Lesson 2 of 6 · Why the feeling drains before the practice does
What you tell yourself it means
The interpretation is not decoration on top of the state. It is part of the machinery, and there is research on which interpretations go with people doing worse.
What the research says
Ways of coping that read hardship as punishment or abandonment went with worse psychological adjustment, and ways that did not went with better. Most of these studies looked at people at one moment, so the direction is not established.
Ways of coping that framed difficulty as punishment or as being abandoned by God went with worse psychological adjustment. Ways that did not, went with better. The honest limits are real: most of the studies pooled were snapshots rather than follow ups, so which came first is not established, and the samples were mostly Christian and American.
Ano GG, Vasconcelles EB (2005). Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: a meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(4), 461 to 480 doi