Journal of Psychology and Christianity Copyright 2010 Christian Association for Psychological Studies

2010, Vol. 29, No. 3, 208-217 ISSN 0733-4273

Faith at Work: Stress and Well-Being Among

Workers in Christian Organizations
Ruth Harrowfield Dianne Gardner
Auckland, School of Psychology
New Zealand Massey University

Faith maturity is likely to be one of the factors that helps workers in Christian organizations cope with
work-related stressful demands. A survey of 301 adults working in New Zealand Christian organizations
measured faith maturity, threat and challenge appraisal, religious coping, positive and negative affect and
stress-related growth. As expected, respondents with higher levels of faith maturity were more likely to
appraise stressors as challenges, had more positive affect, less negative religious coping and more stress-
related growth. Surprisingly both positive and negative religious coping were related to higher levels of
negative affect and stress-related growth. Faith maturity was an important mediator of the relationship
between challenge appraisals and positive religious coping, and positive religious coping mediated the
relationship between faith and stress-related growth.

Stressors in the workplace are among the
most common and distressing, and are associat-
ed with poor health, increased anxiety, hostility
and depression which in turn may impact on
job performance facets such as tolerance for
frustration or interpersonal sensitivity (Dewe &
Trenberth, 2004; Taylor, Repetti & Seeman,
1997). However, even highly demanding work
can be satisfying and work contributes to the
overall level of life satisfaction for adults (Taylor
et al., 1997). Lazarus and Folkman (1984, p. 19)
define psychological stress as a “particular rela-
tionship between the person and the environ-
ment that is appraised by the person as taxing
or exceeding his or her resources and endanger-
ing his or her well-being.” The extent to which
a person experiences stress is related to their
evaluation of demands and their ability to cope
with those demands (Lazarus, 1991; Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984). Individual differences and situ-
ational factors play a significant role in stress.
One factor increasingly attracting attention is the
role of faith and religiousness in the ways peo-
ple deal with difficult situations.
Although religiousness does not exclusively
relate to positive outcomes, there is a consistent
positive relationship between religiousness and
physical and psychological health and well-
being, and a negative relationship between reli-
giousness and physical and mental disorders
(Fabricatore, Handal, Rubio & Gilner, 2004; Gall,
Charbonneau, Clarke, Grant, Joseph &
Please address all correspondence to: Dr. Dianne
Gardner, School of Psychology, Massey University, Pri-
vate Bag 102 904, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland,
New Zealand; email: D.H.Gardner@massey.ac.nz
Shouldice, 2005; Miller & Thoresen, 1999). These
findings do not clarify how faith contributes to
better outcomes, especially in occupational set-
tings. Tsang and McCullough (2003) suggest that
the relationship between faith and outcomes can
be better understood by looking at how people
use their faith to cope with stressors. The pre-
sent study looks at faith maturity and its associa-
tion with aspects of stress including appraisal,
religious coping, affect and growth, as a frame-
work from which to view the role of faith in the
way stressful demands are managed by employ-
ees of Christian organizations.
Faith maturity is the extent to which a person
is truly living out his or her religion in the way it
was intended to be lived and in such a way that
it can be evidenced day to day (Benson, Don-
ahue & Erickson, 1993). The concept of faith
maturity makes a distinction between vertical
faith maturity, or a secure relationship with God,
and horizontal faith maturity, or an emphasis on
service to humanity (Benson et al., 1993). These
dimensions are in line with the most dominant
themes in Christianity—love of God and love of
one’s ‘neighbour’. Maturity of faith can be seen
in the strength and security of people’s relation-
ship with God, their commitment to faith, and
the integration of their faith into daily life (Ben-
son et al., 1993; Sanders, 1998). Mature faith
does not reduce or accentuate the threat or harm
from stressors but may be linked with an
increased awareness of positive opportunities in
difficult situations. As Pargament (1997) suggests,
mature faith generally allows people to see stres-
sors from an encouraging religious perspective,

208

without ignoring the fact that a negative or life-
changing situation has occurred.
Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model rep-
resents stress as a complex multivariate process
involving the relationship between an individual
and their environment (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).
According to this model the extent to which a
person experiences stress is related to their evalu-
ation of demands and their ability to cope with
them. A core concept within the model is
appraisal. Primary appraisal is an assessment of
the significance of a demand to an individual. A
stressful situation can be viewed as a threat or
opportunity for loss, or a challenge or opportunity
for gain. Appraisal is related to a search for the
meaning or cause of a demand. As Pargament
(1997) notes, the ability to appraise stressors from
an alternative and more benevolent perspective is
part of what gives faith its power. There is evi-
dence of a positive relationship between faith
maturity and challenge appraisal (Park & Folk-
man, 1997), and either a negative or non-signifi-
cant relationship between faith maturity and
threat appraisal but findings have been inconclu-
sive and few studies have examined occupational
situations (Pargament, 1997).
Secondary appraisal is the assessment of what
needs to be done in order to cope with a
demand, and whether resources are available to
do this effectively (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984;
Peacock & Wong, 1990). Religious coping is
often used to help individuals find strength and
meaning in stressful situations (Pargament,
1997). Religious coping can be defined as the
religious thoughts and behaviours used in under-
standing and dealing with significant demands.
Until recently, religious coping has largely been
ignored by psychologists and Folkman and
Moskowitz (2004) describe it as “one of the most
fertile areas for theoretical consideration and
empirical research” (p. 759). Pargament, Smith,
Koenig and Perez (1998) found that positive reli-
gious coping methods such as religious forgive-
ness and seeking spiritual support were related
to decreased psychological distress and
increased spiritual growth. Negative religious
coping such as spiritual discontent was linked to
emotional distress and lowered quality of life.
The use of religious coping does not exclude
other types of coping but in the present study
the focus was on religious rather than non-reli-
gious coping. A person whose faith is mature
may be more likely to engage in religious coping
in a stressful situation than someone with a less
HARROWFIELD AND GARDNER 209
mature faith (Pargament, 1997; Roesch & Ano,
2003). Positive religious coping tends to reflect a
more secure relationship with God so greater
faith maturity should be associated with positive
religious coping. Since negative religious coping
is associated with a more tenuous relationship
with God, lower levels of faith maturity should
be associated with negative religious coping.
Appraisal and coping with stressful demands
can lead to positive as well as negative outcomes
(Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004). While people may
experience negative affect under stress they can
also experience stress-related growth (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984; Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996).
Religiousness is related to increased well-being
and psychological growth, perhaps by allowing
individuals to find meaning within a stressful situ-
ation (Linley & Joseph, 2004; Park et al., 1996;
Tsang & McCullough, 2003).
H1: Faith maturity will be positively correlated
with challenge appraisal, positive religious
coping, positive affect and stress-related
growth.
H2: Faith maturity will be negatively correlated
with threat appraisal, negative religious coping
and negative affect.
Pargament et al. (1998) found that positive reli-
gious coping was associated with lowered dis-
tress and negative religious coping was related
to greater distress. Stress-related growth has
been found to be associated with both positive
and negative religious coping (Linley & Joseph,
2004; Pargament et al., 1998).
H3: Positive religious coping will be positively
correlated with positive affect and stress-relat-
ed growth, and negatively correlated with neg-
ative affect.
H4: Negative religious coping will be positive-
ly correlated with negative affect and negative-
ly correlated with positive affect and
stress-related growth.
As well as direct relationships with other vari-
ables, faith may act as a mediator of relation-
ships between appraisal and coping. A mediator
explains the relationship among two other vari-
ables (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Faith may mediate
the relationship between appraisal and coping in
that it may improve the relationship between
challenging situations and the use of positive
coping strategies.
H5: Faith maturity will mediate the relation-
ship between challenge appraisal and positive
religious coping and between threat appraisal
and negative religious coping.
210 STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS
Challenge
appraisal
p
p p
Demands
p
p
p
Threat
p
p
appraisal
Figure 1. Revised Transactional Model of Stress
Religious coping has been found to mediate the
relationship between faith and the outcomes of
stressful events (Fabricatore et al., 2004; Parga-
ment, 1997; Roesch & Ano, 2003).
H6: Positive religious coping will mediate the
relationship between faith maturity and posi-
tive affect and between faith maturity and
stress-related growth.
H7: Negative religious coping will mediate the
(negative) relationship between faith maturity
and negative affect.
Negative religious coping is unlikely to mediate
the positive relationship between faith maturity
and stress-related growth but it may serve to
weaken it. A moderator variable is one which
changes the relationship between two other vari-
ables (Baron & Kenny, 1984).
H8: Negative religious coping will moderate
the relationship between faith maturity and
stress-related growth such that the positive
relationship between faith maturity and stress-
related growth will be weaker for those with
higher levels of negative religious coping.
Figure 1 summarizes the expected relationships
between faith maturity, appraisal, religious cop-
ing, affect and growth.
Method
Participants
Organizations classifying themselves as either
Protestant Christian churches or organizations
were identified via the Internet. Thirty-two Chris-
tian organizations were invited to participate in
this research project and 27 agreed to take part.
All responses were anonymous and did not
identify respondents by name or organization.
Positive
religious Positive affect
p
coping
p
p
p
p
Stress-related
Faith maturity
growth
p
p
p
p
p
Negative
religious Negative affect
p
p
coping
Three hundred and one adults working in New
Zealand Protestant Christian organizations partic-
ipated. The number of employees who received
the link to the data collection website was
unknown so an accurate response rate overall or
for each organization could not be calculated. All
participants were over the age of 18 and
employed (on a full- or part-time basis, in paid
or voluntary work) in a New Zealand Christian
organization.
Of the 301 respondents, approximately two-
thirds were female and one-third were male
(Table 1). Ages ranged from 18 to 69 with half of
the respondents in the age range of 30 to 49.
Approximately one-third worked for churches,
one-third for charitable non-church organizations
and the remaining third worked for ‘other’ orga-
nizations, mostly educational, charitable and mis-
sionary organizations. Two-thirds worked in
full-time roles and one-third worked part-time.
Over 85% of respondents attended church at
least once a week and over 93% prayed at least
once a day. It was assumed that the majority of
people working within Christian organizations
have some level of Christian faith, and this was
supported by the finding that the majority of
respondents reported regular habits of prayer
and church attendance.
Measures
Demographics. Items asked for participants’
age, gender, type of organization of employment
(church, charitable, other) and employment sta-
tus (full time, part time, paid, voluntary).
Faith Maturity Scale (FMS). In view of the vast
number of instruments available to measure faith
or religiousness, it has recently been reiterated that
 HARROWFIELD AND GARDNER 211

Table 1
Demographic information

N % N %

Gender Male 119 39.5 Work Full-time 202 67.1

Female 179 59.5 Part-time 92 30.6
Missing 3 1.0 Missing 7 2.3

Age 18-19 7 2.3 Church Never 1 0.3

Attendance
20-29 60 19.9 Once a year 1 0.3
30-39 62 20.6 A few times a year 12 4.0
40-49 78 25.9 Once a month 9 3.0
50-59 73 24.3 Once a week 151 50.2
60-69 19 6.3 More than once/ 106 35.2
70+ 0 0 a week
Missing 2 0.7 Missing 21 7.0

Organization Church 74 24.6 Prayer A few times a year 3 1.1

Charitable 91 30.2 Once a month 2 0.7
Non-Church Once a fortnight 2 0.7
Other 134 44.5 Once a week 10 3.6
Missing 2 0.7 Once a day 86 30.8
Once a day 176 63.1
Missing 22 7.3

psychologists should use existing measures rather
than create new ones (Tsang & McCullough,
2003). On this advice existing validated measures
were sought for this study.
The 38-item scale was developed by Benson et
al. (1993) to measure Christian religiousness or
faith as it is understood in mainstream Protestant
churches and religious groups. Principle compo-
nent analysis (PCA) produced a two-factor struc-
ture which explained 32.1% of the variance. Items
relating to relationship with God (vertical faith
maturity; VFM) loaded onto the first factor e.g. “I
have a real sense that God is guiding me” (α =
0.89). The second factor comprised items relating
to social service/justice (horizontal faith maturity;
HFM) such as “I am active in efforts to promote
social justice” (α = 0.81). All were scored such
that 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
Church Attendance and Prayer. Church
attendance was measured by asking respon-
dents, “How frequently do you attend church on
average?” Prayer was measured by asking, “How
frequently do you pray on average?” Answer
options were: never, a few times a year, once a
month, once a fortnight, once a week, once a
day, more than once a day.
Primary Appraisal. While many measures of
stress are related to the various demands that are
‘generally’ experienced by an individual in their
job, another way of measuring demand is to
focus on a single demand experienced in the
workplace, to describe it and then to measure
different aspects related to it. Respondents were
asked to briefly describe a specific stressful situa-
tion at work and to answer questions on
appraisal, coping and outcomes with regard to
this situation. Asking people to recall a particular
stressful event (or demand) and then how they
appraised and coped with it is a common
research method and the reporting of such pro-
cesses has been found to be stable over time
(Bennett, Lowe & Honey, 2003).
212 STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS
Primary appraisal was measured using the
Cognitive Appraisal Scale (CAS) (Skinner &
Brewer, 2002). Threat appraisal was measured by
4 items (e.g. “I was concerned about my ability
to perform under pressure”; α = 0.75) and chal-
lenge appraisal by 4 items (e.g. “I focussed on
the positive benefits I would obtain from the sit-
uation”; α = 0.77). These were rated such that 1
= strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
Religious Coping. The 14-item Brief RCOPE
was used to measure religious coping (Parga-
ment, personal communication, April, 2006).
Respondents were asked to rate the extent to
which they used each response to cope with the
situation (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly
agree). PCA with varimax rotation revealed two
components explaining 64.5% of the variance.
Negative religious coping items loaded onto
component 1, such as “I felt punished by God
for my lack of devotion” (7 items; α = 0.93). Pos-
itive religious coping items loaded onto compo-
nent 2, such as “I looked for a stronger
connection with God” (7 items; α = 0.87).
Affect. Affective outcomes were assessed with
the 20-item version of the Job-related Affective
Well-being Scale (JAWS) (Van Katwyk, Fox, Spec-
tor & Kelloway, 2000). Positive affect (PA)
included items such as, “I felt energetic”. Nega-
tive affect (NA) included items such as, “I felt
gloomy” (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly
agree). Alpha reliabilities were α = 0.92 for PA
(10 items) and α = 0.84 for NA (10 items).
Stress-Related Growth. Growth was mea-
sured using the 29-item revised version of the
Stress-Related Growth Scale (SRG) (Roesch,
Rowley & Vaughn, 2004). Respondents were
asked to rate how much their life changed in
general as result of their stressful work situation
using items such as “I learned to think more
about the consequences of my actions” where 1
= strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. PCA
with varimax rotation revealed a single factor
solution accounting for 39.3% of the variance.
This indicates a general stress related growth fac-
tor, which is consistent with Park et al.’s (1996)
conceptualisation. A mean scale score was calcu-
lated (α = 0.94).
Procedure
Participation was voluntary and participants
filled out an anonymous on-line survey which
took around 15 minutes to complete. Within
each organization a contact person facilitated
communication with employees. In most cases
this was the Office or HR Manager. The role of
this person was to forward an email from the
researcher to staff. This email introduced the
study and contained the link to the data collec-
tion website and a participant information sheet.
Participants were informed that the study was
anonymous and confidential.
Data Analysis
Bivariate correlations were assessed using
Pearson product-moment correlation. Mediated
regression analyses were conducted to examine
the role of faith maturity in the stress process
according to the process described by Baron and
Kenny (1986). The relationship was tested
between the independent variable and the medi-
ator (step 1), then between the independent
variable and dependent variable (step 2). The
mediator was then included in the regression
(step 3) to see whether there was a reduction in
the initial relationship which would indicate
mediation. Baron and Kenny’s (1986) guidelines
were also used to test moderation. The indepen-
dent and moderator variables were centred
before testing for interaction effects by subtract-
ing sample means from individual scores to
reduce effects of multicollinearity (Aiken & West,
1991). Hierarchical regression was then used to
examine linear and moderator effects. Step one
tested for linear effects by entering the indepen-
dent variable and moderator separately while at
step 2 the interaction term was included to test
for moderating effects.
Results
All variables met assumptions for skew and
kurtosis except vertical faith maturity (skew -
1.1, kurtosis 2.0), negative religious coping
(skew 1.4, kurtosis 1.1) and stress-related
growth (kurtosis 1.5). Since the sample was
predominantly made up of people with high
levels of overall religiousness and presumably
stronger faith, these findings were expected.
Results of non-parametric analysis of these vari-
ables were similar to parametric analyses, indi-
cating that departures from normality in the
distribution did not significantly affect the rela-
tionships among variables.
Those who perceived demands as challenges
were more likely to use positive religious cop-
ing and to experience positive outcomes (Table
2). Threat appraisal was associated with nega-
tive religious coping and poorer outcomes.
Interestingly, both forms of religious coping
 HARROWFIELD AND GARDNER 213

Table 2
Correlations, means and standard deviations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Challenge –
2. Threat -.04 –
3. Positive RCOPE .14* .07 –
4. Negative RCOPE -.10 .16* .05 –
5. Positive affect .44** -.28** .01 -.17** –
6. Negative affect -.16* .36** .21** .44** -.53** –
7. SRG .33** .09 .46** .22** .24** .15* –
8. VFM .14* -.12 .52** -.29** .14* -.19** .15* –
9. HFM -.04 .04 .21** -.05 -.09 .07 .14* .31** –
Mean 3.13 3.42 3.56 1.49 2.24 2.72 3.16 4.29 3.42
SD .82 .85 .79 .68 .76 .76 .57 .45 .55

RCOPE = Religious Coping; SRG = Stress-related Growth; VFM = Vertical Faith Maturity;
HFM = Horizontal Faith Maturity
*p < 0.05 **p < 0.01

were associated with negative but not positive
affect and with stress-related growth (SRG).
Hypothesis 1 was supported with regard to
vertical faith maturity which was positively cor-
related with challenge appraisal, positive reli-
gious coping, positive affect and stress-related
growth. Horizontal faith maturity was only relat-
ed to positive religious coping and growth.
Hypothesis 2 was partly supported for vertical
faith maturity, which was negatively correlated
with negative religious coping and negative
affect but not with threat appraisal. Horizontal
faith maturity was unrelated to the expected
variables. The findings suggest a stronger role
for vertical than horizontal faith maturity in the
stress process and the implications are dis-
cussed below.
Hypothesis 3 was partly supported. Positive
religious coping was associated with stress-
related growth but unexpectedly it was unrelat-
ed to positive affect and was related positively,
not negatively, to negative affect. With regard
to hypothesis 4, negative religious coping was
positively correlated with negative affect and
negatively related to positive affect as expect-
ed, but it was positively, not negatively, related
to stress-related growth. It appears that both
positive and negative religious coping were
correlated with increased levels of stress-relat-
ed growth. Implications are presented in the
Discussion.
Mediation and Moderation
Vertical faith maturity fully mediated the rela-
tionship between challenge appraisal and posi-
tive religious coping (Hypothesis 5, Table 3).
Horizontal faith maturity did not mediate this
relationship as it was unrelated to the mediator.
The other prediction of Hypothesis 5, that faith
maturity would mediate the relationship between
threat appraisal and negative religious coping,
was unsupported as threat appraisal was not
related to either form of faith maturity.
The relationship between vertical faith maturity
and positive affect was direct and not mediated
by positive religious coping, and horizontal faith
maturity was unrelated to positive affect so there
was no relationship to mediate. Positive religious
coping fully mediated the relationships between
faith maturity (vertical and horizontal) and stress-
related growth (Hypothesis 6, Table 3).
Hypothesis 7, that negative religious coping
would mediate the relationship between faith
maturity and negative affect, was supported for
vertical faith maturity but not for horizontal faith
maturity (Table 3). Horizontal faith maturity was
unrelated to either the mediator or dependent
variable. Negative religious coping did not medi-
ate the relationship between either form of faith
maturity and stress-related growth.
There was no support for the moderation
hypothesis (H8). Negative religious coping and
vertical faith maturity accounted for significant
214 STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS

Table 3
Mediation Analyses for Hypotheses 5 and 6

DV IV β Adj. R2 rR2 Sobel test

Hypothesis 5
Step 1 VFM Challenge .14* .02
Step 2 Positive RCOPE Challenge .13* .01
Step 3 Positive RCOPE VFM .51*** .27 .26 2.14*
Challenge .06
Hypothesis 6
Step 1 Positive RCOPE VFM .52*** .27
Step 2 PA VFM .15* .02
Step 3 PA Positive RCOPE -.10 .02 .01 .10
VFM .20*
Hypothesis 6
Step 1 Positive RCOPE VFM .52*** .27
Step 2 SRG VFM .15* .02
Step 3 SRG Positive RCOPE .52*** .21 .19 5.91***
VFM -.13
Hypothesis 6
Step 1 Positive RCOPE HFM .21** .04
Step 2 SRG HFM .14* .01
Step 3 SRG Positive RCOPE .43*** .19 .17 3.05**
HFM .03
Hypothesis 7
Step 1 Negative RCOPE VFM -.29*** .08
Step 2 NA VFM -.19** .03
Step 3 NA Negative RCOPE .42*** .19 .16 4.02***
VFM -.06

*p < 0.05 **p < 0.01 ***p < 0.001

variance in stress-related growth but the interac-
tion term did not.
Discussion
Faith, especially vertical faith maturity, played
an important role in appraisal and coping with
work-related demands by employees in Christian
organizations. Respondents with a more mature
faith were better able to see demands as chal-
lenges and used more positive methods of reli-
gious coping, which reflect a secure relationship
with God, and fewer negative methods of reli-
gious coping, which reflect a more tenuous faith
or relationship with God. The increased use of
positive religious coping by those who also
made more challenge appraisals was mediated
by faith maturity, specifically the maturity of the
relationship with God. Faith maturity did not
buffer against the perception of threats and this
may reflect Pargament’s (1997) suggestion that
people with mature faith tend to have an
encouraging perspective of stressors without dis-
regarding the stressful and potentially threaten-
ing situation at hand.
The increased positive affect experienced in
stressful situations by people with greater vertical
faith maturity was not related to use of positive
religious coping but was directly associated with
the maturity of their faith in terms of their relation-
ship with God. Findings also indicate that people
with a more mature faith experienced greater
stress-related growth than those with lower levels
of faith maturity. This was mediated by positive
religious coping, a conclusion also drawn by
Pargament (1997) and Pargament, Olsen, Reilly,
Falgout, Ensing and Van Haitsma (1992).
It is well-established that an individual’s
appraisal of a demand is associated with the kind
of coping methods used to deal with that demand
(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). The present study
suggests that faith maturity may be an individual

difference that acts as a bridge between positive
appraisal of an event (as a challenge) and use of
positive religious coping methods to deal with
that event. To the authors’ knowledge no previ-
ous studies have indicated such a mediated rela-
tionship and it would be interesting to see what
further studies in this area might show.
Lower faith maturity was associated with
increased levels of negative emotions, perhaps
due to the use of negative religious coping
methods. As expected, respondents who used
more negative religious coping showed less pos-
itive affect and greater negative affect. Contrary
to expectation, however, respondents’ use of
positive religious coping was not related to posi-
tive affect but to negative affect. This appears to
contradict Pargament et al.’s (1998) finding that
positive religious coping is linked to lowered
levels of distress, although it does support their
finding that negative religious coping is linked to
increased emotional distress. It appears likely
that the coping implies the presence of some-
thing negative that must be coped with, which
may be related to negative affect. Interestingly
both positive and negative religious coping were
related to affect and to stress-related growth, as
has been found elsewhere (Linley & Joseph,
2004; Pargament et al., 1998). It appears that
those who used both positive and negative reli-
gious coping to deal with stressors tended to
experience stress related growth, although peo-
ple using positive religious coping are probably
those who experience more growth than those
who use negative religious coping methods.
Longitudinal research is necessary to identify
which variables are causal in these relationships.
Implications for Practice and Research
It is not always desirable to reduce or remove
stressors in the workplace as demanding work
can be a source of satisfaction as well as stress.
Rather than trying to eliminate sources of stress
it is more advisable to look at ways of reducing
distressing aspects of work and assisting indi-
viduals to manage demands effectively. Person-
al stress management resources and adaptive
coping strategies can be fostered. Faith maturity
is linked to many aspects of well-being as well
as to effective stress management. A focus on
building faith maturity for instrumental reasons
(such as stress management) is likely to be inef-
fective and inappropriate. Within Christian orga-
nizations a focus on encouraging staff to
develop their faith maturity, especially their
HARROWFIELD AND GARDNER 215
relationship with God, for its own intrinsic
value is likely to be appropriate. Individual
requirements will vary and initiatives to assist
employees to build a mature faith require con-
sultation with and input from staff and may
include shared prayer, time for individual
prayer, study and sharing of knowledge of
issues related to faith at work.
Christian organizations may also facilitate the
use of helpful coping methods. Effective strate-
gies include careful communication with others
involved in demanding situations, prayer and
seeking practical and emotional support from
others. Organizations may encourage religious
employees to use more positive and less nega-
tive religious coping behaviour by helping build
understanding of the difference between positive
(e.g. developing a stronger connection with
God) and negative (e.g. thinking of God as a
punisher) religious coping. Employees may ben-
efit from learning how to increase their use of
positive religious coping methods. It is also
important for Christian organizations and their
employees to be aware that both forms of reli-
gious coping are associated with negative emo-
tion under stress, but that both kinds of religious
coping are also linked to growth.
Limitations of the Study and Future Research
The present study was cross-sectional and cor-
relational and does not permit any conclusions
about cause and effect. Future research should
include longitudinal designs in order to establish
causality between variables that are related to
each other at the cross-sectional level. A longitu-
dinal study could establish whether faith maturi-
ty has a causal effect on appraisal, religious
coping and outcomes, or whether it simply
occurs simultaneously with these variables, or
even whether faith maturity itself is influenced
by these variables.
The study data relied entirely upon self-
report measures, which may be affected by
recall, social desirability or positive response
biases. These problems could have been reme-
died by having others rate participants on the
variables of interest. However, self-report
assessment allowed for easy on-the-job admin-
istration at various locations around NZ, which
was essential to ensure the co-operation of the
organizations and participants involved. In
order to minimise the possibility of demand
characteristics and social desirability biases, the
survey was anonymous, giving little incentive
216 STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS
for participants to misrepresent themselves.
Online data collection may mean that respon-
dents disproportionately represent clerical,
administrative and professional groups so care
should be taken in generalising findings
beyond these groups. The unknown response
rate for the study also indicates that there will
be limitations on how far the findings can be
generalised.
It was assumed that participants from the
Protestant Christian organizations in this study
would form a representative sample of workers
in New Zealand Christian organizations and that
their ‘denomination’ would be diverse enough
to avoid skewed or biased results. Since denom-
ination was not requested as part of the demo-
graphic data it is unknown how many Christian
denominations were represented in this study.
The measure of faith that was used in this study
is based on a ‘Protestant’ understanding of
Christian faith. This could have disadvantaged
any participants in the study who regarded
themselves as Christians but not Protestants;
although given that the organizations participat-
ing in the study were Protestant, there may be
some assumption that the majority of religious
participants were also followers of Protestant
Christianity. Replication across a wider range of
Christian and other religious organizations in
New Zealand and internationally would help
clarify the extent to which the findings are sta-
ble. In order to determine whether the findings
of the present study also apply beyond the con-
text of the Christian faith and the Christian orga-
nizational environment, future research could
investigate the relationships between faith matu-
rity, the process of stress management (includ-
ing religious coping) and outcomes for people
who adhere to other religions and/or who work
in secular organizations.
Finally, future research could focus on other
specific aspects of faith or religiousness such as
religious motivation, religious commitment or
spiritual well-being and how these influence the
process of managing occupational stress. This
would allow for a greater understanding of other
aspects of faith relevant to achieving better out-
comes as people face stressors at work.
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Authors
Ruth Harrowfield (MSc) is an Industrial/Organisa-
tional Psychologist, working in private practice in
Auckland, New Zealand. Her areas of interest include
competency-based assessment, selection and develop-
ment; individual and team coaching; and overall
workplace improvement. She consults to businesses,
churches and other not-for-profit organisations.
Dianne Gardner (PhD in Management) is Senior Lec-
turer in Industrial/Organisational Psychology at Massey
University School of Psychology, Auckland, New
Zealand. Her teaching and research interests include
positive psychology at work especially work-related well-
being and adaptive appraisal and coping related to
workplace demands.
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