The Association Between Suicidal Ideation, Explicit Religion and Implicit Religion
An Empirical Enquiry Among 13 to 15 Year-old Adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.v16i1.93Keywords:
Implicit Religion, Psychology, Suicidal Ideation, WellbeingAbstract
In his analysis of the construct “implicit religion” Edward Bailey speaks of those individuals “who believe in Christianity” but who do not display the behaviours of explicit religion, such as church attendance. A recent research tradition has tried to operationalize this understanding of implicit religion by studying those who believe that they can be a Christian without going to church. A longer established research tradition has demonstrated the association between explicit religiosity and a lower level of suicidal ideation. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that implicit religiosity (in the sense of believing that you can be a Christian without going to church) is also associated with a lower level of suicidal ideation. Data provided by a sample of 25,726 13- to 15- year-old adolescents fail to support this hypothesis.References
Ardelt, M. 2003. “Effects of Religion and Purpose in Life on Elders’ Subjective Well-being and Attitudes toward Death.” Journal of Religious Geronotology 14: 55–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J078v14n04_04
Bailey, E. I. 1998. Implicit Religion: An introduction. London: Middlesex University Press.
Bolt, M. 1975. “Purpose in Life and Religious Orientation.” Journal of Psychology and Theology 3: 116–118.
Bradburn, N. M. 1969. The Structure of Psychological Well-being. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
Byrd, K. R., A. Hageman, and D. B. Isle. 2007. “Intrinsic Motivation and Subjective Well-being: The Unique Contribution of Intrinsic Religious Motivation.” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 17: 141–156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10508610701244155
Chamberlain, K. and S. Zika. 1988. “Religiosity, Life Meaning and Wellbeing: Some Relationships in a Sample of Women.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 27: 411–420. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1387379
Corulla, W. J. 1990. “A Revised Version of the Psychoticism Scale for Children.” Personality and Individual Differences 11: 65–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(90)90169-R
Crandall, J. E. and R. D. Rasmussen. 1975. “Purpose in Life as Related to Specific Values.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 31: 483–485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(197507)31:3%3C483::AID-JCLP2270310326%3E3.0.CO;2-C
Cronbach, L. J. 1951. “Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests.” Psychometrika 16: 297–334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555
Crosby, A. E., M. P. Cheltenham, and J. J. Sacks. 1999. “Incidence of Suicidal Ideation and Behaviour in the United States, 1994.” Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour 29: 131–140.
Crumbaugh, J. C. 1968. “Cross-validation of Purpose in Life Test based on Frankl’s Concepts.” Journal of Individual Psychology 24: 74–81.
Crumbaugh, J.C. and L.T. Maholick. 1969. Manual of Instructions for the Purpose in Life Test (PIL). Munster, IN: Psychometric Affiliates.
Dezutter, J., B. Soenens, and D. Hutsebaut. 2006. “Religiosity and Mental Health: A Further Exploration of the Relative Importance of Religious Behaviours versus Religious Attitudes.” Personality and Individual Differences, 40: 807–818. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.08.014
Durkheim, E. 1897. Le Suicide. Paris: Felix Alcan.
Eskin, M. 2004. “The Effects of Religious versus Secular Education on Suicide Ideation and Suicidal Attitudes in Adolescents in Turkey.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 39: 536–542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-004-0769-x
Eysenck, H. J., and S. B. G. Eysenck. 1975. Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (adult and junior). London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Eysenck, S. B. G., H. J. Eysenck, and P. Barrett. 1985. “A Revised Version of the Psychoticism Scale.” Personality and Individual Differences 6: 21–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(85)90026-1
Francis, L.J. 1982a. Youth in Transit: A Profile of 16-25 year Olds. Aldershot: Gower.
———. 1982b. Experience of Adulthood: A Profile of 26-39 Year Olds. Aldershot: Gower.
———. 1984. Teenagers and the Church: A Profile of Church-going Youth in the 1980s. London: Collins Liturgical Publications.
———. 2000. “The Relationship between Bible Reading and Purpose in Life Among 13-15 Year Olds.” Mental Health, Religion and Culture 3: 27–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670050002072
———. 2001. The Values Debate: A Voice from the Pupils. London: Woburn Press.
———. (in press). “Implicit Religion, Explicit Religion and Purpose in Life: An Empirical Enquiry among 13- to 15-Year-old Adolescents.” Mental Health, Religion and Culture.
——— and L. Burton. 1994. “The Influence of Personal Prayer on Purpose in Life among Catholic Adolescents.” Journal of Beliefs and Values 15(2): 6–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1361767940150202
——— and T. E. Evans. 1996. “The Relationship between Personal Prayer and Purpose in Life among Churchgoing and Non-churchgoing 12-15 Year-olds in the UK. Religious Education 91: 9–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0034408960910102
——— and C. A. M. Hermans. 2009. “Psychological Health and Attitude toward Christianity: A Study among Pupils Attending Catholic Schools in the Netherlands. Journal of Religious Education 57(2): 47–58.
——— and W. K. Kay. 1995. Teenage Religion and Values. Leominster: Gracewing.
——— and P. R. Pearson. 1988. “The Development of a Short Form of the JEPQ ( JEPQ-S): Its Use in Measuring Personality and Religion.” Personality and Individual Differences 9: 911–916. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(88)90009-8
——— and P. Richter. 2007. Gone for Good? Church-leaving and Returning in the 21st Century. Peterborough: Epworth.
——— and M. Robbins. 2005. Urban Hope and Spiritual Health: The Adolescent Voice. Peterborough: Epworth.
———. 2006. “Prayer, Purpose in Life, Personality and Social Attitudes among Non-churchgoing 13- to 15-Year-olds in England and Wales.” Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion 17: 123–155.
———. 2009. “Prayer, Purpose in Life, and Attitude toward Substances: A Study among 13- to 15-Year-olds in England and Wales.” Counselling and Spirituality 28(2): 83–104.
Hills, P., and L. J. Francis. 2005. “The Relationship of Religiosity and Personality with Suicidal Ideation.” Mortality 10: 286–293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13576270500321860
Hovey, J. D. 1999. “Religion and Suicidal Ideation in a Sample of Latin American Immigrants.” Psychological Reports 85: 171–177.
Janssen, F., S. Bänziger, J. Dezutter, and D. Hutesbaut. 2005. “Religion and Mental Health: Aspects of the Relation between Religious Measures and Positive and Negative Mental Health.” Archive for the Psychology of Religion 27: 19–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/008467206774355402
Kay, W. K., and L. J. Francis. 2006. “Suicidal Ideation among Young People in the UK: Churchgoing as an Inhibitory Influence?” Mental Health, Religion and Culture 9: 127–140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13694670500071745
Kumar, U., and R. K. Pradhan. 2003. “Correlates of Suicide Ideation: A Factor Analytic Study.” Social Science International 19: 36–43.
Lester, D. and L. J. Francis. 1993. “Is Religiosity Related to Suicidal Ideation after Personality and Mood are taken into Account?” Personality and Individual Differences 15: 591–592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(93)90342-Z
Marion, M. S. and L. M. Range. 2003. “African American College Women’s Suicide Buffers.” Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour 33: 33–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/suli.33.1.33.22780
Paloutzian, R. F., S. L. Jackson, and J.E. Crandall. 1978. “Conversion Experience, Belief System and Personal and Ethical Attitudes.” Journal of Psychology and Theology 6: 266–275.
Robbins, M. and L. J. Francis. 2005. “Purpose in Life and Prayer among Catholic and Protestant Adolescents in Northern Ireland.” Journal of Research in Christian Education 14: 72–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10656210509484981
———. 2009. “The Spiritual Revolution and Suicidal Ideation: An Empirical Enquiry among 13- to 15-Year-old Adolescents in England and Wales.” International Journal of Children’s Spirituality 14: 261–272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13644360903086539
Salmons, P. H., and R. Harrington. 1984. “Suicidal Ideation in University Students and Other Groups.” International Journal of Psychiatry 30: 201–205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002076408403000304
Schweitzer, R., M. Klayich, and J. MacLean. 1995. “Suicidal Ideation and Behaviours among University Students in Australia.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 29: 473–479. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00048679509064956
Soderstrom, D. and E. W. Wright. 1977. “Religious Orientation and Meaning in Life.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 33: 65–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(197701)33:1+%3C65::AID-JCLP2270330113%3E3.0.CO;2-0
Walker, D. (in press). “You Don’t Have to go to Church to be a Good Christian: The Implicit Religion of the Cathedral Carol Service Congregation.” Mental Health, Religion and Culture.
Walker, D., L. J. Francis, and M. Robbins. 2010. “You Don’t Have to go to Church to be a Good Christian: The Implicit Religion of Rural Anglican Churchgoers Celebrating Harvest.” Implicit Religion 13: 319–325.
Weinstein, L. and C. C. Cleanthous. 1996. “A Comparison of Protestant Ministers and Parishioners on Expressed Purpose in Life and Intrinsic Religious Motivation.” Psychology: A Journal of Human Behaviour 33: 26–29.
Zhang, J. and S. Jin. 1996. “Determinants of Suicide Ideation: A Comparison of Chinese and American College Students.” Adolescence 31: 451–467.
