Religion Protected Mental Health but Constrained Crisis Response During Crucial Early Days of the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Schnabel, Landon; Schieman, Scott

doi:10.1111/jssr.12720

Cited by 60 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“… 2021 ; Gonzalez et al. 2021 ; Hao and Shao 2021 ; Perry, Whitehead, and Grubbs 2020 ; Pew Research Center 2020 ; Schnabel and Schieman 2021 ). Religiosity is associated with perceptions of governmental and scientific authority (Chan 2018 ; Payir et al.…”

Section: Religion and Medically Recommended Responses To Covid‐19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Individuals’ Use of Religion in Response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic as Complementary to Their Use of Medically Recommended Responses

Corcoran

Scheitle

DiGregorio

2022

Scientific Study of Religion

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Many individuals have engaged in behaviors to cope with and mitigate the COVID‐19 pandemic, including mask wearing and physical distancing. This study considers the extent to which individuals have also engaged in religious behaviors in response to the pandemic and how those responses are associated with behaviors like mask wearing. Using data from a probability survey of U.S. adults, our analysis finds that over half of the respondents have engaged in pandemic‐related prayer and about one‐fifth have taken other religious steps in response to the pandemic, such as reading religious texts or carrying religious items for protection. All else being equal, Republicans are significantly less likely to have undertaken religious steps in response to the pandemic relative to Democrats, suggesting that the politicized nature of the pandemic influences religious responses as well. The analysis also finds that religious responses to the pandemic—especially prayer—are positively associated with mask wearing and physical distancing. These findings suggest that religious responses to the pandemic are not inherently opposed to undertaking responses recommended by scientific and medical authorities.

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Section: Religion and Medically Recommended Responses To Covid‐19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Individuals’ Use of Religion in Response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic as Complementary to Their Use of Medically Recommended Responses

Corcoran

Scheitle

DiGregorio

2022

Scientific Study of Religion

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“…Sociologists and anthropologists of religion turned to examine the ways different religious communities follow social distance guidelines (DeFranza et al 2020;Taragin-Zeller et al 2020;Goren et al 2021;Schnabel and Schieman 2021). Perry, Whitehead, and Grubbs found that in the US, the left were more likely to recommended precautions, while those on the (religious) right were more likely to disregard recommended precautions (Perry et al 2020).…”

Section: Religion Change and Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s Not Doctrine, This Is Just How It Is Happening!”: Religious Creativity in the Time of COVID-19

Taragin‐Zeller

Kessler

2021

Religions

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Drawing on thirty in-depth interviews with faith leaders in the UK (including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism), we examine the diverse ways religious groups reorient religious life during COVID-19. Analysing the shift to virtual and home-based worship, we show the creative ways religious communities altered their customs, rituals, and practices to fit a new virtual reality amidst rigid social distancing guidelines. This study offers a distinctive comparative perspective into religious creativity amidst acute social change, allowing us to showcase notable differences, especially in terms of the possibility to fully perform worship online. We found that whilst all faith communities faced the same challenge of ministering and supporting their communities online, some were able to deliver services and perform worship online but others, for theological reasons, could not offer communal prayer. These differences existed within each religion rather than across religious boundaries, representing intra-faith divergence at the same time as cross-faith convergence. This analysis allows us to go beyond common socio-religious categories of religion, while showcasing the diverse forms of religious life amidst COVID-19. This study also offers a diverse case study of the relationship between religions as well as between religion, state, and society amidst COVID-19.

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“…Responses to the pandemic, the sacrifices to normalcy needed to curb it, and even whether it was a real threat to be concerned about were quickly politicized by politicians, pundits, and the public alike [ 14 – 18 ]. Emerging research on partisanship and the pandemic in the United States demonstrates vastly different responses and approaches to whether the pandemic is real, something to stress about, and important enough to make a person limit their in-person connections, disrupt their routine, and constrain their daily life up to and including isolation [ 15 , 17 , 19 – 21 ]. It is possible, therefore, that although a widespread pandemic presumably exposes everyone to generally similar stressors, partisanship may cause people to experience and respond to those stressors quite differently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distressed Democrats and relaxed Republicans? Partisanship and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Bock

Schnabel

2022

PLoS ONE

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The COVID-19 pandemic was a potent stressor, yielding unprecedented levels of mental distress. However, public health responses and personal reactions to the pandemic were politically polarized, with Democrats highlighting and Republicans downplaying its severity. Did Republicans subsequently experience as much mental distress as Democrats during the COVID-19 pandemic? This study examines partisan patterns in mental health outcomes at three time points throughout the pandemic. Results demonstrate a clear partisan distress gap, with Democrats consistently reporting worse mental health than Republicans. Trend data suggest that the 2020 pandemic patterns are a continuation and exacerbation of an existing partisan distress gap. Consideration of race, however, demonstrates a widening partisan distress gap, specific to white Americans. Among white Americans, therefore, Democrats experienced a substantially greater increase in distress in response to the pandemic than Republicans.

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Religion Protected Mental Health but Constrained Crisis Response During Crucial Early Days of the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Cited by 60 publications

References 34 publications

Individuals’ Use of Religion in Response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic as Complementary to Their Use of Medically Recommended Responses

Individuals’ Use of Religion in Response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic as Complementary to Their Use of Medically Recommended Responses

“It’s Not Doctrine, This Is Just How It Is Happening!”: Religious Creativity in the Time of COVID-19

Distressed Democrats and relaxed Republicans? Partisanship and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

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