Interpretations of Suffering and Individual Differences in Worldviews

Abstract

Cultural worldviews play an important role in how people perceive suffering in the world. Suffering can be seen in a repressive manner and in a redemptive manner. Two worldviews that have been identified as possible predictors of differences in suffering interpretation are humanism and normativism. The present study examined the association between humanism and redemptive suffering construal, and between normativism and repressive suffering construal. Other variables such as the Belief in a Just World and intrinsic religiosity were also assessed. We hypothesized that humanism and normativism may be uniquely associated with redemptive and repressive construals of suffering. Results supported the hypothesis: significant positive associations were found between redemptive construal of suffering and humanism, as well as between repressive construal and normativism. Repressive suffering construal was also associated with the belief in a just world for others and intrinsic religiosity. These findings provide additional evidence of the polarity between humanism and normativism and the distinction between repressive and redemptive suffering construals.