Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life

Religious doubt (RD) and emotions toward God (EtGs) are areas of religiosity and spirituality that can play a role in the development and well-being of youth. The aim of this study is to investigate whether RD and EtGs are related to self-esteem and meaning in life in adolescents and what factors ma...

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Main Author: Alice Kosarkova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Religions
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/11/1390
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author Alice Kosarkova
author_facet Alice Kosarkova
author_sort Alice Kosarkova
collection DOAJ
description Religious doubt (RD) and emotions toward God (EtGs) are areas of religiosity and spirituality that can play a role in the development and well-being of youth. The aim of this study is to investigate whether RD and EtGs are related to self-esteem and meaning in life in adolescents and what factors may be associated with them in a secular setting. A sample of Czech adolescents (<i>n</i> = 984, mean age 16.61, SD 1.21; 28% male) participated in the online survey. We measured RD, EtGs, meaning in life (ML) divided into presence (ML-P) and seeking (ML-S), adolescents’ self-esteem (ASE), faith in the adolescent environment, the perception of religion and church, and religious education (RE). RD and negative EtGs were associated with reduced ML-P. Negative EtGs were associated with a reduction in ASE. However, positive EtGs were associated with an increase in ML-P. Respondents experiencing faith in their environment, having a positive view of church and religion, and enriching RE were more likely to report a decrease in RD and an increase in positive EtGs and vice versa. Our findings suggest that RD and EtGs are related to adolescents’ well-being and point to factors to be adequately addressed to minimize the negative impact of RD and promote positive EtGs.
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spelling doaj-art-8e45ff0bc820421cadeea4aecb0d1ece2025-08-20T02:05:01ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-11-011511139010.3390/rel15111390Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in LifeAlice Kosarkova0Department of Christian Education, Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology, Palacky University in Olomouc, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech RepublicReligious doubt (RD) and emotions toward God (EtGs) are areas of religiosity and spirituality that can play a role in the development and well-being of youth. The aim of this study is to investigate whether RD and EtGs are related to self-esteem and meaning in life in adolescents and what factors may be associated with them in a secular setting. A sample of Czech adolescents (<i>n</i> = 984, mean age 16.61, SD 1.21; 28% male) participated in the online survey. We measured RD, EtGs, meaning in life (ML) divided into presence (ML-P) and seeking (ML-S), adolescents’ self-esteem (ASE), faith in the adolescent environment, the perception of religion and church, and religious education (RE). RD and negative EtGs were associated with reduced ML-P. Negative EtGs were associated with a reduction in ASE. However, positive EtGs were associated with an increase in ML-P. Respondents experiencing faith in their environment, having a positive view of church and religion, and enriching RE were more likely to report a decrease in RD and an increase in positive EtGs and vice versa. Our findings suggest that RD and EtGs are related to adolescents’ well-being and point to factors to be adequately addressed to minimize the negative impact of RD and promote positive EtGs.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/11/1390religious doubtsemotions toward Godadolescentsthe meaning in lifeself-esteemreligion
spellingShingle Alice Kosarkova
Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
Religions
religious doubts
emotions toward God
adolescents
the meaning in life
self-esteem
religion
title Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
title_full Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
title_fullStr Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
title_full_unstemmed Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
title_short Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
title_sort religious doubts and emotions toward god in adolescents relation to self esteem and meaning in life
topic religious doubts
emotions toward God
adolescents
the meaning in life
self-esteem
religion
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/11/1390
work_keys_str_mv AT alicekosarkova religiousdoubtsandemotionstowardgodinadolescentsrelationtoselfesteemandmeaninginlife