Religious Attributions: Situational Factors and Effects on Coping

The religious attributions of 363 Presbyterian Congregational members were examined to see how they affected coping responses across a range of situations. We compared the multiple sufficient schemata (attributions to God or secular causes) and two proximal-distal models (distant God and secular causes; distant God plus God's direct control in some situations). Results failed to support the first two models but were consistent with direct and indirect divine causation in uncontrollable, severe, and pleasant situations. Simple theological arguments that committed Presbyterians would assert God's direct control because of belief in God's sovereignty were not upheld. There were also small but significant direct and indirect effects of different religious attributions on adaptive coping. These findings point to the complexity of religious attributions and the need for a proximal-plus-distal model of religious attributions.