Abstract
Previous research raises the question of self-esteem as a fundamental human need, but also indicates that self-esteem is an inherently social product. Is religious involvement influential—and does it depend on beliefs about God? In this research, we examine the associations between multiple dimensions of religious involvement and self-esteem, and specifically focus on the belief in a supportive higher power (“divine support”) as a central influence in this relationship. Analyses of a national probability sample of adults from the US (2004 General Social Survey) reveal two central findings: (1) divine support helps to explain a positive association between religious involvement and self-esteem; (2) divine support strengthens that association. These findings contribute to the growing discussion about beliefs about God—especially as an engaged, involved, and influential force in everyday life—and the association with different components of the self-concept. Our observations underscore the need for more research on the intersection of beliefs and practices in shaping various facets of personal functioning.
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Introduction
How do religious beliefs and practices shape the self-concept? One established research tradition has been concerned with the empirical relationship between religion and self-esteem—but the emergent picture has been far from straightforward. A long tradition of theoretical work has argued for an inverse association between religious practice and belief, on one hand, and self-esteem on the other hand (Ellis 1962; Branden 1969, 1983). Some research has found no relationship between religion and self-esteem (Bahr and Martin 1983; Frankel and Hewitt 1994), while others studies have documented a positive relationship between religion and self-esteem (Krause and van Tran 1989; Ellison 1993; Krause 2004, 2005). Further, some recent work has investigated the link between religious beliefs and the sense of meaning and purpose in life (Stroope et al. 2013; Jung 2015). The sense of meaning and purpose in life shares some conceptual terrain with self-esteem in that these represent global evaluations of the self’s place in the world and a more future-oriented view that ranges in meaning from coherence in one’s life to goal directedness or purposefulness of life (Diener and Diener 2009; Reker and Wong 1988; Ryff and Singer 1988); by comparison, self-esteem reflects a more contemporaneous view of one’s sense of value and worth in society (Rosenberg 1989).
In this study, we argue that the relationship between aspects of religious involvement and self-esteem may be contingent on the nature of beliefs about God. We expand the scope of previous work by specifically identifying the relevance of divine support in these processes.Footnote 1 Building upon insights about the ways that religious beliefs are formed by and intersect with religious activity (e.g., Berger 1967; Bradshaw et al. 2008; Schieman and Bierman 2007), we hypothesize that religious involvement is associated positively with divine support, and that divine support—as a key feature part of a positive conception of God—is related to higher levels of self-esteem. Taken together, these hypothesized interrelationships suggest that divine support should mediate any observed association between religious involvement and self-esteem. We further evaluate if divine support might also function as a moderator in the association between religious involvement and self-esteem. To address these questions, we examine data from a large nationally representative sample of Americans: the 2004 General Social Survey.
Background
Is Divine Support Associated with Self-Esteem?
The self-concept is “the totality of the individual’s thoughts and feelings with reference to [the] self as an object” (Rosenberg 1989:34). The self-concept acts as a motivating force, structuring numerous beliefs and behaviors; moreover, there are many social-psychological influences on the self-concept (Stets and Burke 2002; Gecas 2001). In the present study, we focus on one of the main evaluative dimensions of the self-concept: self-esteem. Sometimes characterized as a “universal and fundamental human need” (Crocker and Park 2004:392; Pyszczynski et al. 2004), self-esteem is “an understanding of one’s quality as an object—that is, how good or bad, valuable or worthless, competent or incompetent, or superior or inferior one is” (Thoits 2013:359). According to Branden (1969:110), “self-esteem has two interrelated aspects: it entails a sense of personal efficacy and a sense of personal worth…It is the conviction that one is competent to live and worthy of living.” Self-esteem is associated with important outcomes, such as fewer mental health problems (Jackson and Mustillo 2001; Kaplan et al. 1986; Orth and Robins 2013), and greater life satisfaction (Du et al. 2015; Diener and Diener 2009). Self-esteem has also played a buffering role in reducing the harmful effects of stress exposure, in large part by promoting active coping strategies (Taylor and Stanton 2007).
Rosenberg (1979, 1989) underscores the ways that the self-concept is a social product. In this regard, the evaluative components of the self-concept are often responsive to the influence of social institutions—and this includes religion (Pollner 1989). Social-psychological theories identify the ways that various processes and mechanisms can influence self-esteem (Ellison 1993; Rosenberg 1981). Among the most prominent are reflected appraisals; that is, people have a sense of themselves based on how they think that others perceive them (Cooley 1902; Mead 1934). The perceived quality of socially supportive relationships is an essential component in these processes (Goodwin et al. 2004; Thoits 1994; Turner and Roszell 1994; Turner and Turner 1999). We situate the belief in divine support as a central psychosocial resource that can be beneficial for self-esteem. According to Greeley (1996:124), “[o]ne’s ‘picture’ of God is, in fact, a metaphorical narrative of God’s relationship with the world and the self as part of that world” (emphasis added). Related to the idea of reflected appraisals, the ways in which individuals feel about themselves share a connection with the way in which they imagine that God feels about them (Francis 2007).
From a symbolic interactionist standpoint, the concept of the “generalized other” is important for views of the self (Mead 1934). Beliefs about God might be linked to feelings of self-worth if individuals experience God as part of this “generalized other.” Some scholars have described God as part of one’s “cognitive personal network” and underscored the ways that believers might strive to construct and maintain a divine bond that parallels more personal relations with other human beings (Ellison and Taylor 1996; Pollner 1989). Images of God as a loving figure, in turn, have been shown to bolster the likelihood of reporting a strong sense of meaning and purpose in life (Stroope et al. 2013). In that research, the belief in a loving God had the strongest effect of any religious predictor on increasing the sense of meaning in life.
It is important to emphasize that while some individuals hold beliefs in a God who is distant and detached from worldly affairs, others maintain the belief in a divine force that is personally involved in the events and outcomes of their daily life. According to Froese and Bader (2007:466), “for some, God closely guides life on earth by pulling strings like an omnipotent puppeteer, while for others God’s presence is not nearly so hands-on.” For those who subscribe to beliefs in a personally involved God, common expressions such as “God is my co-pilot” blend themes of personal empowerment with divine presence, involvement and support, conveying a sense that good and bad events in life are not random, futile, or hollow, but rather are elements of a divine plan (Cort and Matthews 2000; Ellison 1993; Krause 2002). From the perspective of attachment theory, the belief in divine support may also reflect the perception of God as a “secure base” (Bradshaw et al. 2010; Kirkpatrick 2005)—indeed, the ultimate friend and source of support (Taylor et al. 2004). By extension, the sense of divine support may enhance the feeling that one is in “good standing” in the cosmos.
Some research reinforces this idea by showing that individuals who believe in an active, engaged God tend to have a greater sense of significance to others—a pattern that holds even when analyses account for other forms of human social contact (Schieman et al. 2010). The belief in a loving God has also been found to be positively associated with self-esteem and self-worth (Benson and Spilka 1973; Francis et al. 2001). Similarly, a belief in a supportive, collaborative God was associated with higher self-esteem and life satisfaction amongst American college students (Phillips et al. 2004) and amongst older adults (Krause 2002, 2003, 2005). These ideas inspire the proposition that beliefs in divine support enable individuals to maintain a state of emotional ease and contentment that is beneficial for self-esteem. When it comes to conceptions of the divine, the balance of evidence suggests that beliefs in a close, caring, supportive divine other should have the strongest influence on self-esteem, because these perceptions of the divine other should be reflected back to that person. As Jung (2015:121) observes, “[w]ith the support and consent of a divine other one may view oneself in a positive light.” Collectively, these theoretical and empirical perspectives provide a rationale for our first hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1:
The belief in divine support will be associated positively with self-esteem.
The Complex Interplay of Religious Involvement and Divine Support
Religious involvement is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon (Hill and Pargament 2003; Idler et al. 2003). However, numerous studies demonstrate that two forms of religious involvement have particularly robust associations with individual outcomes: the frequency of attendance at religious services and the frequency of personal or private prayer (Ellison et al. 2001; Ellison and Levin 1998; Flannelly et al. 2008; George et al. 2002). Alongside these common indicators, we also include a less commonly examined aspect of religious experience: the identification of being born again. In each of the sections below, we outline our theoretical rationale for the hypotheses that follow.
Religious Attendance
Previous research has indicated that religious participation is associated with features of individuals’ self-concepts, such as levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy (Ellison 1993; Krause 1995; Schieman et al. 2003). Some work has found that self-esteem partially mediates the effects of religious involvement on psychological well-being (Commerford and Reznikoff 1996; Krause 1995). In addition, individuals who attend religious services more regularly are likely to experience more divine support for several reasons.
First and foremost, frequent attendance at religious services likely increases exposure to rituals that cultivate and enhance particular beliefs—some of which reinforce the belief in an involved, engaged, and loving divine force (Berger 1967; Froese and Bader 2010; Schieman and Bierman 2007). Indeed, religious attendance is associated with the belief that a divine power is influential in everyday life, and is in turn linked to the sense that one matters to others (Schieman et al. 2010), which ties conceptually to a core tenet of self-esteem: that one is worthy in the eyes of others. Moreover, frequent participation likely fosters greater integration into a congregation, which may increase the availability of support for one’s beliefs from other congregational members (Krause 2002). Receiving emotional support from other congregational members fosters a stronger sense of belonging to the congregation (Krause and Wulff 2005). Congregational networks provide individuals with a set of stable social roles and opportunities for others to recognize their self-worth, but more importantly, interactions between church members serve as plausibility structures that inform and bolster the interpretation of daily experiences in more spiritual terms (Nelson 1997). This socialization is likely to reinforce religious-based explanations for events and outcomes in everyday life (Hood et al. 2009) and strengthen religious identity (Greenfield and Marks 2007); the sense of a supportive divine force may be a core element of this socialization. Some evidence demonstrates that individuals who regularly attend religious services are more likely to work with God to accomplish desired ends and believe that God is an engaged, active, and influential force in one’s life (Krause 2007; Schieman and Bierman 2007).
In addition to the prediction of a positive association between attendance and divine support, we also hypothesize that the association between the frequency of attendance and self-esteem is stronger for individuals who believe in a more supportive God. Essentially, this idea represents the likelihood that religious activity and belief have synergistic effects (Schieman et al. 2003). The belief in a supportive divine power may amplify the potency of religious activity. Conversely, there might be unfavorable consequences for individuals who engage in devotional activity but have doubts that God is an engaged, loving, or supportive entity (Krause et al. 1999; Krause and Wulff 2004). In instances where individuals’ practices and beliefs do not align, dissonance is a possible outcome—and this dissonance “is generally aversive and often threatening to the self-concept” (Gibbons et al. 1997:192), which could result in comparatively lower levels of self-esteem. Based on these ideas, we propose the following set of hypotheses:
Hypothesis 2:
The frequency of attendance will be associated positively with the belief in divine support.
Hypothesis 2A:
In the mediation extension to Hypothesis 2, we predict that the belief in divine support will contribute to any observed positive association between religious attendance and self-esteem; that is, it will mediate the association.
Hypothesis 2B:
In the moderation extension to Hypothesis 2, we hypothesize that the positive association between religious attendance and self-esteem will be enhanced when individuals hold a stronger belief in divine support; that is, divine support will moderate the association.
Prayer
Prayer is also likely to reinforce beliefs in a supportive relationship with God. Prayer is a central means of interaction with a divine other (Pollner 1989); through divine interaction, individuals might gain reassurance of the reality of religious phenomena (Stark and Finke 2000:109). Furthermore, one aspect of divine interaction involves the appeal for divine intercession for both self and others (Breslin et al. 2010; Ladd and Spilka 2002). In this regard, prayer can reinforce the sense that a higher power is actively involved with one’s life (Whittington and Scher 2010). Moreover, prayer can also be a means of seeking forgiveness from God—and that sense of forgiveness can strengthen the belief in a close, supportive bond with God (Lawler-Rowe 2010). Empirical evidence supports these claims by demonstrating that prayer reinforces the sense of God’s personal involvement in one’s life—above and beyond the regularity with which individuals attend religious services (Schieman 2010; Schieman and Bierman 2007; see also Simpson et al. 2009).
Beliefs in a supportive relationship are also likely to be essential for undergirding the relationship between prayer and self-esteem. Prayer can be conceived as a form of social interaction, where many individuals might come to “see themselves as they believe God sees them and think and act according to these perceptions” (Sharp 2012:547). If individuals perceive that God views them as worthy, this social interaction through prayer can offer individuals positive reflected appraisals which can be subsequently used to boost self-esteem (Sharp 2010; Luhrmann 2012). On the other hand, when praying in the absence of a context of a loving and supportive God, one might be attempting to engage God without perceiving a reciprocal relationship; this, in turn, might do little to bolster benefits to the self-concept. Krause (2004) makes a similar point by showing that prayer based in a lack of patience and trust in the response of a divine other is likely to be less beneficial for self-esteem. Research demonstrates the importance of the nature of the relationship with God by showing that the benefits of prayer for individual well-being are contingent on the relationship individuals have with a higher power, with these benefits restricted to those who are praying to what is perceived to be a close divine figure (Ellison et al. 2014; Bradshaw et al. 2008). Based on this prior theorizing and empirical evidence, we argue that the advantages in self-esteem that prayer might provide will be limited to those who have a supportive relationship with God. In fostering beliefs in a supportive relationship with a higher power, prayer not only impacts self-esteem, but also contributes to a belief system that reinforces relationships between prayer and self-esteem. Stated more formally:
Hypothesis 3:
The frequency of prayer will be associated positively with the belief in divine support.
Hypothesis 3A:
In the mediation extension to Hypothesis 3, we predict that the belief in divine support will contribute to any observed positive association between the frequency of prayer and self-esteem; that is, it will mediate the association.
Hypothesis 3B:
In the moderation extension to Hypothesis 3, we hypothesize that the positive association between the frequency of prayer and self-esteem will be enhanced when individuals hold a stronger belief in divine support; that is, divine support will moderate the association.
Born Again Identification
In addition to the classic forms of religious involvement (attendance and praying), we also integrate the “born again” identification in our analyses because little is known about its potential association with self-esteem; this is despite the fact that research shows that the born again experience might have important ramifications for attitudes above and beyond these other dimensions of religious involvement (Manglos 2010). As Jelen et al. (1993:201) observe, “in its broadest sense, to be born again is simply to confess and to repent from one’s sinful nature and to accept Jesus Christ as one’s Savior” (see also Poloma 1982). By definition, then, the identification as born again is a means of becoming religiously involved through acceptance of sin and the recognition of Jesus Christ as one’s personal means of redemption. Some research shows that individuals who identify as Evangelical Christians—and therefore are more likely to identify as being born again—have significantly stronger beliefs in God’s engagement and involvement in everyday life than most other religious traditions (Froese and Bader 2007), even when religious attendance and frequency of prayer are taken into account (Schieman 2010). The born again identification is therefore of focal interest in our study because we suspect that it is associated positively with the belief in a supportive relationship with the divine.
We argue that the belief in a supportive relationship with God is likely to be essential for providing a basic foundation for the association between the born again identification and self-esteem. The belief in divine support might further validate the identity because, in the context of a sense of a loving and supportive God, the born again identification might feel more authentic; by contrast, in the absence of (or weaker) divine support, the born again identification may feel hollow or superficial. These personal and social dynamics might, in turn, generate cognitive dissonance and religious doubts; individuals might question the reality of their faith or the quality of their personal relationship with God. The shame or guilt that can accompany dissonance and doubt might detract from the benefits of identifying as born again for self-esteem (Krause et al. 1999). Collectively, these ideas contribute to the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 4:
The identification of being born again will be associated positively with the belief in divine support.
Hypothesis 4A:
In the mediation extension to Hypothesis 4, we predict that the belief in divine support will contribute to any observed positive association between born again identification and self-esteem; that is, it will mediate the association.
Hypothesis 4B:
In the moderation extension to Hypothesis 4, we hypothesize that the positive association between born again identification and self-esteem will be enhanced when individuals hold a stronger belief in divine support; that is, divine support will moderate the association.
Which Comes First? Recognizing Alternative Pathways
It is important to acknowledge at this juncture the alternative possibility that beliefs in divine support increase the probability of attending religious services, or praying—in other words, that the predictions of Hypotheses 2 and 3 work in the opposite direction. Given our use of cross-sectional data, we cannot definitively rule that out. Prior longitudinal analyses, however, partially seem to support the idea that causal ordering maps on to the ideas presented in our hypotheses. For example, analyzing data from a nationwide longitudinal survey, Krause (2007) demonstrates that messages contained within religious services (e.g., through hymns, prayers, sermons) convey the advantages of turning to God to collaborate to solve problems; this implies the relevance of a supportive divine figure. In addition, Krause (2002) observes that relationships formed between congregants could be an important source of religious beliefs through an exchange of spiritual support, where churchgoers offer their own religious experiences as an example to emulate. In these instances, other congregants who believe in and provide testimony of a supportive God may inspire individuals who attend religious services regularly. This dynamic, in turn, might encourage and sustain divine support beliefs over time. Further evidence employing longitudinal data finds that individuals who pray and attend religious services more frequently report the highest levels of the sense of divine control, a construct that is closely related to divine support (Schieman and Bierman 2007). Moreover, religious adherents who pray and attend religious services were found to report greater stability in divine control beliefs over time, likely because these beliefs are reinforced to them on a more regular basis. Thus, praying and attendance, while distinct forms of religious activity, provide individuals with a plethora of opportunities to both discover and reaffirm beliefs in a supportive God.
Methods
Sample
To test the hypotheses articulated above, we use data from the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of adults residing in the 48 contiguous states. The survey has been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center since 1972. Between 1972 and 1993 (except for 1979, 1981, and 1992), the GSS surveyed approximately 1500 US adults annually. Since 1994, the GSS has conducted surveys of roughly 3000 US adults in even-numbered years. We focus on the 2004 survey because it includes measures of self-esteem and beliefs about divine support. Since 1987, the GSS has utilized a split-ballot design, where a core set of items are asked of all GSS respondents, and other modules are asked of only a randomly selected subset of respondents. In 2004, the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) module—which contained questions about divine support—was included on a split ballot; consequently, the effective n’s for our study are lower than the total n’s for the GSS core. We removed individual cases that were not asked the religion items, which produced an analytical sample of n = 1107. Full details about the sampling procedures, methodology, and characteristics of the GSS are readily accessible on the GSS website.Footnote 2
Measures
Self-Esteem
Self-esteem was measured using five items: “At times I think I am no good at all,” “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself,” “I feel that I’m a person of worth, at least equal to others,” “All in all, I’m inclined to feel I’m a failure,” and “I wish I could have more respect for myself” (Rosenberg 1986). Response choices range from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Responses to each item were coded so that higher scores indicate a higher level of self-esteem. Self-esteem is estimated as a latent variable, which takes measurement error into account (Kline 2005). The latent variable is created using homogenous item parceling, which has multiple psychometric and modeling advantages, including greater reliability than individual items and a lower likelihood of distributional violations (Coffman and MacCallum 2005; Little et al. 2002; Matsunaga 2008). The mean of positively worded items was taken as one parcel and the mean of negatively worded items was taken as a second parcel, with the two parcels used as indicators of the latent self-esteem variable. Counterbalancing negative and positively worded parcels helps to avoid error due to positive or negative response biases (Andersson 2012; Mirowsky and Ross 1991).
The Belief in Divine Support
To measure the belief in divine support, we selected a subset of five items from the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES; Underwood 2006). We chose these items because they represent the extent that individuals believe in a present, loving, and supportive God—also referred to as the “theistic” dimension (Ellison and Fan 2008). The interviewers introduced the items with this statement: “The list that follows includes items you may or may not experience. Please consider if and how often you have these experiences, and try to disregard whether you feel you should or should not have them. A number of items use the word ‘God.’ If this word is not a comfortable one, please substitute another idea that calls to mind the divine or holy for you. The following questions deal with possible daily spiritual experiences. To what extent can you say you experience the following…” The items are: “I feel God’s presence,” “I ask for God’s help in the midst of daily activities,” “I feel guided by God in the midst of daily activities,” “I feel God’s love for me, directly,” and “I feel God’s love for me, through others.” Response choices range from “never” (1) to “many times a day” (6). We averaged responses to create the divine support index (α = .94).Footnote 3
Frequency of Attendance
The frequency of attendance is measured with answers to a commonly-used question: “How often do you attend religious services?” Response choices are: (0) “never,” (1) “less than once a year,” (2) “once or twice a year,” (3) “several times a year,” (4) “once a month,” (5) “2–3 times a month,” (6) “about weekly,” (7) “weekly,” and (8) “several times a week.”
Frequency of Praying
A standard item is also used to measure frequency of praying: “How often do you pray?” Response choices are: (1) “never,” (2) “less than once a week,” (3) “once a week,” (4) “several times a week,” (5) “once a day,” and (6) “several times a day.”
Born Again Identification
One item asks: “Would you say you have been ‘born again’ or have had a ‘born again’ experience—that is, a turning point in your life when you committed yourself to Christ?” Response choices are coded “no” = 0 and “yes” = 1.
Control Measures
All analyses control for a range of basic sociodemographic variables. Socioeconomic status is measured using years of education and household income. Because there was a noticeable level of missing responses for income, personal income when available was substituted for household income when household income was missing. Gender is coded 0 for men and 1 for women. Race is dummy-coded with White contrasted with African American and other. Age is coded in years. Marital status contrasts married with divorced, widowed, and never married. Parental status is coded as 1 if participants have children, 0 otherwise. Religious affiliation/denomination contrasts Evangelical Protestant with Mainline Protestant, Black Protestant, Catholic, other religious affiliation/tradition, and no religion (Steensland et al. 2000). Descriptive statistics for the analytic sample are displayed in Table 1. It is worth noting here that roughly 15.9% of the sample reported “no religion.” As we report in “Appendix”, the unaffiliated report the lowest level of divine support.
Plan of Analysis
Our hypotheses propose mediation and moderation dynamics for the belief in divine support. We therefore present our analyses in two sections. First, to examine the mediation hypotheses, we use structural equation modeling (SEM) to test whether the belief in divine support mediates the relationship between the different dimensions of religious involvement and self-esteem. Second, to evaluate the moderation function of the belief in divine support, we test interactions between this belief and each of the following: attendance, prayer, and born again identification. All models are estimated using Mplus 5.21 with a full information maximum likelihood estimator that provides unbiased parameter estimates in the presence of missing data (Enders 2010), and models use standard errors that are robust to heteroskedasticity (Hayes and Cai 2007). Divine support, religious attendance, and prayer are mean-centered in multivariate analyses to avoid multicollinearity due to interactions (Aiken and West 1991).
Results
Figure 1 presents the results of the SEM analyses testing whether the belief in divine support mediates the relationship between the three indicators of religious involvement and self-esteem; results for control variables are displayed in “Appendix”.Footnote 4 As expected, the belief in divine support is associated positively with self-esteem (Hypothesis 1).Footnote 5 The frequency of religious attendance and prayer are both independently associated positively with the belief in divine support; likewise, the dichotomous indicator of born again identification is positive, which indicates that individuals who identify as born again report a higher average level of belief in divine support—these patterns confirm Hypotheses 2, 3 and 4.
Path model of religious involvement, divine support, and self-esteem. For each path, metric coefficients are listed first, standardized coefficients are listed second. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001 (two-tailed tests)
While our observations thus far indicate that each aspect of religious involvement is associated positively with the belief in divine support, they do not by themselves corroborate the proposed mediational component (Hypotheses 2A, 3A, and 4A), because they do not indicate whether religious involvement predicts higher levels of self-esteem indirectly via the positive association between the belief in divine support and self-esteem. To test these hypotheses, we present findings in Table 2 that document the results of tests for these indirect effects. Alongside these tests of indirect effects, Table 2 also reports the tests of direct effects, which reveal the remaining associations between each aspect of religious involvement and self-esteem after we statistically account for these indirect effects. Note that the total effect is the combination of the direct and indirect relationships for each predictor of religious involvement. As Table 2 demonstrates, we find that each indirect effect is statistically significant. These findings support the mediational hypotheses (2A, 3A, and 4A): Attendance, prayer, and born again identification are associated positively with self-esteem indirectly through the belief in divine support.
A closer examination of the comparison of indirect, direct, and total effects reveals additional underlying dynamics among these relationships. For example, the direct effect for religious attendance is also positive and statistically significant—this suggests that the belief in divine support only partially contributes to the positive relationship between frequent attendance and self-esteem. This indirect relationship is important to statistically take into account because it contributes to roughly 30% of the total positive association between attendance and self-esteem. By comparison, the direct relationship between the frequency of prayer and self-esteem is not statistically significant; this suggests that the belief in divine support fully contributes to the relationship between prayer and self-esteem. It is essential to highlight that although the association is not statistically significant, the direct association between prayer and self-esteem is negative. To more precisely interpret that pattern, we performed additional analyses that demonstrate how this negative relationship might skew the overall patterns for the following reason: When the positive indirect effect of prayer is combined with the negative direct effect of prayer, the resulting total effect of prayer ends up being null and not statistically significant. These complexities are critical to take into account because if we had not evaluated the belief in divine support as a mediator in the association between prayer and self-esteem, our analyses would have led us to conclude that prayer is unrelated to self-esteem. By more precisely dissecting the mediation component, however, we are able to document associations between prayer and self-esteem that might otherwise be overlooked.
We also find similar patterns when we focus on the relationship between the born again identification and self-esteem. Although the indirect relationship between born again identification and self-esteem is positive, the direct association is negative and statistically significant. Furthermore, the size of that negative direct association is substantially stronger than the positive indirect association; this results in a negative and statistically significant total association between born again identification and self-esteem, although it is a weaker association than the direct effect. These patterns demonstrate that the born again identification is associated with self-esteem through different paths, and that the positive pathway might have been overlooked had we not taken the belief in divine support into account as a mediator. Nevertheless, since there is also a negative direct relationship between born again identification and self-esteem, it is important to consider how born again identification may also be associated with lower self-esteem. We interpret these complex patterns in greater detail in the Discussion section below.
Although the preceding SEM analyses support the mediational component, we also hypothesized that the belief in divine support might also moderate the relationship between each dimension of religious involvement and self-esteem (Hypotheses 2B, 3B, and 4B). We present those results in Table 3. In model 1, the interaction between attendance and divine support is positive and statistically significant, indicating that attendance is more strongly related to self-esteem at higher levels of divine support.Footnote 6 To facilitate the interpretation of these findings, we calculated the association between religious attendance and self-esteem at low, mean, and high levels of divine support. When divine support is centered at its mean, the coefficient for religious attendance indicates this association specifically at mean levels of divine support (Hayes and Preacher 2010). By extension, by re-centering divine support at 1 standard deviation below and above the mean (“low” and “high” divine support, respectively) and re-calculating the interaction term, the coefficient for attendance in the interaction model will indicate the association with self-esteem at low and high levels of divine support. Table 4 presents the results of these additional analyses. At high levels of divine support, attendance is positively and significantly related to self-esteem. By contrast, at the mean of divine support, attendance is not significantly related to self-esteem. Further, although this coefficient is negative when divine support is one standard deviation below the mean, it is not statistically significant. In additional analyses (not shown), that coefficient was not statistically significant even when we examined the lowest level of divine support. It therefore appears that (a) the positive association between religious attendance and self-esteem depends on the presence of a high level of belief in divine support and (b) religious attendance is unrelated to self-esteem in the absence of a high level of divine support.
Model 2 in Table 3 indicates that the interaction between the belief in divine support and prayer is also statistically significant. Furthermore, since this interaction is positive, divine support strengthens the relationship between prayer and self-esteem. Again, to facilitate the interpretation of this interaction, we examined the association between prayer and self-esteem at low, mean, and high levels of divine support, with these association presented in Table 4. Table 4 shows that prayer is positively related to self-esteem only at relatively high levels of divine support. Prayer is not significantly related to self-esteem at lower levels of divine support, and ancillary analyses (not shown) indicate that this association was not statistically significant at even the lowest level of divine support. Like we observed for religious attendance, prayer is associated positively with self-esteem only at higher levels of divine support.
Model 3 in Table 3 shows that the interaction between divine support and born again identification is statistically significant and positive. However, when we examined the association between born again identification and self-esteem at different levels of divine support, a somewhat more complex pattern than for attendance and prayer emerged. As shown in Table 4, at higher levels of divine support, individuals who identify as born again have higher mean levels of self-esteem, and at mean levels of divine support the relationship between born again identification and self-esteem is not significant. However, at lower levels of divine support, the relationship between born again identification and self-esteem is significant and negative. In other words, when individuals have little sense of a supportive relationship with God, those who identify as born again have significantly lower levels of self-esteem than individuals who do not identify as born again. These results therefore suggest that that identifying as born again may be harmful for self-esteem when this identification couples with a weaker sense of divine support. We interpret these patterns in greater detail in the Discussion section below. Taken together, these moderation patterns support Hypotheses 2B, 3B, and 4B by demonstrating that beliefs in divine support reinforce the associations between each dimension of religious involvement and self-esteem.
Discussion
The self-concept is an inherently social product (Cooley 1902; Mead 1934). Our study demonstrates the ways that religious involvement relates to a key dimension of the self-concept—self-esteem—but also shows that these relationships are complex. Indeed, religious involvement is indirectly related to greater levels of self-esteem; the belief in divine support serves as both a mediator and a moderator in these relationships. Thus, religious involvement is linked to a belief that is associated with an enhanced sense of self-worth. Moreover, the belief in divine support might provide a socio-cognitive framework that strengthens the association between forms of religious involvement and self-esteem.
Several key contributions of our study emerge. First and foremost, we demonstrate that a sense of divine support is a robust predictor of self-esteem. When standardized coefficients are examined, belief in divine support is the strongest predictor of self-esteem, even more so than measures commonly documented in social-psychological research (e.g., age and education). Consistent with the articulated theoretical framework, our findings support the hypothesis that having a close, supportive relationship with God is associated with elevated feelings of personal significance and self-worth. As we noted, a relationship with God offers a chance to form a social attachment with the ultimate friend and source of support (Kirkpatrick 2005; Ellison et al. 2014). This belief seems to provide a basis for enhanced levels of self-esteem.
A second contribution is that all three aspects of religious involvement are associated with greater levels of belief in divine support. Ideas about God’s role and supportive nature in life are socialized and reinforced in teachings that are conveyed to adherents through religious activities such as prayer and religious attendance. These activities represent the main mechanisms by which individuals are exposed to and internalize the core theological tenets of their faith (Morgan 1983), and the frequency of engagement in these activities may raise the likelihood that divine support beliefs are internalized. These findings also support the mediation component of the model, and help to explain how religious involvement can benefit a positive sense of self, in part by cultivating beliefs that are beneficial for a sense of self. This is important for understanding the role of religion in individual lives because the pursuit of a positive sense of self has been identified as a fundamental human need. By contributing to the belief in divine support, each form of religious involvement indirectly helps to satisfy a basic human need. Indeed, believers may strive to maintain proximity to God “through singing, visiting the place of worship (God’s home), praying, talking to, or being emotionally involved with God” (Sedikides and Gebauer 2014:55–56). And yet, we observed differences across dimensions of religious involvement in the extent to which the belief in divine support contributed to the link between religious involvement and self-esteem. For example, in the case of prayer, the belief in divine support completely explained the relationship. This is most likely because prayer is a primary means of interaction with the divine (Pollner 1989), so that the cultivation of a positive relationship with a higher power is a primary result of these interactions. Conversely, although belief in divine support explained a considerable amount of the relationship between attendance and self-esteem, part of this relationship still remains unexplained.
That the belief in divine support did not fully explain the relationship between attendance and self-esteem may be due to the social benefits of religious attendance. The 2004 GSS contained no measures of congregational support; as such, we could not ascertain whether the observed effects of religious attendance on self-esteem were due to the social support that is associated with religious service attendance (e.g., Ellison and George 1994). Thus, future research might explore this pattern further with other plausible contributing factors: (a) formal and, especially, informal support processes that involve the giving and receiving of tangible and socioemotional aid; (b) friendship, companionship, and social activities within congregations and religious communities, and (c) feelings of solidarity among members who participate regularly in religious rituals—especially when it involves the sense of awe and being part of something special and sacred. Along similar lines, for those reporting low or non-existent beliefs in divine support, we lack a similar measure of social support in the secular world that could positively influence self-esteem (e.g., Krause 1987). The fact that prayer is entirely mediated by divine support but neither attendance nor born-again identification is completely mediated underscores how potential additional mediators might hinge on the public, social dimensions of attendance and born-again identification. As self-esteem is an inherently socially constituted self-appraisal, it is likely that additional social relational factors mediate the focal associations. For example, religious attendance has been shown to foment social support resources (Bradley 1995; Ellison and George 1994), and these additional resources benefit self-esteem.
Our observations were also notable for the identification as born again. The belief in divine support explained a positive association between born again identification and self-esteem, but the remaining association indicated that those who were born again appear to have a lower level of self-esteem. Two possible explanations may help elucidate this pattern. First, individuals with low self-esteem may be more likely to identify as born again as a means of fostering a relationship with a higher power to bolster self-esteem; although a sense of a supportive relationship with God does help to counteract low self-esteem, some deficit remains. Alternatively, individuals who identify as born again often live in tension with a larger, more secular society (Ammerman 1987). Numerous low-level conflicts with behaviors and cultural norms on a daily basis, as well as less frequent but more momentous conflicts with close friends and family, may have a wearing effect on a positive sense of self. This pattern deserves further attention; it would be useful to investigate the role of self-esteem in creating identification as born again, as well as how self-esteem may be influenced by the daily life of those who identify as born again. The causal ordering here is an especially thorny and unresolved issue.
We also wish to note that, for both prayer and born again identification, positive associations with self-esteem were revealed only in indirect relationships through divine support. Examination of the total effects showed that, had these indirect effects not been demarcated from overall relationships with self-esteem, no positive association would have been shown. This pattern of results is important to take into consideration because it indicates that, for research on the consequences of religious involvement, simply entering several religious indicators into a multivariate model and examining their independent associations with an outcome may not be sufficient. Rather, because religious involvement can have contrasting direct and indirect associations with individual outcomes, application of the mediation component of the model helps to reveal relationships between religious involvement and self-esteem that would be otherwise obscured.
These results also upheld the moderation component of our analyses, indicating that dimensions of religious involvement and the beliefs they reinforce can intersect to influence outcomes. For each aspect of religious involvement, a positive association with self-esteem was observed only in the case of relatively high levels of belief in divine support. This research therefore suggests that religious involvement will have additional benefits for self-esteem when a sense of divine support is very strong. There are likely many reasons why the belief in divine support and religious involvement synergistically interact to provide further benefits for self-esteem. It is crucial to consider multiple dimensions of religious involvement (practice, beliefs, etc.) as interactive and contingent, rather that simply additive (Schieman et al. 2003). For example, religious attendance has also been associated with increased support from co-congregants (Krause 2002), and in the context of belief in a supportive relationship with a higher power, relationships and expressions of caring and kindness from church members may take on added spiritual meaning as “blessings sent from God.” Divine support seems to assert additional power for persons who also attend services regularly. The affirmation of faith that occurs within worship services may enhance religious fervor and deepen convictions, while providing lessons and guidance on how to pray and study scripture more effectively, and how to live out the precepts of one’s religion more concretely and faithfully. This may, in turn, contribute to the perception that God cares, and has a special plan for and is active in an individual’s life, thereby bolstering the sense of moral self-worth.
Similarly, in the case of prayer, there is a synergistic effect of prayer and divine support on feelings of self-esteem. Those who engage in more frequent communication with God, and who are rewarded with the experience of a close personal relationship, derive particularly strong increments in self-esteem. The sense that one is reciprocated in seeking support from a higher power may be taken as a sign that individuals have been forgiven for transgressions, and these feeling of forgiveness can benefit a positive sense of self (Hall and Fincham 2005). Moreover, the sense that one is in a close and interactive relationship with a higher power may lead individuals to be more forgiving of others, which is also likely to lead to a more positive view of one’s self (Hebl and Enright 1993). By contrast, individuals who pray often with less of a sense of divine closeness may experience some degree of spiritual emptiness or frustration when striving for a connection with a divine being but not entirely experiencing it. Additional research should therefore examine how the confluence of divine support and these dimensions of religious involvement lead to additional factors that impact self-esteem.
This pattern of findings was again even more complex for born again identification. The potential for a born-again experience to “realign someone’s priorities…and generally redirect the trajectory of their life” (Schafer 2013:28) suggests that born-again experiences may be motivated by discontent with one’s current self. Some scholars have attributed the beneficial effects of a born-again experience to ceding control to God, a potentially helpful strategy for those who have suffered devastating experiences or lost feelings of control (e.g., Tankink 2007). This may help explain why individuals reporting being born again also reported higher levels of divine support. However, individuals who identified as born again and also had strong beliefs in divine support experienced comparatively higher levels of self-esteem. In contrast, individuals who identified as born again and possessed little conviction in a supportive relationship with a higher power reported lower levels of self-esteem. By definition, identification as born again is focused on establishing a personal relationship with a higher power. Consequently, born again individuals who have a lower sense of divine support may be experiencing spiritual strain (i.e., doubting their faith, feeling estrangement from God, or possibly feeling guilt about this spiritual disconnect, or feeling that God is punishing them), which in turn can have adverse effects on individual well-being (Ellison and Lee 2010). These strains may also occur because born again identification is an indicator or reflection of involvement in these religious subcultures. Thus, born again individuals who do not believe they have a close relationship with God are likely to be at odds with their proximal cultural surroundings (i.e., of their communities, families, and congregations), which will in turn detrimentally influence self-esteem. Conversely, born again individuals with a strong belief in divine support are likely to have a sense that they can agentically establish positive relationships, as well as that they are harmoniously integrated within their proximal communities, which will lead to a greater sense of potential for self-efficacy and competence that will benefit self-esteem. Moreover, these individuals are likely to feel particularly confident in a new life and infinite spiritual future they have gained—even more so than others who identify as born again with only a moderate level of belief in divine support—and the sense that one has established an unending future of care and blessing from the divine is likely to further bolster self-esteem.
Most important is that this pattern of findings shows that, in addition to examining the way in which beliefs and religious practices interconnect to influence outcomes, future research should more carefully consider how these dimensions of religion intersect to influence outcomes. Previous research has examined a variety of mediators in the relationship between religious involvement and individual outcomes (e.g., Krause 2002; Schieman et al. 2010), and additional research has examined how religious beliefs modify relationships between involvement and outcomes (e.g., Bradshaw et al. 2008; Ellison et al. 2014). Yet, the current research suggests that these functions often occur simultaneously. Thus, rather than examining either the mediating or moderating functions of religious beliefs, future research should examine both. It is likely that the simultaneous mediating and moderating functions observed here extend beyond self-esteem, and attention to the underlying process is likely to provide a much richer explanation for the specific processes by which religious involvement influences individual outcomes. In addition, it is likely that beliefs regarding God are not the only set of cognitions linked to the self-concept, and the role of additional beliefs should also be examined.
Several study limitations deserve brief mention. First, we acknowledge the difficulties with making causal statements. It is entirely possible that reverse causation might be operating in some of these dynamics. For example, persons who already have high self-esteem may more readily experience a sense of divine support. For people to feel loved by God, they may have to first see themselves as lovable (Benson and Spilka 1973). Religious beliefs that are centered around God’s love and support may be incompatible for those reporting low-self-esteem. One study found that those with positive self-concepts were more likely to see God as loving and less likely to view God as harsh and punitive (Smither and Walker 2015). However, previous longitudinal research supports, at least in part, the causal ordering presented in this research, as religious involvement has been shown to be positively related to subsequent measures of beliefs regarding relationships with a higher power (e.g., Krause 2007; Schieman and Bierman 2007). In addition, it is possible that these associations themselves vary by denomination or religious tradition, but this would require a larger sample size for adequate tests. Some of the arguments that we have developed here may be more directly germane to Protestantism (and especially evangelical variants) than to Catholicism, or certainly to other religious traditions. And, finally, while we observed that the unaffiliated reported the lowest levels of divine support, we did not observe any relationship between unaffiliated status and self-esteem. Future research should push further on questions about religious beliefs among the unaffiliated and how these might differentially shape aspects of the self-concept between affiliated versus unaffiliated individuals. Within-individual change over time is also new terrain, especially among those who change from affiliated to unaffiliated, and what it means for a variety of personal, social, and health outcomes. The unaffiliated add complexity to the already-multifaceted story about personal religiosity, particularly when it comes to beliefs about the divine.
In conclusion, the pursuit of self-esteem has been characterized as a basic human need. In showing that religious involvement can benefit self-esteem, this research illustrates how religion can play a vital role in individual life. However, these relationships are neither direct nor uniform. Rather, religious involvement appears to benefit self-esteem only to the extent that it fosters beliefs in a supportive relationship with a higher power, because these beliefs both mediate and moderate the relationship between religious involvement and self-esteem. Further research should give greater attention to the role of divine beliefs in explaining the relationship between religious involvement and additional outcomes related to the self.
Notes
The construct of divine support shares conceptual terrain with concepts like “God control” (Kopplin 1976), “divine relations” (Pollner 1989), “God as a Causal Agent” (Ritzema and Young 1983), “religious coping” (Pargament 1997), “God-mediated control” (Krause 2005; Westman and Campbell 1999; also see Berrenberg 1987) and “divine control” (Schieman et al. 2005). These concepts identify the belief in a personal God who is intimately engaged in and concerned about the details of believers’ lives. It is important to underscore here that there are individuals who do not believe in a God or divine entity in the manner suggested by these sorts of survey items; we recognize that there is no universal “belief” or one-size-fits-all approach here.
Information about the GSS is accessible on the web. See: http://www.norc.org/GSS+Website/; also see: http://www.thearda.com/Archive/Files/Descriptions/GSS2004.asp. As indicated in the GSS documentation, analyses of the 2004 GSS must be weighted to take into consideration the “non-respondent and subsampling design.” We employed a weight variable in our analyses that “takes into consideration (a) the sub-sampling of non-respondents, (b) the number of adults in the household, and (c) differential non-response across areas.”
Standardized factor loadings for the divine support variable were all approximately .80 or above, and the model indicated acceptable model fit, supporting using responses to these items as one measure of beliefs in divine support. Because divine support is also used in interaction models, it is not measured using a latent variable (see Muller et al. 2005). However, when divine support was measured as a latent variable in the mediation models, results were substantively similar. As a reviewer pointed out, it is also important to emphasize how the introductory wording to these items allows study participants who do not feel comfortable with the word “God” to still respond to these items. This underscores the fact that some study participants may not be particularly religious or even believe in God and yet they still could perceive some kind of divine support.
Model fit indices indicate good model fit: χ2 = 35.892, df = 18, p < .01, CFI = .987, RMSEA = .030, SRMR = .009 (Kline 2005).
Although fully standardized coefficients can be interpreted as the change in an outcome in units of standard deviations of with a one standard deviation increase in a predictor, these coefficients are less relevant to dichotomous variables such as born-again identification. Since the dichotomous variable can take only two values, it is not applicable to talk about scores changing one standard deviation. Because of this, for born again identification and other dichotomous predictors in the path model, semi-standardized coefficients are displayed in place of standardized coefficients. With semi-standardized coefficients, slopes are standardized using the variance of the outcome but not the predictor, and the result is that the coefficient indicates the difference between groups in an outcome in units of standard deviations, which permits a clearer comparison of strength of relationships across coefficients.
Because interaction terms are included in models, standardized slopes are not displayed (Aiken and West 1991).
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Schieman, S., Bierman, A., Upenieks, L. et al. Love Thy Self? How Belief in a Supportive God Shapes Self-Esteem. Rev Relig Res 59, 293–318 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-017-0292-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-017-0292-7