Julie J Exline

Case Western Reserve University | CWRU · Department of Psychological Sciences

A Spiritual Renaissance of Psychological Science has arrived: an explosion of rigorously derived, foundationally new models of human experience. The collective vision of psychological science in the second edition of the OUP Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality advances psychological research beyond 20th-century radical materialism and mechanism...

A Spiritual Renaissance of Psychological Science has arrived: an explosion of rigorously derived, foundationally new models of human experience. The collective vision of psychological science in the second edition of the OUP Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality advances psychological research beyond 20th-century radical materialism and mechanism...

Psychedelic substances sometimes lead to spiritually transformative or mystical experiences. What interpretive lenses do people use to explain these powerful experiences? Do they see them as physical/biological, spiritual or supernatural, reflections of normal psychological processes, or signs or triggers of mental illness? As part of an internet s...

After-death communication (ADC) is the phenomenon of perceiving spontaneous and direct contact by a deceased loved one. Evidence suggests that ADC is a widespread human experience, particularly for bereaved individuals. Many people who have ADCs report them to be comforting, suggesting therapeutic potential. However, many individuals in Western cul...

The conscience, which can be described as an inner feeling or voice that guides moral behavior, is relevant to psychological concepts such as sociomoral competence, self-regulation, and moral struggles. But how do people decide whether to follow their conscience? Their decisions may depend partly on the beliefs they hold about the importance and re...

Many people who see themselves as having a relationship with God think of this bond in terms of love and safety. Yet some might also see this relationship in energetic terms: as exciting, lively, passionate, or fun. An online survey asked 871 U.S. adults who believed in God to reflect on a recent positive life event. Three measures assessed relatio...

What types of attributions and appraisals predict gratitude to God (GTG)? After preregistering key hypotheses, we did an Internet survey of 1078 U.S. adults focused on a recent positive event. Even when controlling religiousness and God belief, GTG was strongly related to divine attributions for the event, which seemed more plausible when God was s...

Do supernatural attributions to God and the devil relate to a sense of meaning in life? We investigated this question by conducting a three-week experience sampling study (N = 75), in which we measured daily causal attributions for both positive and negative events and assessed daily meaning (n = 1,425 total daily reports). Correlational and multil...

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus man...

Could psychedelic use open the door to messages from supernatural entities, including God, the devil, or human or nature spirits? Might psychedelics allow a glimpse of some transcendent domain, consciousness, or self that exists beyond the material world? We were interested in how people’s answers to these questions would relate to their attitudes...

For many people worldwide, supernatural beliefs and attributions—those focused on God, the devil, demons, spirits, an afterlife, karma, or fate—are part of everyday life. Although not widely studied in clinical psychology, these beliefs and attributions are a key part of human diversity. This article provides a broad overview of research on superna...

Research relating personality variables to gratitude to God (GTG) is in its nascent stages, as only a few descriptive, correlational studies have been conducted on this topic. We investigated whether two kinds of personality variables—positive emotional traits and adaptive relational styles—predicted higher GTG. Hypotheses linking these variables t...

When good things happen, what thoughts elicit gratitude to God (GTG)? Building on work highlighting divine attributions and appraisals, we examined whether consciously priming people to think about God would increase subsequent reports of GTG. U.S. adult participants (N = 553) completed an online survey asking them to describe a positive event from...

This study aimed to expand psychological research on hope by contributing a construct and scale to measure central dimensions of theistic eschatological hope derived from Christian scriptures. Eschatological hope was conceptualized as the anticipation that God will make all things new, raising people to everlasting life with God in joyful celebrati...

We investigated how gratitude to God (GTG) functions within the context of negative events. Specifically, we sought to locate the position of GTG within the affective circumplex and to test whether GTG relates to higher levels of perceived closeness to God (PCTG). In a cross-sectional study, participants (N = 142 U.S. undergraduate believers in God...

Given the prevalence of supernatural beliefs in the United States, some people may believe that God or the devil influenced people to create or receive COVID-19 vaccines. In an Internet sample of 3196 U.S. adults (with many preregistered hypotheses), divine vaccine attributions were more common than demonic attributions. Demonic vaccine attribution...

The Religious and Spiritual Struggles (RSS) Scale (Exline, Pargament, Grubbs, & Yali, 2014) is a 26-item measure assessing six types of religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles: divine, demonic, interpersonal (IP), moral, ultimate meaning (Ult. mean.), and doubt. A need has emerged for shorter measures when administration of the full RSS is not practica...

In a sample of undergraduates who reported divine struggles (N= 290), we coded imagined conversations with God about the struggle for salient themes. We examined how these themes related to global views of God and struggle-specific responses to God. As hypothesized, participants with more positive global God concepts included more communal themes i...

Many people believe in supernatural entities, which might be personal (deities, devils, ghosts) or impersonal (fate/destiny, karma, luck). Some people see such entities as causing events in the world, including experiences in their own lives. Our study draws on social, motivational, and cognitive frameworks to predict beliefs and experiences involv...

Sacred moments, or sanctified periods of time, may result in psychological benefits for those who experience them, and music may have the potential to facilitate or enhance these sacred moments. Using qualitative content analysis, the present study examined narratives from US adults (N = 209) who had experienced important moments while listening, p...

Studies highlight that although the spiritual/religious dimension is commonly used as a re- source for coping with stress and suffering, sometimes this dimension can also be a locus of struggles. The Religious and Spiritual Struggles (RSS) Scale, composed of 26 items (extended version), is an instrument that assesses the presence of six types of sp...

Studies highlight that although the spiritual/religious dimension is commonly used as a re- source for coping with stress and suffering, sometimes this dimension can also be a locus of struggles. The Religious and Spiritual Struggles (RSS) Scale, composed of 26 items (extended version), is an instrument that assesses the presence of six types of sp...

Religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles can be emotionally painful, yet little is known about how people cope with them. In our study, undergraduates (N = 976) who were currently experiencing an r/s struggle completed the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) and standardized, self-report measures of religious coping, secular coping, and religi...

This chapter proposes that the essential contribution of religion to flourishing goes beyond any single factor. Instead, religion is concerned with human wholeness—that is, how people put the bits and pieces of their lives together into a coherent whole. What lends unity to the lives of many individuals is the focus on sacred matters. Religious ins...

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has been conceptualized as a transdiagnostic vulnerability for emotional psychopathology, but few studies have tested whether it prospectively predicts emotional psychopathology, and none have utilized transdiagnostic and clinician-rated outcomes. To fill this gap, the present study tested whether IU prospectively pr...

We tested preregistered hypotheses (a) examining the structure of supernatural beliefs and perceived experiences and (b) predicting supernatural engagement from the Big Five and cognitive styles. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of self-report data in the U.S. undergraduates (Study 1: n = 1,401; Study 2: n = 1,939) showed that bel...

This project focused on religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles reported by U.S. adults around the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Presidential elections. Two separate samples of U.S. Mechanical Turk workers completed surveys about the 2016 (N = 504) and 2020 (N = 618) elections, with cross-sectional data collected between each election and the inauguration. Overal...

Various studies demonstrate links between attachment to God and body image, though few consider secure attachment to God or positive body image specifically. Further, little is known about explanatory mechanisms, and many studies have relied on samples of White college women. In the current study, we proposed several potential mediators to better u...

How do people cope with spiritual struggles? For those who believe in a personal, relational God, some responses may focus on their perceived relationship with God: They might approach (draw close), disengage (turn away or exit), protest (complain, argue, or question), or suppress (avoid or minimize negative feelings). This paper presents initial v...

How do people decide whether a supernatural entity (God, the devil, ghosts/spirits, fate/destiny, karma, or luck) has intervened in their lives? Their decisions may depend partly on how well the event fits with beliefs about the entity’s supernatural operating rules, such as the entity’s power, scope of communication, and intent. We examined these...

Many people believe that they have received after-death communications (ADCs) from deceased loved ones, and some bereaved individuals may disclose such experiences to their therapists. This can be a challenging area to navigate, especially given stigma around ADCs, uncertainty around their interpretation, and possible worldview differences between...

What struggles do transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) individuals report around religion and spirituality (r/s), and what types of r/s beliefs, experiences with religion, and gender-identity-related factors make such struggles more likely? Our sample (N = 315) came from a larger online study in which we contacted over 700 sources (websites,...

People use numerous metaphors to describe God. God is seen as a bearded man, light, and love. Based on metaphor theories, the metaphors people use to refer to God reflect how people think about God and could, in turn, reflect their worldview. However, little work has explored the common metaphors for God. This was the purpose of the current investi...

This chapter reviews the growing literature on religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles and their implications for clinical practice, with a focus on people with psychiatric problems. The empirical literature indicates that R/S struggles: (a) take a variety of forms that reflect tensions and conflicts around the sacred; (b) are not uncommon among pe...

Beliefs in supernatural evil have been widespread throughout human history, and they remain so today. Yet conversations about demonic struggles—tensions and conflicts involving beliefs and experiences regarding the devil, demons, or evil spirits or forces— may make many people uneasy, including therapists. Still, demonic struggles have clinical rel...

Context Religion and spirituality (r/s) are important resources in coping with cancer. However, there are aspects of r/s, such as religious and spiritual struggles, found to be associated with poorer outcomes. A new measure has been adapted from the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) to assess r/s struggles: the RSS-14. This concise meas...

Authenticity predicts greater presence of meaning in life, in general (between-persons) and in the moment (within-persons). However, little is known about whether authenticity predicts negative aspects of life meaning, such as struggles with ultimate meaning. Across three studies (total N = 719), two of which used daily diaries (daily reports = 1,9...

In light of a growing body of longitudinal research on religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles and adjustment, a meta-analysis was conducted in order to synthesize literature on whether r/s struggles predict decrements in psychological adjustment over time. Multiple databases were searched for journal articles and dissertations reporting on studies...

Prior research suggests robust links between religious/spiritual struggles and lower levels of mental health. This work has examined trait measures of religious/spiritual struggles over various time frames, such as “over the past couple of weeks,” and “over the last few months,” and “over your lifetime.” However, these assessments do not characteri...

Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles pertain to matters of ultimate significance, such as moral dilemmas, religious doubts, and perceived conflict with God. Because people cannot offer absolute or objective solutions to such struggles, some turn to God for guidance and support. In a mixed-methods study of undergraduates from three U.S. universit...

Does God listen and respond to prayers? This project provided initial validation for a brief measure of perceived divine engagement and disengagement in response to prayer. As part of a larger project on religious/spiritual struggles among U.S. undergraduates, we used Sample 1 (n = 400) for exploratory factor analysis and Sample 2 (n = 413) for con...

Religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles emerge when a person’s beliefs, practices, or experiences regarding R/S matters result in distress or conflict. Given this emphasis on distress and conflict, it is not surprising that many studies have found R/S struggles to be linked with indicators of psychological distress, such as symptoms of depression a...

The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs involved in the complex relationship between religion and well-being. Religious/spiritual struggles are distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other, but the RSS’ internal discriminant validity has not been tested longitudinally. Previously, we pu...

Studies suggest that a lack of understanding and sensitivity around religious issues by healthcare professionals may be a noteworthy barrier for Muslims seeking treatment. One way to help bridge the gap between Muslims' healthcare needs and healthcare utilization rates may be through fostering awareness and sensitivity about the influence of Islam...

What types of religious and spiritual struggles do people experience when they disengage from religion? We examined college students (N = 3,598) who had pulled back from religion, either by no longer identifying as religious or spiritual (Dones) or by disengaging from organized religion while maintaining an identity as religious (Disengaged but Rel...

Religious and spiritual struggles are typically assessed by self-report scales using closed-ended items, yet nascent research suggests that using open-ended interviews and prompts may complement and advance assessment and theories. In the current mixed-methods study, undergraduate participants (N = 976) completed open-ended descriptions of their re...

Sacred moments refer to experiences during which people perceive they encountered the sacred. The goal of the present study was to identify potential salutary effects of experiencing sacred moments over time. Participants included 2,889 adults (M age = 45.46 years; SD = 14.65) who completed online self-report questionnaires at baseline (T1) and 2 w...

Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles have been robustly linked to negative outcomes, such as greater psychological distress, reduced well-being, and difficulty finding meaning in life. R/s struggles, however, do not inevitably lead to decline. Many people report post-traumatic and spiritual growth through their r/s struggles, even though correla...

What types of religious and spiritual struggles do people experience when they disengage from religion? We examined college students (N = 3,598) who had pulled back from religion, either by no longer identifying as religious or spiritual (Dones) or by disengaging from organized religion while maintaining an identity as religious (Disengaged but Rel...

Ever experienced a moment that transcended everyday life while seeing your favorite band perform? When you finally learned to play a challenging set of chords? Or when a new song described how you were feeling perfectly? Sacred moments are sanctified periods of time. This mixed-methods study explored the characteristics of sacred moments experience...

Potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs), including committing transgressions (Transgressions-Self) and perceiving betrayals, have been positively associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A proposed mechanism for the association between PMIEs and PTSD symptoms is social disconnection. However, research on PMIEs and social disconnec...

Religious and spiritual struggles are typically assessed by self-report scales using closed-ended items, yet nascent research suggests that using open-ended items may complement and advance assessment. In the current study, undergraduate participants (N = 976) completed open-ended descriptions of their religious and spiritual struggles, the Religio...

This study tested hypotheses about client preferences and functioning based on a relational spirituality model of psychotherapy in a sample (N = 101) of adult clients at a community mental health center in the northeastern United States. Most clients wanted to engage spiritual, religious, and existential issues in treatment and this preference was...

Veterans’ religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles can negatively impact mental health, yet little is known about the range of R/S struggles veterans experience. In-depth qualitative interviews with 22 U.S. veterans were used to increase understanding of veterans’ R/S struggles across 6 domains: divine, demonic, interpersonal, moral, doubt, and ulti...

Outperforming others can be an enjoyable experience, satisfying goals for achievement and competitive success. However, high-performing people may also have other goals, such as to avoid causing those whom they have outperformed to feel discouraged or maliciously envious. This chapter summarizes Exline and Lobel’s conceptual framework about the con...

Theoretically, religions and spirituality (R/S) can help people maintain well-being and meaning in life, but these relationships are not simple or without conflict and ambivalence. This chapter first provides an overview of theories and research linking the psychology of religion to positive psychology. A theoretical reevaluation of supernaturalism...

The current study systematically explored and described religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles – distress, tension, and conflict about certain aspects of r/s belief, practice, or experience – in a Veteran sample. Participants were 178 United States Veterans (148 men, 30 women) receiving care at a VA hospital and affiliated outpatient clinics who repor...

Body image is especially relevant to the developmental period of adolescence, given the various physical and social changes that take place during this time. Though body dissatisfaction tends to be normative, especially among females, universal prevention programs have been established to intervene prior to body image concerns becoming severe and e...

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Studies suggest that a lack of understanding and sensitivity around religious issues by healthcare professionals may be a noteworthy barrier for Muslims seeking treatment. One way to help bridge the gap between Muslims' healthcare needs and healthcare utilization rates may be through fostering awareness and sensitivity about the influence of Islam...

Both academic and popular literatures have repeatedly contended that emerging adults are the most narcissistic and entitled age-group in modern times. Although this contention is fiercely debated, the message that emerging adults are narcissistic and entitled has saturated popular culture. Despite this saturation, relatively little empirical work h...

This study examined the relationships among closeness with and anger toward God, moral acceptability of anger toward God, and life satisfaction (LS) in a sample of undergraduates (N = 196). Findings showed that closeness to God moderated the association between anger toward God and LS, such that high anger combined with high closeness was associate...

Theoretically, religion/spirituality may protect against alcohol problems or facilitate recovery. However, challenges can arise in religious/spiritual life that may contribute to or complicate alcohol problems. Emerging adults often experience difficult transitions from family environments to independent membership in academic communities straddlin...

Moral struggles involve internal conflict regarding inconsistencies between one’s higher values and the actions of the self and may include guilt, shame, contempt, disgust, and anger. Previous research in civilian populations revealed several factors that might predispose people to moral struggles. The current study sought to replicate and extend t...

The author wishes to make the following corrections to (Saritoprak et al. [...]

Narcissism and narcissistic traits are known to affect various aspects of human functioning, with such traits often being associated with problematic outcomes in social, professional, and interpersonal domains. Another area in which narcissism seems to have some negative consequences is in spiritual functioning. Oftentimes, individuals, regardless...

When coping with challenges in life, including religious−spiritual (R-S) struggles, those who believe in a relational deity (referred to here as God) may see themselves and God as active partners in engaging with the problem. We examined whether (a) attempts to engage with God via religious coping and (b) perceptions of receiving help from God were...

Religious and spiritual struggles (R/S struggles)—tension or conflicts regarding religious or spiritual matters—have been robustly linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being. Most research in this area has relied on samples consisting predominantly of participants who believe in god(s). Limited research has examined R/S struggles...

Research exploring nonbelievers’ reasons for not believing in the existence of god(s) has focused on theory development. Such efforts are valuable, but may not capture the lived experiences of nonbelievers. The current two studies quantitatively examined nonbelievers’ self-reported reasons for nonbelief through developing the Reasons of Atheists an...

Research in civilians experiencing religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles has shown that various psychosocial and R/S strengths associated with Pargament’s theory of a religious orienting system (ROS) predict more positive spiritual transformation and struggle-related adjustment. In this study, U.S. military veterans (N = 178; 30 women) reporting a cu...

Many people experience religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles following specific stressful life events (SLE). However, SLE may aggregate, gradually undermining individuals’ orienting systems. Does SLE accumulation predict greater R/S struggles? Might general religiousness buffer cumulative effects of SLE on R/S struggles? We tested these hypotheses us...

Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles entail tension and conflict regarding religious and spiritual aspects of life. R/s struggles relate to distress, but may also relate to growth. Growth from struggles is prominent in Islamic spirituality and is sometimes referred to as spiritual jihad. This work's main hypothesis was that in the context of mor...

Research exploring nonbelievers’ reasons for not believing in the existence of god(s) has focused on theory development. Such efforts are valuable, but may not capture the lived experiences of nonbelievers. The current two studies quantitatively examined nonbelievers’ self-reported reasons for nonbelief through developing the Reasons of Atheists an...

The time periods or experiences during which people believe that they encountered the sacred may be referred to as sacred moments. Such experiences might serve as transformative influences, potentially revealing fundamental truths that help to organize the ways that people view themselves, others, and the world in more coherent and adaptive ways. W...

In the nascent literature on the sequelae of exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs), there has been little consideration of the possible associations between PMIE exposure and positive, growth-related outcomes. Broadly, trauma exposure is associated with negative changes in life satisfaction. However, posttraumatic growth (PTG) ha...

In recent years, several works have reported on perceived addiction to internet pornography, or the potential for some individuals to label their own use of pornography as compulsive or out of control. Such works have consistently found that perceived addiction is related to concerning outcomes such as psychological distress, relational distress, a...

In recent years, several works have reported on perceived addiction to internet pornography, or the potential for some individuals to label their own use of pornography as compulsive or out of control. Such works have consistently found that perceived addiction is related to concerning outcomes such as psychological distress, relational distress, a...

In a large online survey of undergraduates, we examined the degree to which social desirability concerns might bias pornography-related self-reports and whether these biases are stronger among highly religious participants than among less-religious ones. Recent state-level analyses have put forward a controversial suggestion that religious individu...

Psychological entitlement is a stable personality trait known to predict a range of concerning outcomes in people’s lives. Recent research has suggested that entitlement might have domain-specific manifestations such as romantic entitlement, academic entitlement, and sexual entitlement. The present work sought to examine such a domain specific mani...

Objective: Potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs)-violations (perpetrated or witnessed) of one's deeply held beliefs or values-have been associated with several forms of psychological distress. The values violated by PMIEs are often influenced by one's religion/spirituality (r/s). Struggles with one's r/s beliefs and/or practices may also co...

Many people report occasional feelings of anger toward God. However, most evidence pertains to western, predominantly Christian populations. In this study, Indian university students (N = 139; 78% Hindu) completed a survey about anger toward God(s). Polytheists (45%) chose one god to focus on. Measurement invariance tests supported comparisons of a...

Although religion and spirituality often bring comfort and hope, people can also experience religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles in multiple domains: divine, demonic, moral, interpersonal, doubt-related, and ultimate meaning. This chapter explores how these types of r/s struggles could relate to challenges and opportunities associated with various a...

Prior work has demonstrated that religious beliefs and moral attitudes are often related to sexual functioning. The present work sought to examine another possibility: Do sexual attitudes and behaviors have a relationship with religious and spiritual functioning? More specifically, do pornography use and perceived addiction to Internet pornography...

Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles involve tensions, conflicts, and strains pertaining to r/s life. This research examined whether broad measures of religiousness predicted differences in the development and resolution of struggles over one year in a sample of undergraduates (N = 451) from three U.S. universities: secular public (n = 146), sec...

Background and aims: Internet pornography use is an increasingly common, yet controversial, behavior. Whereas mental health communities are divided about potentially problematic use patterns, many lay people identify as feeling dysregulated or compulsive in their use. Prior work has labeled this tendency perceived addiction to internet pornography...

John Shook's article "Are People Born to be Believers, or are Gods Born to be Believed?" (this volume) critiques research findings and writings by Justin Barrett suggesting that god beliefs may be innate among human beings. In response to points raised by Shook, we first discuss several complications that need to be balanced when defining and asses...

Struggle with ultimate meaning reflects concerns about whether one’s life has a deeper meaning or purpose. We examined whether this construct could be distinguished from presence of meaning in life and search for meaning. In two US samples – a web-based sample (N = 1047) and an undergraduate sample (N = 3978) – confirmatory factor analyses showed t...

In this chapter, we offer an understanding of optimal functioning as wholeness in an individual’s orienting system, which is comprised of values, beliefs, practices, emotions, and relationships that offer direction and stability in the search for significance. To begin unpacking the meaning of wholeness and its relationship to eudaimonia, we focus...

This study examined anger and protest behaviors toward God among 80 US adults seeking treatment for chronic headaches (66 women, 14 men; 71 completed treatment). Measures were administered before and after an intensive 3-week outpatient treatment program. At both times, anger and protest toward God correlated with lower pain acceptance, more emotio...

Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles are common experiences and robust predictors of poor mental and physical health outcomes. The present study sought to examine the role of personality and self-concept in predicting r/s struggles both concurrently and longitudinally. Four samples were collected (total N = 5015), involving three cross-sectional...

The current research examined whether personality traits and religiousness predict features of religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles and whether features of r/s struggles predict well-being when accounting for personality traits and religiousness. Participants comprised American adults from an online study (N = 418) and undergraduates (N = 965) w...

To what extent might religious and spiritual struggle (RSS) arise from personality and environmental stress? We hypothesized that neuroticism and stressful life events predict RSS independently. Regression analyses of factor scores from 2,719 undergraduates in USA revealed independent effects of neuroticism and stressful past experiences on six kin...

We examined the relation between experiential avoidance and mental health in a sample of 307 American adults reporting spiritual struggles. Experiential avoidance was consistently related to poorer mental health. Specifically, both general and spiritual struggle-specific avoidance were correlated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, somatic s...