Abstract
This pilot study explored the strength of religious faith in a sample of intercollegiate athletes and non-athletes. Participants were 226 undergraduate students (57 athletes) at the University of Florida who were enrolled in undergraduate courses. Strength of religious beliefs were assessed with the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith—Short Form. Findings indicate that athletes reported higher levels of religious faith than non-athletes. Implications of these findings on future research and applied sport practice are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balague, G. (1999). Understanding identity, value, and meaning when working with elite athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 89–98.
Gould, D., Udry, E., Bridges, D., & Beck, L. (1997). Coping with season-ending injuries. The Sport Psychologist, 11, 379–399.
Hoffman, S. J. (1992a). Religion in sport. In S. J. Hoffman (Ed.), Sport and religion (pp. 127–141). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Hoffman, S. J. (1992b). Religion in sport. In S. J. Hoffman (Ed.), Sport and religion (pp. 213–225). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Koenig, H. G. (1994). Aging and God: Spiritual pathways to mental health in midlife and later years. New York: The Haworth Pastoral Press.
Koenig, H. G., Parkerson, G. R., & Meador, K. G. (1997). Religion index for psychiatric research. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 885–886.
Lewis, C. A., Shevlin, M., McGuckin, C., & Navratil, M. (2001). The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire: Confirmatory factor analysis. Pastoral Psychology, 49, 379–384.
Miller, L., Davies, M., & Greenwald, S. (2000). Religiosity and substance use and abuse among adolescents in the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1190–1197.
Plante, T. G., & Boccaccini, M. T. (1997a). The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Pastoral Psychology, 45, 375–387.
Plante, T. G., & Boccaccini, M. T. (1997b). Reliability and validity of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Pastoral Psychology, 45, 429–437.
Plante, T. G., Vallaeys, C. L., Sherman, A. C., & Wallston, K. A. (2002). The development of a brief version of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Pastoral Psychology, 50, 359–368.
Storch, E. A., & Farber, B. A. (2002). Psychotherapy with the religious athlete. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 3, 15–17.
Storch, E. A., & Storch, J. B. (2002). Intrinsic religiosity and aggression in intercollegiate athletes. Psychological Reports, 91, 1041–1042.
Storch, E. A., Storch, J. B., Kolsky, A. R., & Silvestri, S. M. (2001). Religiosity of elite athletes. The Sports Psychologist, 15, 346–351.
Storch, E. A., Storch, J. B., Kovacs, A., Okun, A., & Welsh, E. (2003). Intrinsic religiosity and substance use in intercollegiate athletes. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 25, 248–252.
Storch, E. A., Storch, J. B., Welsh, E., & Okun, A. (2002). Religiosity and depression in intercollegiate athletes. College Student Journal, 36, 526–531.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Storch, E.A., Roberti, J.W., Bravata, E.A. et al. Strength of Religious Faith: A Comparison of Intercollegiate Athletes and Non-Athletes. Pastoral Psychology 52, 485–489 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PASP.0000031527.02433.5b
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PASP.0000031527.02433.5b