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What trends were observed globally during the pandemic?

• Increased religious practices, especially prayer (Bentzen, 2020)

• Increased online searches for religious content

How did Poles respond religiously during COVID? (Boguszewski et al., 2020)

• 21.3% reported increased religious activity

• Those who were not previously religious and increased practices had higher anxiety

• More religious people were more likely to:

  • Reject restrictions

  • Know less about COVID

  • Believe in conspiracy theories

Faith as Coping (Kowalczyk et al., 2020)

What were Poles’ views on faith during the pandemic?

• 67.6% said faith/spirituality was important

• 75.3% said fear of COVID did not change their faith

• 40.7% believed faith protects against COVID

• Catholics showed similar results to general population

Coping & Irrational Behaviors (Krantz et al., 2020)

How does religiosity relate to fear and coping?

• More religiosity =

  • Higher somatic/emotional fear

  • Lower cognitive worry

  • More irrational behaviors (e.g., hoarding, avoiding 5G)

  • Less rational protective behaviors (e.g., handwashing, distancing)

How is religiosity linked to vaccine attitudes?

• Religiosity → higher vaccine hesitancy

• The relationship is stronger in people with more COVID-related fear

What are the issues with most spirituality studies?

• Many measure spiritual well-being or coping, not actual spirituality

• Methods vary (e.g., 1-item scales, narrative reports)

• Most use non-representative samples

What were the findings on spirituality and fear?

• Rias et al. (Indonesia): Spiritual experiences = less COVID fear

• Kasapoğlu (Turkey): No link between spirituality and fear

• Roberto et al.: Spirituality = more resilience, themes of hope, peace, and comfort

Spirituality & Vaccination (Zarzeczna et al., 2023)

• Spirituality → less desire to vaccinate

• Religiosity → more desire to vaccinate

• Neither related to skepticism or intentions to follow protective measures

• Results hard to interpret due to many confounding variables

Health Beliefs Model & Religiosity/Spirituality (Nowak et al., 2020)

• Spirituality → better adjustment to COVID

• Religiosity → more irrational beliefs and behaviors

How does religiosity compare to spirituality across countries?

• Religiosity →

  • Higher COVID fear (except in Orthodox groups)

  • More conspiracy beliefs

  • More hoarding (mainly among Catholics and “Others”)

  • More helping

  • More preventive behaviors (esp. hygiene)

• Spirituality →

  • Lower fear (among Orthodox and Buddhists)

  • Higher fear (among Atheists)

  • More conspiracy beliefs, but weaker than religiosity

  • Less hoarding

  • Helping behaviors mainly among Catholics and Atheists

How does religiosity influence COVID responses overall?

• Worse emotional/cognitive reactions (fear, conspiracies)

• Better behavioral responses (masking, hygiene, helping)

How does spirituality influence COVID responses?

• Generally better psychological adjustment

• But weaker or mixed effects on actual behaviors