia Przez Boga-SOPB). The psychometric value of the tool was evaluated, that is the reliability and validity. In order to achieve this goal, three stages of instrument development (item generation, scale development, and instrument testing) were undertaken in three studies. Stage 1: The pilot study concerned the development of positive statements about the concept of the Catholic experience of God (i.e., the subjective feeling of the experience of God's abandonment in the life of a contemporary person, as well as showing to what extent this belief can affect some aspects of his/her life). Stage 2: Was designed to perform exploratory factor analysis and test-retest reliability to assess stability of the SAG in a three-week time range. Stage 3: Validation of the SAG by Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed. Result: The SAG can be recognized as a one-factor measure of the feeling of abandonment by God. Because the content of the SAG items indicate the positive aspects of the abandonment of God, this can assist people living in Catholic societies.

Psychological Analysis of Religious Experience: The Construction of the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale (IRES).

The aim of this article is to present the issues of religious experience, and the associated experience of God's presence and God's absence, and then its operationalization, as well as to construct the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale, IRES (Skala Intensywnosci Doswiadczenia Religijnego, SIDR). The value of psychometric tool, the reliability and validity, were assessed. The study was conducted in three steps. Study 1 concerned the generalization of statements related to conception of Catholic religious experience; i.e., the subjective feeling whether one experiences God's presence and God's absence, and how such beliefs affect certain aspects of a person's life. Study 2 was carried out on the sample of 217 people and was designed to perform Exploratory Factor Analysis and to assess three-week test-retest reliability of the IRES. Study 3 was based on the sample of 368 people and was aimed to perform Confirmatory Factor Analysis and concurrent validation of the IRES. The analysis of the religious experience showed that this kind of human experience has its own structure. The explication of the subject has confirmed the existence of two positive factors of religious experience; i.e., a subjective sense of experience of God's presence and God's absence that can influence on life of people living in the Catholic religion environment.

The Relationship of Forgiveness and Values with Meaning in Life of Polish Students.

The purpose of this article was to show the relationship of terminal values and forgiveness with meaning in life in Polish students who consider themselves faithful and practicing. The study involved youth studying at the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow. It was carried out among 368 students. The age of the participants ranged between 19 and 23. Three tools were applied: Rokeach Value Survey, Forgiveness Scale by Toussaint, and the Purpose in Life Test of Crumbaugh and Maholick. The analysis of the results obtained proves that terminal values and forgiveness have a statistically significant relationship with meaning in the life of the studying youth.

Values as Predictors of Religious Experience in the Lives of Seminary Students of Philosophy and Students of Physics.

The aim of this study was to show the preferences of terminal values of personal and social character and the level of religious experience: God's presence and God's absence, as well as to examine the relationship between the two variables in the groups of seminary students of philosophy and students of physics. The following methods were applied in the study: Rokeach Value Survey and Glaz's Scale of Religious Experience. The study was conducted amongst university students in Kraków (Poland). The results of 100 correctly completed sets of questionnaires were analysed. The results analysis proves that seminary students of philosophy have a higher level of religious experience: God's presence and God's absence than students of physics. Seminary students of philosophy most preferred terminal values in personal and in social character. In the group of seminary students of philosophy, from amongst the four most preferred terminal values, two have a significant relation with the experience of God's presence and God's absence, whereas in the group of students of physics only one of them has a significant relation with the experience of God's absence.

The Importance of Terminal Values and Religious Experience of God's Presence and God's Absence in the Lives of University Students with Various Levels of Empathy.

The aims of the research I embarked on were: (a) to show the preference of terminal values in personal and in social character, as well to determine the level of religious experience--God's presence and God's absence, in groups of young people characterized by a high and low level of empathy and (b) to show the relation between terminal values in personal and in social character and religious experience: God's presence and God's absence, in groups of young people with a high and low level of empathy. In the research, the following methods were applied: The Scale of Religious Experience by Glaz-in order to define the level of religious experience: God's presence and God's absence, and Mehrabian and Epstein's Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy-in order to define the level of empathy. In order to show the terminal values preference amongst young people, the Rokeach Value Survey was applied. The research was carried out in Kraków amongst 200 university students. The research has shown that students with a high level of empathy reveal a higher level of experience of God's presence than the people with a low level of it. University students with a high level of empathy amongst terminal values prefer most two values in personal character, that is wisdom and pleasure, and one in social character-family security. Similarly, students with a low level of empathy prefer most also two values in personal character, that is pleasure and freedom, and one in social character-family security. In the group of people with a high level of empathy, it is value in personal character-a sense of accomplishment-that contribute more to explaining the variance of religious experience of God's presence, and in group of people with a low level of empathy, it is social value-social recognition. Whereas in the group of people with a high level of empathy it is value in social character-equality-that contribute more to explaining the variance of religious experience of God's absence, and in group of people with a low level of empathy, it is personal value-salvation.