A theory of commitment to belief and its positive effects on well being.

The aim of the present research was to provide a theoretical, research, and measurement context to the notion that a commitment to belief leads to a positive outcome, particularly in terms of mental health. The present work seeks to test a number of hypotheses derived from a Jungian theoretical framework, but seeks to draw on modem personality, individual difference, cognitive and social psychological theory to critically examine findings.A total of 14 studies (10 which use original data) are carried out that (1) develop a measure of commitment to belief (Chapter 2), (2) examine the reliability and validity of the commitment to belief measure (Chapters 2 and 3), (3) examine psychological correlates of the commitment to belief measure against measures thought to reflect Jungian descriptions (Chapters 4, 5 and 6), and (4) examine the relationship between commitment to belief and mental health within the context of modem theories of stress appraisal and coping style (Chapter 7 and 8).The present findings suggest it may be possible to measure commitment to belief, and that a person scoring high on the commitment to belief scale tends to report: fewer depressive symptoms, less anxiety, less social dysfunction, fewer somatic symptoms, liking words that suggest completeness or wholeness, sometimes higher levels of extraversion, higher levels of optimism, using challenging primary appraisals, using a positive reinterpretation and growth coping style, and using their beliefs to deal with major life events.Such findings suggest the development and measurement of a construct that has a relationship to a number of variables that can be interpreted within a Jungian framework of ideas. Future research is needed to examine the applied nature of the measurement of commitment to belief.