Religious Belief vs. Religious Practice. What is More Beneficial to Elite Athletes? An Investigation of Religious/Spiritual Belief, and its Relationship to Challenge & Threat Appraisal

Year 2018, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 399 - 422, 30.09.2018

Pete Jackson Andrew Wood

Abstract

Religiosity/spirituality has been linked with reduced anxiety in athlete populations. This study

set out to assess the impact of religious/spiritual belief, opposed to practice, to see whether it

too would predict anxiety, as well as feelings of control and cognitive appraisal in elite

athletes (N = 115). Self-reported self-efficacy, control, achievement goals, life satisfaction,

trait anxiety and strength of belief in a higher power (SBHP) were measured and analysed

with simple linear regressions and multiple regressions (with challenge and threat appraisals

as the dependent variables). The models predicting both challenge and threat appraisal were

found to be significant, although SBHP was not a significant predictor, nor was it

significantly predicative of any of the variables, or significantly correlated with them. The

contribution of religious/spiritual belief to psychological benefits is compared to

religious/spiritual practice and discussed alongside implications for future research and

applied practice.

Keywords

sport, psychology, religion, spirituality, belief, anxiety, challenge, threat, appraisal

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