TY - JOUR
T1 - Is Religiousness a Unique Predictor of Self-Esteem? An Empirical Investigation With a Diverse Israeli Sample
AU - Abu-Raiya, Hisham
AU - Sasson, Tali
AU - Cohen, Rebecca Alma
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - The current investigation aimed to test the relationship between religiousness and self-esteem. Religiousness was measured comprehensively by four indices (i.e., religious participation, positive religious coping, fundamentalism, optimistic afterlife beliefs). In addition, the study examined the key question of whether the relationships between the different indices of religiousness and self-esteem persist after controlling for the potential confounding variable dispositional optimism. The study utilized a cross-sectional design and a sample of Israeli adults (N = 451) from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. The findings revealed weak positive zero-order correlations between all indices of religiousness and self-esteem. However, none of these indices remained predictive of self-esteem when they were entered into the regression model alongside dispositional optimism. This was true both for the sample as a whole, and for Muslim and Jewish individuals, as well as secular, traditional, and religious individuals, separately. Furthermore, dispositional optimism fully mediated the links between all religious indices and self-esteem.
AB - The current investigation aimed to test the relationship between religiousness and self-esteem. Religiousness was measured comprehensively by four indices (i.e., religious participation, positive religious coping, fundamentalism, optimistic afterlife beliefs). In addition, the study examined the key question of whether the relationships between the different indices of religiousness and self-esteem persist after controlling for the potential confounding variable dispositional optimism. The study utilized a cross-sectional design and a sample of Israeli adults (N = 451) from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. The findings revealed weak positive zero-order correlations between all indices of religiousness and self-esteem. However, none of these indices remained predictive of self-esteem when they were entered into the regression model alongside dispositional optimism. This was true both for the sample as a whole, and for Muslim and Jewish individuals, as well as secular, traditional, and religious individuals, separately. Furthermore, dispositional optimism fully mediated the links between all religious indices and self-esteem.
KW - dispositional optimism
KW - religiousness
KW - self-esteem
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123203341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/rel0000406
DO - 10.1037/rel0000406
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AN - SCOPUS:85123203341
SN - 1941-1022
VL - 15
SP - 218
EP - 227
JO - Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
JF - Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
IS - 2
ER -