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Perceived effectiveness of religious solutions to personal problems
Author(s) -
Lilliston Lawrence,
Brown Paula M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198101)37:1<118::aid-jclp2270370122>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - psychology , church attendance , prayer , social psychology , attendance , clinical psychology , religiosity , philosophy , religious studies , economics , economic growth
Investigated ( N = 151) the perceived effectiveness of religious solutions for personal problems. Two independent variables were manipulated. One was type of problem, with one problem being a life‐threatening physical problem and one problem being a psychological/adjustment problem. The other variable was type of solution with three types of religious solutions (church attendance, prayer, involvement with a group emphasizing intense emotional religious experience) and an informational solution (reading to learn more about the problem). Religious solutions were less highly valued than the informational solution; there was no difference in perceived utility among the religious solutions; and religious solutions were seen as more reasonable with a physical, life‐threatening problem than with a psychological problem although they were paradoxically seen as less indicative of need for professional help for a psychological problem than for a physical problem.