Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.

Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Intrinsic religious motivation, adverse life events, coping practices, and the development of self-transcendence in older women

Georgina A Draur, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The objective of the present research study was to expand and refine the definition of self-transcendence, create an instrument that measures the phenomenon, and examine the relationships among age, intrinsic religious motivation, adverse life events, coping practices and the development of self-transcendence in a group of older women. Self-transcendence was measured using Draur's (1995) Self-Transcendence Scale; intrinsic religious motivation was measured by Hoge's (1972) Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale, and coping practices were measured by Folkman and Lazarus's (1988) Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Adverse life events were measured by the Stokes/Gordon Stress Scale (Stokes & Gordon, 1988). The nature and extent of the above relationships were described through triangulation (Merriam, 1988), using correlational research methods to analyze the quantitative data, and axial coding methods (Strauss & Corbin, 1991) to organize, integrate, and analyze the qualitative data. The results of this study indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between self-transcendence and intrinsic religious motivation (r =.26, p $<$.01). There also was a strong positive correlation between self-transcendence and the coping practice designated as positive reappraisal (r =.39, p $<$.01) using the raw score method, which was upheld using the relative score method (r =.39, p $<$.01). There also was a negative correlation between self-transcendence and the coping practice designated as accepting responsibility (r = $-$.26, p $<$.05), as well as a strong negative correlation between self-transcendence and the coping practice designated as escape-avoidance (r =.33, p $<$.01) using the relative score method. Also found was a negative correlation between self-transcendence and current stress (r = $-$.25, p $<$.05). Other correlations were found among the self-transcendence factors and the coping practice factors.

Subject Area

Gerontology|Developmental psychology|Womens studies|Religion

Recommended Citation

Draur, Georgina A, "Intrinsic religious motivation, adverse life events, coping practices, and the development of self-transcendence in older women" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9734614.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9734614

Share

COinS