Smriti Singh and Shalini Agarwal
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow
Pages:393-404
This study explores the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation (CER)
strategies and spiritual beliefs, focusing on how they jointly influence emotional
outcomes. Cognitive emotion regulation involves strategies such as positive reappraisal,
refocusing on planning, and acceptance, which help individuals manage emotional
reactions effectively. Spiritual beliefs, encompassing religious and existential convictions,
are recognized for their impact on emotional and psychological well-being. The study
examines various CER strategies—self-blame, acceptance, rumination, positive
refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, putting situations into perspective,
catastrophizing, and blaming others—and their association with spiritual beliefs. The
pilot study includes a sample of 30 college students from Lucknow, utilizing the Cognitive
Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) to measure CER strategies and the Daily
Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) to evaluate spiritual experiences. Data analysis
includes t-tests and correlation coefficients to explore differences in CER strategies
and spiritual beliefs across gender, age, marital status, and family type. Results indicate
that while spiritual beliefs show a general tendency to correlate with CER strategies,
significant differences in spiritual beliefs and CER strategies are observed between
different general profile. Notably, family type emerges as a factor with near-significant
differences in spiritual belief scores. Overall, the study highlights both the adaptive
benefits and potential challenges of integrating cognitive emotion regulation with spiritual
beliefs, emphasizing the complex relationship between these constructs and their impact
on emotional health