Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, and Social Dimensions of Religiousness across Cultures

Based on theorization on the four basic dimensions of religiousness, Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging, and corresponding cognitive, emotional, moral, and social motives and functions of religion, we developed a measure and investigated cross-cultural consistency of the four dimensions as well interindividual and cross-cultural variability. Data were collected from 14 countries varying in religious heritage: Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism/Taoism ( N = 3,218). Beyond their high interrelation and common personality correlates, that is, agreeableness and conscientiousness, the four dimensions were distinct across cultures and religions, less interrelated in Eastern Asia compared to the West, differentially preferred across cultural zones, and characterized by distinct features. Believing and bonding, to which spirituality was primarily related, were preferred in Western secular societies. Behaving and belonging, valued in religious societies, were importantly related to fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and low openness. Bonding and behaving were primordial in, respectively, Israel and Turkey. Furthermore, belonging (marked by extraversion) and bonding were uniquely associated with increased life satisfaction, whereas believing was uniquely related to existential quest and decreased life satisfaction. Thus, the multidimensionality of religiousness seems deeply rooted in distinct psychological dispositions evident at both the individual and the cultural levels.

The Role of Mediators in the Indirect Effects of Religiosity on Therapeutic Compliance in African Migrant HIV-Positive Patients

This research investigates the indirect effects of religiosity (practice and belief) on therapeutic compliance in 81 HIV-positive patients who are migrants from sub-Saharan Africa (23 men and 58 women). Using analyses of mediation and standard multiple regression, including a resampling procedure by bootstrapping, the role of these mediators (magical-religious beliefs and nonuse of toxic substances) was tested. The results show that, through magical-religious beliefs, religiosity has a negative indirect effect, while with the nonuse of toxic substances, religious practice has a positive indirect effect. Beyond religiosity, the role of mediators is highlighted in the interaction with therapeutic compliance.

Fibromyalgia, Spirituality, Coping and Quality of Life

The aim of this study is to identify the impact of spirituality on coping strategies and on the quality of life of fibromyalgia patients. The study was carried out on 590 people suffering from fibromyalgia. The data were collected with the French version of the WCC-R (The Ways of Coping Checklist: Cousson et al. 1996), the questionnaire of spirituality (Evaluation de La Spiritualité: Renard and Roussiau, 2016) and Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale questionnaire, translated into French (Blais et al. 1989). An analysis carried out with the software SPSS and Hayes' models showed that both problem-focused coping and coping through social support seeking are mediating variables that enable an indirect link between spirituality and quality of life.

Disclosure and religion among people living with HIV/AIDS in France

The aim of this study was to examine associations between the importance of religion and disclosure of HIV seropositivity within sero-nonconcordant couples. In 2003, a face-to-face survey was conducted among patients selected in a random stratified sample of 102 French hospital departments delivering HIV care. Respondents who reported being in a couple with a non-HIV-positive partner were asked whether they had disclosed their HIV positive status to their partner and if religion represented an important aspect of their life. Among the 2932 respondents, 1285 were in a sero-non-concordant regular partnership. Among these, 37.5% reported that religion played an important role in their life; 7.2% had not disclosed their HIV-positive status to their partner, and 11.6% were unaware of their partner's HIV status. Lack of HIV disclosure to the partner was encountered more often among those who considered religion as an important aspect of their life. After multiple adjustment for socio-demographic factors, and for partnership characteristics, the importance of religion in the respondent's life remained independently associated with a lack of HIV disclosure to the regular partner. In conclusion, individuals who place importance on religion appear to have difficulties in disclosing their HIV-positive status due to the associated stigma and fear of discrimination.