Abstract
This study assesses the health-related effects of trust-based prayer expectancies, which reflect the belief that God answers prayers at the right time and in the best way. The following relationships are evaluated in our conceptual model: (1) older Mexican Americans who attend worship services more often tend to develop a closer relationship with God; (2) people who feel close to God will be more likely to develop trust-based prayer expectancies; (3) people who endorse trust-based prayer expectancies will have greater feelings of self-esteem; and (4) higher self-esteem is associated with better self-rated health. The data support each of these relationships.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antonovsky, A. (1979). Health, stress, and coping. San Francisco: Jossey-Basss.
Coe, G. A. (1902). The religion of the mature mind. London: Fleming H. Revell Company.
Cohen, S., & Rodriguez, M. S. (1995). Pathways linking affective disturbances and physical disorders. Health Psychology, 14, 374–380.
Cooley, C. H. (1902/2003). Human nature and the social order. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Dergance, J. M., Mouton, C. P., Lichtenstein, M. J., & Hazuda, J. P. (2005). Potential mediators of ethnic differences in physical activity in older Mexican American and European Americans: Results from the San Antonio Longitudinal Study on Aging. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53, 1240–1247.
DeShon, R. P. (1998). A cautionary note on measurement error correlations in structural equation models. Psychological Methods, 3, 412–423.
du Toit, M., & du Toit, S. (2001). Interactive LISREL: User’s guide. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
Durkheim, E. (1915/1965). Elementary forms of religious life. London: George, Allen Unwin, Ltd.
Elizondo, V. (2010). Spiritual writings. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Enders, C. K. (2010). Applied missing data analysis. New York: Guilford.
Espinosa, G., Elizondo, V., & Miranda, J. (2003). Hispanic churches in American public life: Summary of findings. South Bend, IN: Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame.
Exline, J. J., & Rose, E. (2005). Religious and spiritual struggles. In R. F. Paloutzian & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 315–330). New York: Guilford.
Fernandez, E. C. (2007). Mexican American Catholics. New York: Paulist Press.
Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning. New York: Harper & Row.
Goizueta, R. S. (2002). The symbolic world of Mexican American religion. In T. Matovina & G. Riebe-Estrella (Eds.), Horizons of the sacred: Mexican traditions in U.S. Catholicism (pp. 119–138). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Graham, J. W., Olchowski, A. E., & Gilreath, T. D. (2007). How many imputations are really needed? Some practical considerations of multiple imputation theory. Prevention Science, 8, 206–213.
Haber, D. (2010). Health promotion and aging. New York: Springer.
Kelloway, E. K. (1998). Using LISREL for structural equation modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2005). Attachment, evolution, and the psychology of religion. New York: Guilford.
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
Krause, N. (2002). A comprehensive strategy for developing closed-ended survey items for use in studies of older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 57B, S263–S274.
Krause, N. (2004). Assessing the relationship among prayer expectancies, race, and self-esteem in late life. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 65, 35–56.
Krause, N. (2012). Assessing the prayer lives of older whites, older blacks, and older Mexican Americans: A descriptive analysis. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 22, 60–78.
Krause, N., & Chatters, L. M. (2005). Exploring race differences in a multidimensional battery of prayer measures among older adults. Sociology of Religion, 66, 23–43.
Krause, N., Chatters, L. M., Meltzer, T., & Moran, D. L. (2000). Using focus groups to explore the nature of prayer in late life. Journal of Aging Studies, 14, 191–212.
Ladd, K. L., & Spilka, B. (2013). Prayer: A review of the empirical literature. In K. I. Pargament (Ed.), APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol. 1, pp. 293–310). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 518–530.
Markides, K. S. (2003). Hispanic established populations for the epidemiologic studies of the elderly 1993–1994. Study Number 2851. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.
Marsland, A. L., Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2007). Positive affect and immune functioning. In R. Ader (Ed.), Psychoneuroimmunology (Vol. 2, pp. 761–779). Boston, MA: Elsevier.
Matovina, T. (2010). Introduction. In V. Elizondo (Ed.), Spiritual writings. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books.
Murrell, S. A., Salsman, N. L., & Meeks, S. (2003). Educational attainment, positive psychological mediators, and resources for health and vitality in older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 15, 591–615.
Oktavec, E. (1998). Answered prayers: Miracles and milagros along the border. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Olson, J. M., Roese, N. J., & Zanna, M. P. (1996). Expectancies. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 211–238). New York: Guilford.
Orth, U., Robins, R. W., & Widaman, K. F. (2012). Life-span development of self-esteem and its effects on important life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1271–1288.
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, 519–543.
Poloma, M. M., & Gallup, G. H. (1991). Varieties of prayer: A survey report. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International.
Rodriguez, J. (1994). Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and empowerment among Mexican American women. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1996). A life span-model of successful aging. American Psychologist, 51, 702–714.
Simpson, J. A. (2007). Foundations of interpersonal trust. In A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed., pp. 587–607). New York: Guilford.
Spilka, B., & Ladd, K. L. (2013). The psychology of prayer: A scientific approach. New York: Guilford.
Stark, R., & Finke, R. (2000). Acts of faith: Explaining the human side of religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., Moffitt, T. E., Robins, R. W., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 42, 381–390.
Turner, K. (2008). Voces de Fe: Mexican American altaristas in Texas. In G. Espinosa & M. T. Garcia (Eds.), Mexican American religions: Spirituality, activism, and culture (pp. 180–205). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Vincent, G. K., & Velkoff, V. A. (2010). The next four decades: The older population in the United States: 2010 to 2050. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the National Institute on Aging (RO1 AG026259).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krause, N., Hayward, R.D. Trust-Based Prayer Expectancies and Health Among Older Mexican Americans. J Relig Health 53, 591–603 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9786-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9786-y