This paper explores the moderating effect of religious and spiritual coping mechanisms on the COVID-19 pandemic-induced emotional distress among a group of Japanese women practising temple meditation and yoga. A growing body of literature identifies religion and spirituality as sources of coping mechanisms for emotional distress during the pandemic, in that they enable individuals to find ways to improve subjective well-being and quality of life. The study uses a descriptive phenomenological approach, drawing upon narratives collected between September 2020 and June 2021 from thirty-two respondents composed of a mix of religious-affiliated and self-identified non-religious women practising temple meditation and yoga. Findings indicate that more women, including religious affiliates, have favoured spiritual coping mechanisms in the forms of meditation and body–mind practices to build emotional resilience. This reflects a quest for greater subjective well-being to compensate for the increased burden of emotional care during the pandemic. Overall, while organised religions have come to appropriate more holistic forms of spirituality to respond to demands of emotional care, body–mind spiritual practices have become more appealing for younger religious and non-religious Japanese women alike, in that they downplay gender-conforming ideas of the care economy with its emphasis on dedication and dependency.

Building Emotional Resilience: Japanese Women’s Religious and Spiritual Coping Strategies in the Time of COVID-19 / P. Cavaliere. - In: RELIGIONS. - ISSN 2077-1444. - 12:9(2021 Sep 03), pp. 723.1-723.22. [10.3390/rel12090723]

Building Emotional Resilience: Japanese Women’s Religious and Spiritual Coping Strategies in the Time of COVID-19

P. Cavaliere
2021

Abstract

This paper explores the moderating effect of religious and spiritual coping mechanisms on the COVID-19 pandemic-induced emotional distress among a group of Japanese women practising temple meditation and yoga. A growing body of literature identifies religion and spirituality as sources of coping mechanisms for emotional distress during the pandemic, in that they enable individuals to find ways to improve subjective well-being and quality of life. The study uses a descriptive phenomenological approach, drawing upon narratives collected between September 2020 and June 2021 from thirty-two respondents composed of a mix of religious-affiliated and self-identified non-religious women practising temple meditation and yoga. Findings indicate that more women, including religious affiliates, have favoured spiritual coping mechanisms in the forms of meditation and body–mind practices to build emotional resilience. This reflects a quest for greater subjective well-being to compensate for the increased burden of emotional care during the pandemic. Overall, while organised religions have come to appropriate more holistic forms of spirituality to respond to demands of emotional care, body–mind spiritual practices have become more appealing for younger religious and non-religious Japanese women alike, in that they downplay gender-conforming ideas of the care economy with its emphasis on dedication and dependency.
No
English
COVID-19 stress; Emotional care; Gender; Japan; Religion; Spirituality;
Settore L-OR/22 - Lingue e Letterature del Giappone e della Corea
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Pubblicazione scientifica
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
3-set-2021
MDPI
12
9
723
1
22
22
Pubblicato
Periodico con rilevanza internazionale
orcid
scopus
crossref
Aderisco
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Building Emotional Resilience: Japanese Women’s Religious and Spiritual Coping Strategies in the Time of COVID-19 / P. Cavaliere. - In: RELIGIONS. - ISSN 2077-1444. - 12:9(2021 Sep 03), pp. 723.1-723.22. [10.3390/rel12090723]
open
Prodotti della ricerca::01 - Articolo su periodico
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262
Article (author)
Periodico senza Impact Factor
P. Cavaliere
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1023432
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