Journal of Psychology
Year:2005 | Volume:9 | Issue:3 (35)|Papers Count:9

This study compares adults attachment style and dimensions of attachment to God in 389 students with intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation. The Sample group selection was made through the Islamic religious orientation scale (Bahrami,1378) and the subject's orientation style was specified Through Intrinsic & Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale (Fegin, 1963). In addition, the subjects completed questionnaires on adult attachment style (Hazan & Shaver, 1987) and attachment to God (Rowatt & Kirkpatrik, 2002). The data were analyzed using independent t-tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient and Regression coefficient. Analysis revealed secure attachment in students with intrinsic religious orientation was more frequent than students who hold extrinsic religious orientation, in a way that secure attachment remained a direct significant predictor of intrinsic religious orientation. Ambivalence attachment style in students with extrinsic religious orientation was significantly more frequent than those who hold intrinsic religious orientation. But there was no significant difference between the avoidant attachment of the two compared groups. In addition, students with intrinsic religious orientation have reported, in attachment to God scale, less Avoidance and Anxiety (secure attachment) than students with extrinsic religious orientation. The anxiety dimension of attachment to God was a significant inverse predictor of intrinsic religious orientation; Avoidance dimension of attachment to God was a significant predictor of extrinsic religious orientation.

To study relationship between religious coping style and spiritual well being with mental health,120 female students from the University of Tehran were selected by stratified random sampling method. Participants completed the Religious Coping Scale (Pargament, 2000), the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Elison, 1983) and General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg, 1972). For analysing the data, correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used. Results showed a significant relationship between negative religious coping styles and mental health (r= 0.32, p < 0.01) and significant relationship between spiritual well being and mental health (r=-0.49, p<0.01). However, there was no significant relationship between positive religious coping styles and mental health.

This investigation intended to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure Spiritual, Religious, and Mystic Experiences (SRME) in university students. Based on reviews of theories in Islamic and western mysticism including Rumi's, Ibn-e-Arabi's, and Rudoff Otto's ideas about religious experiences, Gnostic interpretations of Koranic verses and prophet's traditions, a frame of references for the scale construction was developed. A structured interviews with college students, were also carried out. Finally a questionnaire with 102 items was developed and was administered on 337 students (180 females, and 157 males). To determine internal consistency of the questionnaire, the item-total correlation coefficient was utilized and to calculate discriminant power (DP) of each question the top 27% and the low 27% of the sample in the spirituality scale were compared. On the basis of the Item-total correlation and discriminant power of items, 27 items were recognized as inappropriate and were therefore dropped from the questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted on the remaining 75 items. In the first analysis 19 factors were extracted with the Egenvalue of 1. However, according to the Egenvalue of 2 and steepness of Screeplot, six factors were extracted and the final analysis was accomplished with emphasis on these factors. These 6 factors include: ''feeling of satisfaction and meaning in life", "effect of relationship with God in life", "spiritual action and actualization", "transcendental mystic experiences", "negative experiences", "religious and social activities".

In this study changes in cerebral blood flow -as an index of brain activity during the religious experience have been measured in a 5 persons group of religious subjects and compared with a control group, using SPECT. An evaluation of results of this study showed that there is a significant difference in amygdale and orbitofrontal's activity in experimental and control group. But there is no significant difference between two groups in dorsolateral prefrontal, superior parietal and singulate gyrus. The study of laterality during religious experience showed that there is no significant change in laterality in different areas of brain except amygdale.

This research aims to study the effect of fasting in the month of Ramadan on the well-being of the students. One hundred and sixty-two University students (102 females and 60 males) were selected from different faculties of the Shahid Beheshti University. One to two weeks before Ramadan, subjects filled out the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) as the pre-test, and one to two weeks after Ramadan, they filled out the GHQ again, as the post-test. Subtraction scores were calculated to identify level and orientation of the changes. The ANOVA analysis revealed that the subjects' total scores on the GHQ, as well as their scores on the subscales, were significantly changed: i. e. for the group who were fasting all the fasts through the month of Ramadan and those who were fasting only some of their fasts significantly decreased in the post-test and for the group who did not fast at all, and those who did not fast because of the religious excuses, significantly increased in the post-test.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between students 'religion orientation and their adjustment. Four hundred students from Shahid Beheshti University participated in this study. The Sample was selected by cluster randomic sampling method. In order to evaluate the religion orientation, the Allport’s Religion Orientation (extrinsic and intrinsic) Questionnaire was used. Also for evaluating adjustment, the Bell’s Adjustment Scale, which investigates three areas and emotional, social and health, was used. Result indicates that there is a meaningful relationship between religion orientation and adjustment. The relationship between intrinsic religious orientation and emotional adjustment was meaningful, but its relationship with other areas of adjustments was not meaningful. Comparison of adjustment in people with extrinsic and intrinsic religious orientation revealed that people with intrinsic religious orientation have better health, emotion, social and total adjustments than people with extrinsic religious orientation.