Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only triggered a global health crisis but also profoundly disrupted the psychological well-being of older adults, leading to heightened levels of burnout, uncertainty, and anxiety about the future. During times of crisis, intrinsic religious motivation may offer a spiri...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/666 |
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| author | Muhammet Enes Vural Harun Geçer Hızır Hacıkeleşoğlu Murat Yıldırım |
| author_facet | Muhammet Enes Vural Harun Geçer Hızır Hacıkeleşoğlu Murat Yıldırım |
| author_sort | Muhammet Enes Vural |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic has not only triggered a global health crisis but also profoundly disrupted the psychological well-being of older adults, leading to heightened levels of burnout, uncertainty, and anxiety about the future. During times of crisis, intrinsic religious motivation may offer a spiritual grounding that fosters hope, a critical internal resource in sustaining emotional balance. This study investigates the mediating role of hope in the relationship between intrinsic religious motivation, pandemic-related burnout, and future anxiety among Turkish older adults. A total of 427 participants (M<sub>age</sub> = 66.98, SD = 7.23) were recruited using a cross-sectional design. Participants completed validated measures of intrinsic religiosity, dispositional hope, pandemic burnout, and future anxiety. Structural equation modeling revealed that intrinsic religious motivation positively predicted hope and negatively predicted both burnout and future anxiety. Moreover, hope significantly mediated the relationship between intrinsic religious motivation and both outcome variables. These findings suggest that religious meaning-making may enhance psychological resilience by promoting hope, thereby mitigating the mental health burden during large-scale crises. The study enhances understanding of culturally embedded support mechanisms and highlights the role of faith-based inner resources, such as intrinsic religious motivation and hope, in fostering resilience among older adults during uncertainty and crisis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9eb8bcaaf8db40168b4be5bed5204a21 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-9eb8bcaaf8db40168b4be5bed5204a212025-08-20T03:29:40ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-05-0116666610.3390/rel16060666Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older AdultsMuhammet Enes Vural0Harun Geçer1Hızır Hacıkeleşoğlu2Murat Yıldırım3Department of Psychology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize 53100, TürkiyeDepartment of Religious Sciences, Faculty of Divinity, Niğde Ömer Halis Demir University, Niğde 51240, TürkiyeDepartment of Psychology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Ordu University, Ordu 52200, TürkiyeDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Ağrı 04100, TürkiyeThe COVID-19 pandemic has not only triggered a global health crisis but also profoundly disrupted the psychological well-being of older adults, leading to heightened levels of burnout, uncertainty, and anxiety about the future. During times of crisis, intrinsic religious motivation may offer a spiritual grounding that fosters hope, a critical internal resource in sustaining emotional balance. This study investigates the mediating role of hope in the relationship between intrinsic religious motivation, pandemic-related burnout, and future anxiety among Turkish older adults. A total of 427 participants (M<sub>age</sub> = 66.98, SD = 7.23) were recruited using a cross-sectional design. Participants completed validated measures of intrinsic religiosity, dispositional hope, pandemic burnout, and future anxiety. Structural equation modeling revealed that intrinsic religious motivation positively predicted hope and negatively predicted both burnout and future anxiety. Moreover, hope significantly mediated the relationship between intrinsic religious motivation and both outcome variables. These findings suggest that religious meaning-making may enhance psychological resilience by promoting hope, thereby mitigating the mental health burden during large-scale crises. The study enhances understanding of culturally embedded support mechanisms and highlights the role of faith-based inner resources, such as intrinsic religious motivation and hope, in fostering resilience among older adults during uncertainty and crisis.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/666COVID-19 pandemicintrinsic religious motivationreligiosityhopeburnoutfuture anxiety |
| spellingShingle | Muhammet Enes Vural Harun Geçer Hızır Hacıkeleşoğlu Murat Yıldırım Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults Religions COVID-19 pandemic intrinsic religious motivation religiosity hope burnout future anxiety |
| title | Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults |
| title_full | Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults |
| title_fullStr | Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults |
| title_short | Holding onto Hope in Times of Crisis: The Mediating Role of Hope in the Link Between Religious Motivation, Pandemic Burnout, and Future Anxiety Among Turkish Older Adults |
| title_sort | holding onto hope in times of crisis the mediating role of hope in the link between religious motivation pandemic burnout and future anxiety among turkish older adults |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic intrinsic religious motivation religiosity hope burnout future anxiety |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/666 |
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