2025/02/06 by Tânia Brandão
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cultural Differences and Values #Religion and Society Interactions #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10943-024-02216-z
crossref issued 2025/02/06 · crossref published 2025/02/06 · crossref published-online 2025/02/06 · openalex publication_date 2025/02/06 · crossref created 2025/02/06 · crossref published-print 2025/06/01 · crossref deposited 2025/06/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The association between religion/spirituality and emotion regulation has been the subject of growing interest in the last years since studies have suggested that emotion regulation is likely to be shaped by religion/spirituality. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the quantitative empirical studies toward understanding the relationship between religion/spirituality and emotion regulation. Database searches were conducted in different databases from inception to March 2022 using relevant search terms. Quantitative studies exploring the role of religion/spirituality on emotion regulation were included in this review. Of 887 abstracts identified only 15 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Studies were organized in terms of associations between religion/spirituality and emotion regulation according to religious affiliation, associations between religion/spirituality and emotion regulation regardless of religious affiliation, and emotion regulation as a mediator between religion/spirituality and several psychological-related outcomes. Overall, the findings revealed small to moderate associations between religion and emotion regulation, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.13 to 0.50 for cognitive reappraisal, 0.08 to - 0.72 for expressive suppression, and - 0.09 to 0.56 for other emotion regulation dimensions. Furthermore, most studies highlighted emotion regulation as a key mechanism linking religion/spirituality to psychological outcomes across diverse contexts. Differences in emotion regulation strategies have been examined in a few religious affiliations and most of the studies explored the link between religion/spirituality and emotion regulation regardless of religious affiliation.