Background

In contrast to the vibrant interdisciplinary literature on other virtues, such as forgiveness and gratitude, the study of humility has developed more slowly. Over the 2 decades, there has been a proliferation of research on humility. In this study, we assess the interrelationship between a core feature of religious life, God-mediated control, and humility.

Purpose

We assess the interrelationship between God-mediated control (the belief that God is a collaborative partner working together with humans) and humility. We also assess how the relationship between God-mediated control and humility may be conditional on two sociodemographic characteristics among middle-aged and older adults, education and race.

Methods

Data for this study come from Wave 5 of the Religion, Aging, and Health Study (2013), a nationwide survey of Whites and African Americans (N = 1152). We test our hypotheses with a series of OLS regression models.

Results

We find that stronger perceptions of God-mediated control were associated with greater humility among older adults. Results from our moderation analyses also show that the relationship between God-mediated control and greater humility was stronger for low status groups, namely, the less educated and Black older adults.

Conclusion and Implications

The cognitive belief that God can be trusted as an intimate collaborator in the chaos of human life appears to predict humility among older adults, perhaps by acknowledging one’s dependence on a superior being and appreciating the limits of human finitude and acknowledging God’s greatness outside one’s self. Devoid of secular resources, the less educated and Black Americans might find greater meaning and significance in their association with God and may feel no need to establish their own worth through the attainment of worldly accomplishments or knowledge. Given the centrality of humility to religious/spiritual life, we suggest how future interdisciplinary research can build on the findings of our study.

中文翻译：

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对神谦卑？教育和种族如何塑造上帝介导的控制与晚年谦卑之间的联系

背景

与关于宽恕和感恩等其他美德的充满活力的跨学科文献相比，谦逊的研究发展得更慢。在过去的 2 年里，对谦逊的研究激增。在这项研究中，我们评估了宗教生活的核心特征、上帝介导的控制和谦卑之间的相互关系。

目的

我们评估以上帝为媒介的控制（相信上帝是与人类一起工作的合作伙伴）与谦卑之间的相互关系。我们还评估了上帝介导的控制与谦卑之间的关系如何取决于中年和老年人、教育和种族的两个社会人口特征。

方法

本研究的数据来自宗教、老龄化和健康研究 (2013) 的第 5 波，这是一项针对白人和非裔美国人 (N = 1152) 的全国性调查。我们使用一系列 OLS 回归模型来检验我们的假设。

结果

我们发现，对上帝介导的控制有更强烈的认识与老年人更谦逊有关。我们的适度分析结果还表明，对于低地位群体，即受教育程度较低的成年人和黑人老年人，上帝介导的控制与更大的谦卑之间的关系更强。

结论和启示

在人类生活的混乱中，上帝可以被信任为亲密合作者的认知信念似乎预示着老年人的谦逊，也许是通过承认一个人对上级存在的依赖，欣赏人类有限性的局限性，并承认上帝在自我之外的伟大。由于缺乏世俗资源，受教育程度较低的美国人和美国黑人可能会在与上帝的交往中找到更大的意义和重要性，并且可能觉得没有必要通过获得世俗的成就或知识来确立自己的价值。鉴于谦逊对宗教/精神生活的重要性，我们建议未来的跨学科研究如何以我们的研究结果为基础。