The Relationship of Personality, Spirituality and Posttraumatic Growth to Subjective Wellbeing

Abstract

A growing number of studies are indicating that a number of people report psychological growth after experiencing trauma. This may be so because suffering stimulates the need and search for meaning [1]. In this cross-sectional and correlational study, we sought the relationship of subjective wellbeing to posttraumatic growth in view of past trauma experiences and perceived stress. In particular, we investigated a sample of tertiary students' perceived stress, past traumas, subjective well-being, faith maturity, positive and negative affect, and personality, together with demographic correlates. Past traumas included loss of a loved one, chronic or acute illness, injury, divorce, violent crime, and job loss, amongst others. Only a quarter of respondents experienced their trauma/s 5 years or more prior the study, thus indicating relatively recent trauma experiences. Post-traumatic growth correlated with personality, faith maturity, wellbeing and positive affect. In examining the patterns of correlations noted above, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed. Posttraumatic growth was found to have unique variance even after partialling out key variables such as perceived stress, personality and faith maturity. Although situational factors and personality did play important roles, this study clearly points at the relevance of faith maturity and posttraumatic growth for the promotion of holistic wellbeing of those affected by trauma. Religious beliefs may counter hopelessness and form an important buffer in this equation. The psycho-social implications of these results were discussed.

Predictors of Well-being after Trauma Among Tertiary Students: The Role of PTG and Spirituality

“…Research suggests that spirituality relates positively to wellbeing, and to important life events [25,26]. This was also confirmed in this study, whereby it was found to positively correlate with all well-being scales, except negative effect, with personality and PTG.…”

“…Consistent with this finding, researchers [38][39][40], viewed spirituality as an important construct for wellbeing, particularly in countering traumatic ordeals in life. Some studies have found that whenever spirituality was factored in, it was always found significantly related to healthy outcomes, and inversely related to disorders [26,41,42]. In line with this, some results found that spirituality predicted a greater sense of wellbeing among abuse victims [43][44][45][46], and among nurses stressed out with burnout [47,48].…”

Predicting Post-Traumatic Growth among a Sample of Maltese Tertiary Students

“…First, this study indicated that spirituality is one such factor. Research increasingly points at the relevance of this variable in this equation (Galea, 2014e). On the other hand, this study found no direct link with negative well-being.…”

Religious Belief and Diaspora in Coetzee’s Youth and Yassin-Kassab’s The Road from Damascus

“…Numerous studies have tackled the role of spirituality in healing the impacts of life struggles. Michael Galea (2014) explains:…”

“…The narrator confirms that "he is not a good enough lover, not fiery enough, not passionate" (Coetzee, 2002, p. 32). Galea (2014) explores the relationship between spiritual wellbeing and emotional stability. He indicates that "a healthy spirituality is a resource and is highly correlated to emotional wellbeing" (p. 7).…”