Differentiation of self, religious coping, and subjective well-being

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relationships between differentiation of self (DoS), religious coping, and subjective well-being in a sample of undergraduate students at a religiously affiliated university. Intrapersonal DoS or the ability to (1) experience emotions, but (2) not be forced to respond to them is an important capacity for self-regulation with important implications for well-being and spiritual maturity. In this study, DoS was a potential method for understanding one’s emotional experience, and perhaps facilitated respondents’ use of a more collaborative religious coping style to manage this experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Differentiation of self
• religious coping
• self-directed style
• collaborative style
• deferring style
• PANAS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.