Religious and Spiritual Struggles Alter God Representations

Religious/spiritual (RS) struggles are a common feature of life. However, their link to subsequent changes in God representations-the mental representations underlying how people experientially relate to and doctrinally view God-is understudied. Toward that end, in this 1-year longitudinal study of undergraduates at a Christian college in the United States (N = 329; 193 women, 127 men, 9 did not report), we explored whether RS struggles predict subsequent negative (i.e., less benevolent, more authoritarian) experiences of God (God images) and whether such shifts in God images predict further negative shifts in doctrinal views of God (God concepts). Results revealed that RS struggles, particularly surrounding doubt, led to more negative experiences of God at 6 months, and these more negative experiences of God were associated with more negative doctrinal views of God at 1 year. This research highlights the link between RS struggles and subsequent shifts in how people experientially relate to and doctrinally view God.