The relationship of religiosity and adjustment to college among children of missionaries
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether religious orientation, religious coping, and religious quest were associated with adjustment to college, overall life satisfaction and well-being among a sample of 102 children of missionaries. Missionary kids or Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are an understudied population in the psychological literature. Religious orientation was classified as identified or introjected and measured by the Religious Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-R). Religious coping behaviors were measured as internal/private or external/social by the Ways of Religious Coping Scale (WORCS). Existential questioning was assessed by the Quest scale. Adjustment was operationalized by mood, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being and adjustment to college. Mood was measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Scale of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) measured additional constructs of adjustment. Adjustment to college was assessed using the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). A significant difference was found between females and males, therefore, correlation analyses controlled for gender. As expected, an identified religious orientation was associated with greater positive affect, greater overall life satisfaction, aspects of psychological well-being and adjustment to college. Interestingly, an introjected religious orientation did not have relationships expected with measures of adjustment. Internal and external religious coping behaviors were associated with positive affect and overall life satisfaction. Unexpectedly, religious quest was negatively related to positive affect, satisfaction with life and overall college adjustment. Results are discussed with implications future research.
Subject Area
Religion|Developmental psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Bounds, Brent Ivan, "The relationship of religiosity and adjustment to college among children of missionaries" (2008). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3337628.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3337628
