Skip to main content
Log in

Religious Coping Methods of Taiwanese Folk Religion

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore religious coping methods employed by Taiwanese folk religious believers. This study applied qualitative research methods in data collection and data analysis by conducting semi-structured interviews with participants and analyzing the interview contents. We have identified fourteen coping methods that can be categorized into five different religious dimensions: belief, ritual, ethical, emotional and material. The findings not only expanded our knowledge about how believers of Taiwanese folk religion employ the religion to cope with difficulties but also discovered that some coping methods employed by them are also reported in Western countries, only in different forms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ai, A. L., Hopp, F., & Shearer, M. (2006). Getting affairs in order: Influences of social support and religious coping on end-of-life planning among open-heart surgery patients. Journal of Social Work In End-Of-Life and Palliative Care, 2(1), 71–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Favazza, A. R. (1998). The coming of age of self-mutilation. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 186(5), 259–268.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hackney, C. H., & Sanders, G. S. (2003). Religiosity and mental health: A meta-analysis of recent studies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42(1), 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, P. C., & Hood, R. W. (1999). Measures of religiosity. Birmingham: Religious Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, D. R., Cardenas, P., & Montoya, H. (2001). Substance use: Spirituality and religious participation as protective factors among rural youth. Social Work Research, 25(3), 153–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., Hays, J. C., George, L. K., Blazer, D. G., Larson, D. B., & Landerman, L. R. (1997). Modeling the cross-sectional relationships between religion, physical health, social support, and depressive symptoms. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5(2), 131–144.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., King, D. E., & Carson, V. E. (2012). Handbook of religion and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., Siegler, L. C., Meador, K. G., & George, L. K. (1990). Religious coping and personality in later life. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5, 123–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N. (2002). Exploring race differences in a comprehensive battery of church-based social support measures. Review of Religious Research, 44(2), 126–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N. (2004). Assessing the relationship among prayer, expectancies, race, and self-esteem in late life. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 43(3), 395–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuchan, K. L. (2011). Prayer as therapeutic process toward transforming destructiveness within a spiritual direction relationship. Journal of Religion and Health, 50, 120–131. doi:10.1007/s10943-009-9287-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J. S., Markides, K. S., & Ray, L. A. (1996). Religious attendance and psychological well-being in Mexican Americans: A panel analysis of three generations data. The Gerontologist, 36, 454–463.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, M. R. (2012). Introduction of religious development in Taiwan. Encyclopedia of Taiwan. Retrieved from http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/web/content?ID=363.

  • Pargament, K. I., Ensing, D. S., Falgout, K., Olsen, H., Reilly, B., Haitsma, K., et al. (1990). God help me (I): Religious coping efforts as predictors of the outcomes of significant negative life events. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 793–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(4), 519–543.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., Tarakeshwar, N., & Hahn, J. (2001). Religious struggle as a predictor of mortality among medically ill elderly patients: A two-year longitudinal study. Archives of Internal Medicine, 161, 1881–1885.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., Tarakeshwar, N., & Hahn, J. (2004). Religious coping methods as predictors of psychological, physical, and spiritual outcomes among medically ill elderly patients: A two-year longitudinal study. Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 713–730.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 710–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richard, T. A., Wrubel, J., Grant, J., & Folkman, S. (2003). Subjective experiences of prayer among women who care for children with HIV. Journal of Religion and Health, 42(3), 201–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisbuch-Remington, M., Mendes, W. B., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2005). The nonconscious influence of religious symbols in motivated performance situations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1203–1216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, F., & Hu, A. (2012). Mapping Chinese folk religion in Mainland China and Taiwan. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 51(3), 505–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi-Jung Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, YJ. Religious Coping Methods of Taiwanese Folk Religion. J Relig Health 53, 1138–1145 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9709-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9709-y

Keywords

Navigation