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When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected
dc.contributor.authorChan, Todd
dc.contributor.authorMichalak, Nicholas M.
dc.contributor.authorYbarra, Oscar
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-31T18:25:48Z
dc.date.availableWITHHELD_14_MONTHS
dc.date.available2019-05-31T18:25:48Z
dc.date.issued2019-06
dc.identifier.citationChan, Todd; Michalak, Nicholas M.; Ybarra, Oscar (2019). "When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected." Journal of Personality (3): 455-471.
dc.identifier.issn0022-3506
dc.identifier.issn1467-6494
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/149243
dc.description.abstractObjectiveSocial relationships supply purpose to life. How can socially disconnected people, who show lower levels of purpose, compensate for purpose in life? We propose that religious beliefs can compensate for the purpose in life that social relationships would otherwise provide, through providing (a) greater purpose to turn to and (b) divine figures that can substitute for social relationships.MethodIn three studies, we analyze three nationally representative and longitudinal data sets (N = 19,775) using moderated regression and cross‐lagged panel analyses.ResultsConsistent with our hypotheses, religious beliefs were of minimal influence on purpose in life for socially connected individuals, who already held higher levels of purpose than socially disconnected individuals. However, for socially disconnected individuals, being highly religious predicted higher levels of purpose in life.ConclusionsResults suggest that although people primarily derive purpose from social relationships, socially disconnected individuals may leverage their religious beliefs for purpose and social comfort until they can reconnect.
dc.publisherGuilford Press
dc.publisherWiley Periodicals, Inc.
dc.subject.otherreligion
dc.subject.othersocial support
dc.subject.otherpurpose
dc.subject.otherloneliness
dc.subject.otherinterpersonal relationships
dc.titleWhen God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected
dc.typeArticle
dc.rights.robotsIndexNoFollow
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelPsychology
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelSocial Sciences
dc.description.peerreviewedPeer Reviewed
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149243/1/jopy12401.pdf
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149243/2/jopy12401_am.pdf
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jopy.12401
dc.identifier.sourceJournal of Personality
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dc.owningcollnameInterdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed


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