Department of Psychology, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
J Relig Health. 2021 Aug;60(4):2196-2208. doi: 10.1007/s10943-021-01296-5. Epub 2021 May 29.
Research has shown that stress impacts on people's religious beliefs. However, several aspects of this effect remain poorly understood, for example regarding the role of prior religiosity and stress-induced anxiety. This paper explores these aspects in the context of the recent coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The latter has impacted dramatically on many people's well-being; hence it can be considered a highly stressful event. Through online questionnaires administered to UK (n = 140) and USA (n = 140) citizens professing either Christian faith or no religion, this paper examines the impact of the coronavirus crisis upon common people's religious beliefs. Anxiety about the coronavirus and prior religiosity showed an interaction effect upon change in religious beliefs (t(276) = 2.27, p = .024): for strong believers higher anxiety about coronavirus was associated with increased strengthening of religious beliefs (r = .249), while for non-believers higher anxiety about coronavirus was associated with increased scepticism towards religious beliefs (r = - .157). These observations are consistent with the notion that stress-induced anxiety enhances support for an individual's existing ideology already embraced before a stressful event occurs. This study sheds light on the psychological and cultural implications of the coronavirus crisis, which represents one of the most serious health emergencies in recent times.
研究表明，压力会影响人们的宗教信仰。然而，这种影响的几个方面仍未得到很好的理解，例如宗教信仰的先验性和压力引起的焦虑的作用。本文探讨了在最近的冠状病毒大流行（COVID-19）背景下的这些方面。后者对许多人的福祉产生了巨大影响；因此，可以将其视为一个高度紧张的事件。通过向英国（n=140）和美国（n=140）的基督教徒或无宗教信仰的公民进行在线问卷调查，本文考察了冠状病毒危机对普通人宗教信仰的影响。对冠状病毒的焦虑和宗教信仰的先验性对宗教信仰的变化表现出交互作用（t（276）=2.27，p=0.024）：对于强烈的信徒来说，对冠状病毒的更高焦虑与宗教信仰的增强有关（r=0.249），而对于非信徒来说，对冠状病毒的更高焦虑与对宗教信仰的怀疑增加有关（r=-0.157）。这些观察结果与以下观点一致，即压力引起的焦虑增强了对个体在压力事件发生之前已经接受的现有意识形态的支持。本研究揭示了冠状病毒危机的心理和文化影响，这是近年来最严重的健康紧急情况之一。
