Relationship of self-reported mysticism with depression and anxiety in Iranian Muslims.
Nima Ghorbani, P J Watson, Reza Rostami
Psychological Reports April 1, 2007 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.100.2.451-454 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAmong 131 Iranian Muslim undergraduates, those who reported a strong religious interpretation of mystical experiences also reported lower depression. This religious interpretation also changed the relationship between introvertive mysticism and anxiety: for people with high religious interpretation and very high introvertive mysticism, introvertive mysticism was linked to less anxiety, not more. The findings suggest that religious interpretation may help reconcile conflicting philosophical and self-report findings about introvertive mysticism.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 131 |
| Population | Iranian Muslim undergraduate volunteers (80 women, 51 men; mean age 20.5 years) |
| Key finding | Religious interpretation of mystical experience correlated negatively with depression and moderated the relationship between introvertive mysticism and anxiety, such that introvertive mysticism was associated with lower anxiety among those high in religious interpretation and very high in introvertive mysticism. |
Abstract
This study examined relationships of self-reported Mysticism with dispositional Depression and Anxiety in Iranian Muslims. The sample contained 80 women and 51 men undergraduates who volunteered to participate (M age=20.5 yr., SD= 2.0). Participants responded to the Hood Mysticism Scale and to the Costello and Comrey Depression and Anxiety Scales. Scores on the Religious Interpretation dimension of mystical experience correlated negatively with those on Depression, explained a similar relationship observed for Extrovertive Mysticism, and moderated the otherwise positive relationship between Introvertive Mysticism and Anxiety. Moderation occurred when Introvertive Mysticism correlated negatively rather than positively with Anxiety in those who scored high on Religious Interpretation and very high on the Introvertive factor. These data suggested possibilities for reconciling conflicts that have appeared between philosophical interpretations of Introvertive Mysticism and previous self-report data.