Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth
by
Pamela Ebstyne King 1,*, Jennifer Medina Vaughn 1
, Yeonsoo Yoo 1, Jonathan M. Tirrell 2, Elizabeth M. Dowling 2, Richard M. Lerner 2, G. John Geldhof 3, Jacqueline V. Lerner 4, Guillermo Iraheta 5, Kate Williams 5 and Alistair T. R. Sim 5
Pamela Ebstyne King 1,*, Jennifer Medina Vaughn 1, Yeonsoo Yoo 1, Jonathan M. Tirrell 2, Elizabeth M. Dowling 2, Richard M. Lerner 2, G. John Geldhof 3, Jacqueline V. Lerner 4, Guillermo Iraheta 5, Kate Williams 5 and Alistair T. R. Sim 5
1
Thrive Center for Human Development, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
2
Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
3
Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
4
Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
5
Compassion International, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Religions 2020, 11(2), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11020075
Received: 1 November 2019 / Revised: 17 January 2020 / Accepted: 23 January 2020 / Published: 7 February 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Perspectives on Religion and Positive Youth Development)
Given the strong link between religiousness and hope, we sought to further understand the relations of these potentially powerful resources for youth living in adversity. Although existing research suggests that religiousness might be associated with adolescent hope via spirituality and social connections, few studies have tested models that integrate both. Thus, as applied psychologists, the aim of this paper was to test a theoretical model in the lives of youth. Drawing on a Relational Developmental Systems metatheory, we sought to further elucidate the relations between religiousness and hope and to explore how involvement in the faith-based youth-development organization, Compassion International (CI), might facilitate character strengths like hope. In order to do so, we tested whether religiousness was directly and indirectly (via spirituality and social connection) related to hopeful future expectations, using a sample of 9–15-year-olds in El Salvador (M = 11.6 years; n = 888), half of whom were involved in CI and the other half of whom were a locally matched counterfactual sample. Structural equation models revealed that higher levels of religiousness were directly and indirectly associated with higher levels of hope in relation to higher levels of spirituality and social connections among these youth. CI-supported youth reported significantly higher levels of religiousness than the counterfactual sample. Findings suggest that the relationship between religiousness and hope is best understood when it incorporates youth’s spirituality and social connections associated with religion.
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Keywords:
religiousness; transcendence; fidelity; spirituality; social connections; hope
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MDPI and ACS Style
King, P.E.; Vaughn, J.M.; Yoo, Y.; Tirrell, J.M.; Dowling, E.M.; Lerner, R.M.; Geldhof, G.J.; Lerner, J.V.; Iraheta, G.; Williams, K.; Sim, A.T.R. Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth. Religions 2020, 11, 75.
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