Religious orientation, aging, and blood pressure reactivity to interpersonal and cognitive stressors
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Research on religion and health suggests general health benefits for those who are more religiously involved. Particular aspects of religiosity that may influence this finding, however, have not been sufficiently investigated. PURPOSE: This study was designed to explore the relationship between religious orientation (intrinsic, extrinsic) and blood pressure reactivity among older (over 60 years) and younger (18-24 years) adults exposed to two qualitatively different laboratory stressors (cognitive, interpersonal). METHODS: Participants were categorized as exhibiting either a predominantly intrinsic or extrinsic religious orientation based on scores on the Religious Orientation Scale. They were subsequently exposed (in counterbalanced order) to two laboratory stressors that varied in terms of whether an interpersonal confrontation was involved. Measures of blood pressure were obtained at baseline and during stressor presentation. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that older extrinsically religious individuals demonstrated exaggerated reactivity compared to younger participants and older intrinsically religious individuals. Older intrinsically religious participants did not differ from younger persons. Similar results were found for analysis of baseline data. Extrinsic participants had greater reactivity during the interpersonal confrontation condition than did intrinsic individuals. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that religious orientation may be an important variable to study regarding cardiovascular reactivity in, particularly, older adults.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies documented multiple beneficial effects associated with certain RS dimensions (e.g., private spiritual practices and intrinsic religiosity), such as higher levels of cardiac autonomic control and lower blood pressure reactivity to stressors.
“These studies documented multiple beneficial effects associated with certain RS dimensions (e.g., private spiritual practices and intrinsic religiosity), such as higher levels of cardiac autonomic control (Berntson et al., 2008) and lower blood pressure reactivity to stressors (Masters et al., 2004).”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Masters et al., 2004
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. E., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270020 · Cited by 99,588 · see citing works
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6 · Cited by 88,282 · see citing works
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J. (1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90050-4 · Cited by 65,406 · see citing works
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.).
Lachenbruch, P. A., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2290095 · Cited by 37,385 · see citing works
Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report
Yesavage, J. A., Brink, T. L., Rose, T. L., Lum, O., Huang, V., Adey, M., & Leirer, V. O. (1982) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(82)90033-4 · Cited by 15,025 · see citing works
The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature.
James, W. (1902) · doi:10.1037/10004-000 · Cited by 5,204 · see citing works
Personal religious orientation and prejudice.
Āllport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0021212 · Cited by 4,177 · see citing works
(1990) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e530902004-001 · Cited by 3,690 · see citing works
Handbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2004) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00019442-200405000-00015 · Cited by 3,262 · see citing works
Handbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H., McCullough, M., & Larson, D. (2001) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195118667.001.0001 · Cited by 2,581 · see citing works
Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.64 · Cited by 1,948 · see citing works
Psychological testing and psychological assessment: A review of evidence and issues.
Meyer, G. J., Finn, S. E., Eyde, L. D., Kay, G. G., Moreland, K. L., Dies, R. R., Eisman, E. J., Kubiszyn, T. W., & Reed, G. M. (2001) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037//0003-066x.56.2.128 · Cited by 1,469 · see citing works
Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field.
Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.24 · Cited by 1,437 · see citing works
Religion and spirituality: Linkages to physical health.
Powell, L. H., Shahabi, L., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.36 · Cited by 1,093 · see citing works
Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review.
McCullough, M. E., Hoyt, W. T., Larson, D. B., Koenig, H. G., & Thoresen, C. E. (2000) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.19.3.211 · Cited by 1,088 · see citing works
Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: Review and meta-analysis.
Donahue, M. J. (1985) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.48.2.400 · Cited by 948 · see citing works
(2018) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/12160.1532-4796 · Cited by 927 · see citing works
Parati, G., Casadei, R., Groppelli, A., Di Rienzo, M., & Mancia, G. (1989) · Hypertension · doi:10.1161/01.hyp.13.6.647 · Cited by 899 · see citing works
TARGET ARTICLE: Explaining the Relationships Between Religious Involvement and Health
George, L. K., Ellison, C. G., & Larson, D. B. (2002) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1303_04 · Cited by 847 · see citing works
Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality
Hummer, R. A., Rogers, R. G., Nam, C. B., & Ellison, C. G. (1999) · Demography · doi:10.2307/2648114 · Cited by 825 · see citing works
Monat, A. (1991) · Cited by 748 · see citing works
Frequent attendance at religious services and mortality over 28 years.
Strawbridge, W. J., Cohen, R. D., Shema, S. J., & Kaplan, G. A. (1997) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.87.6.957 · Cited by 686 · see citing works
Cardiovascular Reactivity and Development of Preclinical and Clinical Disease States
Treiber, F. A., Kamarck, T., Schneiderman, N., Sheffield, D., Kapuku, G., & Taylor, T. (2003) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-200301000-00007 · Cited by 683 · see citing works
Religiosity/spirituality and health: A critical review of the evidence for biological pathways.
Seeman, T. E., Dubin, L. F., & Seeman, M. (2003) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.53 · Cited by 589 · see citing works
Health Psychology: Why Do Some People Get Sick and Some Stay Well?
Adler, N. E., & Matthews, K. A. (1994) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.45.020194.001305 · Cited by 489 · see citing works
Llabre, M. M., Spitzer, S. B., Saab, P. G., Ironson, G. H., & Schneiderman, N. (1991) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1991.tb01017.x · Cited by 459 · see citing works
Importance of Systolic Blood Pressure in Older Americans
Izzo, J. L., Levy, D. A., & Black, H. R. (2000) · Hypertension · doi:10.1161/01.hyp.35.5.1021 · Cited by 401 · see citing works
Volunteerism and Mortality among the Community-dwelling Elderly
Oman, D., Thoresen, C. E., & Mcmahon, K. (1999) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/135910539900400301 · Cited by 401 · see citing works
Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation: The Boon or Bane of Contemporary Psychology of Religion?
Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Hood, R. W. (1990) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.2307/1387311 · Cited by 392 · see citing works
Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Challenge: Conceptual and Measurement Considerations
Kamarck, T. W., & Lovallo, W. R. (2003) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000030390.34416.3e · Cited by 286 · see citing works
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
James, W. (2002) · doi:10.1002/9780470693551.ch26 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Thoresen, C. E. (1999) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/135910539900400314 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
The Journal of Psychiatric Research
(1962) · Nature · doi:10.1038/193221e0 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Religious Activities and Attitudes of Older Adults in a Geriatric Assessment Clinic
Koenig, H. G., Moberg, D. O., & Kvale, J. N. (1988) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1988.tb02365.x · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Thorsteinsson, E. B., & James, J. E. (1999) · Psychology & Health · doi:10.1080/08870449908407353 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Religion and Psychological Distress
Ross, C. E. (1990) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.2307/1387431 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
FACTS AND ARTIFACTS IN USING ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE TO “UNDO” THE LAW OF INITIAL VALUES
Benjamin, L. S. (1967) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1967.tb02757.x · Cited by 158 · see citing works
A Cognitive Model of Religion's Influence On Health
Dull, V. T., & Skokan, L. A. (1995) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01323.x · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Religion and Well‐Being in Aging Persons in an Aging Society
McFadden, S. H. (1995) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01329.x · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Smith, T. W., Nealey-Moore, J. B., Kircher, J. C., & Limon, J. P. (1997) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1997.tb02417.x · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Self-citationIs Religion Good for Your Health?
Koenig, H. G. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315869964 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
An historical context for behavioral models of hypertension
Gerin, W., Pickering, T. G., Glynn, L. M., Christenfeld, N. J. S., Schwartz, A. R., Carroll, D., & Davidson, K. W. (2000) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(99)00095-1 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Psychosocial stress, cognitive performance and disability after common whiplash
Radanov, B. P., Stefano, G. D., Schnidrig, A., & Sturzenegger, M. (1993) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3999(93)90118-y · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Spirituality, religiousness, and health: From research to clinical practice
Mills, P. J. (2002) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2401_01 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Kamarck, T. W., Peterman, A. H., & Raynor, D. A. (1998) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02886374 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Gerin, W., Pieper, C. F., & Pickering, T. G. (1993) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3999(93)90005-z · Cited by 54 · see citing works
A case for the usefulness of laboratory social stressors
Linden, W., Rutledge, T. R., & Con, A. H. (1998) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02886380 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
107th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association
(1999) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e531232009-001 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
A Longitudinal Study of Religiosity and Mortality Risk
Clark, K. M., Friedman, H. S., & Martin, L. R. (1999) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/135910539900400307 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Health habits and psychological well‐being among young, middle‐aged and older Australian women
Lee, C. (1999) · British Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1348/135910799168650 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
The Significance of Religion for Aging Well
JOHNSON, T. R. (1995) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764295039002007 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
The role of religion in promoting physical health.
Hill, P. C., & Butter, E. M. (1995) · The Journal of psychology and Christianity · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Lyness, S. A. (1993) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.114.2.266 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Are cardiovascular reactors to asocial stress also reactors to social stress?
Lassner, J. B., Matthews, K. A., & Stoney, C. M. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.66.1.69 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
IS RELIGION GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH?
Moody, H. R. (2006) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/46.1.147 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Role-played interpersonal interaction: Ecological validity and cardiovascular reactivity
Waldstein, S. R., Neumann, S. A., Burns, H. O., & Maier, K. J. (1998) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02886379 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The social construction of cardiovascular reactivity
Christenfeld, N. J. S., Glynn, L. M., Kulik, J. A., & Gerin, W. (1998) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02886381 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Are cardiovascular reactors to asocial stress also reactors to social stress?
Lassner, J. B., Matthews, K. A., & Stoney, C. M. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.66.1.69 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Masters, K. S. (1991) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.2307/1386976 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationReligious Orientation and Mental Health
Masters, K. S., & Bergin, A. E. (1992) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195069853.003.0018 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationRutledge, T. R., & Linden, W. (2003) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2501_05 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Cross-situational consistency of cardiovascular reactivity
Smith, T. W., & O'Keeffe, J. L. (1988) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/0301-0511(88)90033-6 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Rub-A-Dub-Dub: Who's in the Tub? Reply to Masters
Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Hood, R. W. (1991) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.2307/1386977 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Podlesny, J. A., & Kircher, J. C. (1999) · Forensic Science Communications · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- George LK, Ellison CG, Larson DB: Explaining the relation- ship between religious involvement and health. Psychological Inquiry. 2002, 13:190-200.
- Kamarck TW, Lovallo WR: Cardiovascular reactivity to psy- chological challenge: Conceptual and measurement consider- ations. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2003, 65:9-21.
- Tartaro J, Gunn HE, Appelhans BM, Luecken LJ: Influence ofreported religiosity and spirituality on physiological stress re- sponses. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2002, 24(Suppl.):S077.
- In Hill PC, Hood Jr. RW (eds), Measures of religiosity. Bir- mingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1999, 144-154.
- Koenig HG, Moberg DO, Kvale JN: Religious and health char- acteristics of patients attending a geriatric assessment clinic. Journal of the American Geriatric Society. 1988, 36:362-374.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Chida, Y., & Hamer, M. (2008) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0013342 · Cited by 667 · see citing works
Differing pathways between religiousness, spirituality, and health: A self-regulation perspective.
Aldwin, C. M., Park, C. L., Jeong, Y.-J., & Nath, R. (2014) · Psychology of Religion and Spirituality · doi:10.1037/a0034416 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Does compassion mediate the intrinsic religion-health relationship?
Steffen, P. R., & Masters, K. S. (2005) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm3003_6 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Self-citationAdvancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine
Park, C. L., Masters, K. S., Salsman, J. M., Wachholtz, A., Clements, A. D., Salmoirago-Blotcher, E., Trevino, K., & Wischenka, D. M. (2017) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-016-9755-5 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Self-citationAi, A. L., Wink, P., Tice, T. N., Bolling, S. F., & Shearer, M. (2009) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-009-9228-1 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Schnell, T., Fuchs, D., & Hefti, R. (2020) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-020-01008-5 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Masters, K. S., & Hooker, S. A. (2013) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0030813 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationReligiousness and Treatment Adherence in Congestive Heart Failure Patients
Park, C. L., Moehl, B., Fenster, J. R., Suresh, D. P., & Bliss, D. (2008) · Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging · doi:10.1080/15528030802232270 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Chen, Y. Y., & Contrada, R. J. (2007) · Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9861.2007.00010.x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Masters, K. S., Hill, R. D., Kircher, J. C., Benson, T. L. L., & Fallon, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Utah State University (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Corresponding author
- Masters, Kevin S.
- Venue
- Annals of Behavioral Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2004-10
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 171-178
- ISSN
- 0742-5554 (ISSN-L)
- 0883-6612
- 1532-4796
- OpenAlex
- W2053067246
- Cited by
- 117
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of Behavioral Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Psychological Association
- National Institutes of Health (1r03ag018554-01)
- National Institute on Aging (1 R03 AG 18554-01)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
- Keywords
- religious orientation, intrinsic religiosity, extrinsic religiosity, blood pressure reactivity, cardiovascular reactivity, aging, older adults, cognitive stress, interpersonal stress, laboratory stressor, Religious Orientation Scale
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aging, Blood Pressure, Female, Humans, Hypertension, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Religion and Medicine, Stress, Psychological, Utah
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
