RELIGIOSITY AS COPING BEHAVIOR OF MILITARY PERSONNEL IN WAR CONDITIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/3041-2021/2026-1-37Keywords:
religiosity, religious coping, intolerance to uncertainty, coping behavior, military personnel, combat stress, psychological resilienceAbstract
The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of religiosity as a resource for coping behavior among military personnel in wartime conditions. The relevance of the study is due to the growing psychological stress on military personnel in situations of prolonged uncertainty, risk, and combat stress. The theoretical basis of the work is S. Bandura’s concept of intolerance to uncertainty, its further development in the works of D. McLain, R. Lazarus and S. Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and coping, as well as approaches to the study of religious coping (K. Parkgament). Religiousness is viewed as a system of semantic, cognitive, and behavioral resources that can modify the perception of uncertainty and the choice of strategies for coping with stress.
An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 40 military personnel divided into religious and non-religious groups. The Badner Intolerance of Ambiguity Scale (IAS) and R. Lazarus’ Coping Test were used; statistical processing was performed using Student’s t-test for independent samples. Statistically significant differences were found between the groups in terms of «Novelty», «Irresolvability», and overall intolerance to uncertainty: non-religious military personnel demonstrated higher sensitivity to cognitive uncertainty and greater tension in ambiguous situations.
Significant differences were found in the structure of coping behavior on the scales of «Distancing», «Self-control», and «Positive reappraisal». Religious military personnel more often use self-control and positive reappraisal, which indicates a greater orientation toward meaningful interpretation of experience and regulation of emotional reactions. In contrast, non-religious respondents more often resort to distancing.
The results obtained provide grounds for considering religiosity as a factor of psychological stability associated with lower levels of intolerance to uncertainty and more adaptive coping strategies in conditions of combat stress.
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