In God We Trust: What the God Phrase Does to Relieve Anxiety

Abstract

Thus far, measurement barriers inhibited researchers from studying the link between the god concept or image, a special case of spirituality, and anxiety. This study examined the impact of spirituality, mainly of God phrases, as an ameliorator of anxiety. In 15 separate experiments, different groups each rated statistically designed vignettes dealing with various anxiety-provoking situations. Each experiment dealt with one specific anxiety-provoking situation. The ratings for each respondent generated a model showing the basic level of anxiety and the part-worth contribution of each spirituality element to either increasing or reducing that basic anxiety. We used psychophysical methods and statistically designed experiments. This approach allowed the measurement of the God image and promises a powerful, experimentation-oriented way to understand the concept of God, allowing future research to study the link between spirituality and stress reduction at the workplace.

Keywords: conjoint analysis, psychophysical, rule driven experimentation