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Cited by 37Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyForgiveness and Related BehaviorsReligion and Society Interactions

Belief in Human Sinfulness, Belief in Experiencing Divine Forgiveness, and Psychiatric Symptoms

Uecker, Jeremy E., Ellison, Christopher G., Flannelly, Kevin J., Burdette, Amy M.·2016·Review of Religious Research
DOI 10.1007/s13644-015-0232-3
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Abstract

Many mental health and religious professionals have long argued that belief in human sinfulness is associated with poor mental health. Others argue that the deleterious mental health effects of belief in sinfulness may be buffered by a concomitant belief in divine forgiveness, which may itself have positive mental health benefits. We test these ideas using data from a national survey of US adults ( N = 1629). Our results indicate a positive association between belief in human sinfulness and all eight classes of psychiatric symptoms we examine, and a negative relationship between belief in being divinely forgiven and six of the classes of psychiatric symptoms. Moreover, there are significant interaction effects between believing humans to be sinful and belief in being forgiven for seven of the eight outcomes such that the net effects of believing in sin on mental health are attenuated for those who believe they have experienced God's forgiveness in their lives. Among those who report feeling forgiven by God “many times,” belief in human sinfulness is only associated with four of the psychiatric outcomes, and these associations are modest in size. Our findings provide partial support for the idea that belief in sinfulness is bad for mental health, but also show that religious beliefs are best understood in relation to other beliefs. Believing in human sinfulness is not necessarily harmful if it is accompanied by belief in having experienced divine forgiveness. This study contributes to a growing body of research explicating the relationships among religious beliefs and mental health.

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  • One's understanding of God as benevolent or cruel is associated with mental health and help-seeking behaviors.

    “Similarly, one’s understanding of God as benevolent or cruel is associated with mental health and help-seeking behaviors.40,41”

    From Religiosity & mental health seeking behaviors among U.S. adults (2024) · cites this paper as [40]

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Authors
Uecker, J. E., Ellison, C. G., Flannelly, K. J., & Burdette, A. M.
Affiliations
  • Baylor University (US)
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio (US)
  • Center for Psychosocial Research, Massapequa, NY, USA
  • Florida State University (US)
Corresponding author
Uecker, Jeremy E.
ORCID
Venue
Review of Religious Research
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-03
Volume
58
Issue
1
Pages
1-26
ISSN
  • 0034-673X (ISSN-L)
  • 2211-4866
DOI
10.1007/s13644-015-0232-3
OpenAlex
W2185232941
Cited by
36
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6
FWCI
2.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Review of Religious Research (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
Keywords
divine forgiveness, religious beliefs, psychiatric symptoms, mental health, religiosity and mental health, interaction effects, buffer hypothesis

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