Research Proposal - HD 2830

29 September 2023 HD 2830 Research Proposal Main Findings from Five Studies: The collective findings of the five research articles we reviewed highlight the positive impact of spirituality on individuals' resilience. These studies primarily employed scales and questionnaires to explore the relationship between spirituality and resilience. In the study conducted on Iranian students, it was revealed that spirituality played a significant role in enhancing resilience. Similarly, the research focusing on middle-aged Vietnamese-American Catholics also supported the idea that spirituality positively influences resilience. Additionally, within the Vietnamese-American Catholic study, it was observed that women tended to score higher in spirituality than men. This study also uncovered noteworthy connections between spirituality, personality traits, and the ability to cope with stress overload. Another investigation delved into the role of spirituality in dealing with chronic pain. This research indicated that spirituality, particularly in terms of fostering hope and providing a sense of meaning and purpose, contributed to coping with chronic pain in distinct ways. Hope was associated with improved psychological well-being, the ability to ignore pain, and the use of constructive coping self-statements, while the sense of purpose facilitated task persistence as a coping mechanism. Another study explored the mediating role of self-forgiveness, a significant component of spirituality, in relation to psychache, which refers to psychological distress. This study also revealed that specific aspects of spirituality played a pivotal role in reducing suicidal tendencies. Lastly, one of the studies we examined highlighted how spirituality assisted individuals in coping with the day-to-day challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It provided individuals with hope for the future during a particularly challenging time. These findings collectively underscore the valuable contribution of spirituality to resilience across diverse populations and in various contexts, including challenging situations like the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevention of suicidal behavior. Identified Gap: While there is a substantial body of research indicating a positive correlation between spirituality and resilience, there is a noticeable gap in data regarding this relationship among individuals residing in the United States, particularly among college students facing the often high-stress environments found on campuses. Consequently, our study aims to investigate in greater detail how spirituality influences resilience within the specific demographic of college-age students in the United States, with a particular focus on Cornell University. Research Methods:

Methods: Sample of about 120 people (college students at Cornell University) - Self report: (Survey), Administered through qualtrics - Questionnaire will be 22 questions total with 5 questions about spirituality and the rest about resilience Research Design: - Correlational - Questionnaire Definitions of Key Terms, Operationalization of Variables, and Measures to Assess them: - Spirituality : The level of engagement with and belief of a perceived higher power. - Operationalization : Spirituality Scale - 5 Questions taken from INSPIRIT-R (INDEX OF CORE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES) with 4 answer choices for each question. - Resilience : “the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain their well-being." (Ungar, 2008, 2011). - Ungar, M. (2008). Resilience across cultures. The British Journal of Social Work, 38(2), 218–235. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl343 - Our measurement tool of resilience contains two subscales → Personal Resilience and Relational Resilience: - “Relational resilience relates to characteristics associated with the important relationships shared with either a primary caregiver, partner,m or family.” - “Personal resilience includes intrapersonal and interpersonal items. These are linked, as both dimensions depend on individuals’ social ecologies to reinforce their resilience” - Operationalization → Resiliency scale - CYRM-R (The Child and Youth Resilience Measure) - 5-point visual likert scale for resilience Hypotheses and Research Question: - Research Question: Does spirituality affect resilience? - Revision #1 → Does spirituality effectively predict resiliency in college students, specifically at Cornell? - Directional Hypothesis: We predict that spirituality will positively impact resilience in students. - This hypothesis is grounded in the idea that spirituality serves as a coping mechanism available to college students, enabling them to effectively manage the numerous stressors inherent in a highly competitive academic institution. - Subsystem Hypothesis: We predict that spirituality will correlate stronger with personal resilience than with relational resilience.