This study explores the dynamics of coping strategies of Czech religious leaders during a peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. An interpretative phenomenological analysis reveals that mental health among pastors is closely linked to a need to maintain community and social contact, while physical health is related to limitations upon ritual elements. In all narratives, the lived experience of mental health in the form of prosocial behavior is significantly prioritized despite the possibility of spreading infection. The analysis also shows that maintaining the community is closely linked to risky behaviors, which positively affected group and individual well-being.

Department of Economic and Managerial Studies Palacky University Olomouc Olomouc Czech Republic

Department of Sociology Andragogy and Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Arts Palacky University Olomouc CO LAB Palacky University Olomouc Křížkovského 511 10 779 00 Olomouc Czech Republic

Department of Sociology Andragogy and Cultural Anthropology Palacky University Olomouc Olomouc Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Ahorsu DK, Lin CY, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020;20(3):1537–1545. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8. PubMed DOI PMC

Ai AL, Pargament KI, Kronfol Z, Tice TN, Appel H. Pathways to postoperative hostility in cardiac patients: Mediation of coping, spiritual struggle and interleukin-6. Journal of Health Psychology. 2010;15:186–195. doi: 10.1177/1359105309345556. PubMed DOI

Aktuálně. "Senators at the Constitutional Court will challenge the singing ban. It restricts religious freedom, they says" translated from original: "Senátoři u Ústavního soudu napadnou zákaz zpěvu. Omezuje náboženskou svobodu, tvrdí" aktuálně.cz [online]. 2021-01-05 [cit. 2021-01-05]. To see more: https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/domaci/cast-senatoru-chce-napadnout-zakaz-zpevu-u-ustavniho-soudu/r~fefe73fe087711eb842f0cc47ab5f122/

Boyer P, Liénard P. Why ritualized behavior? Precaution Systems and action parsing in developmental, pathological and cultural rituals. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2006;29(6):595–650. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X06009332. PubMed DOI

Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, Rubin GJ. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. 2020;395:912–920. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8. PubMed DOI PMC

Carter N, Bryant-Lukosius D, DiCenso A, Blythe J, Neville AJ. The use of triangulation in qualitative research. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2014;41(5):545–547. doi: 10.1188/14.ONF.545-547. PubMed DOI

Chan KQ, Tong EMW, Tan YL. Taking a leap of faith: Reminders of God lead to greater risk taking. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2014;5(8):901–909. doi: 10.1177/1948550614537309. DOI

Chen Y, VanderWeele TJ. Associations of religious upbringing with subsequent health and well-being from adolescence to young adulthood: An outcome-wide analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2018;187(11):2355–2364. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwy142. PubMed DOI PMC

Coulton S, Clift S, Skingley A, Rodriguez J. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community singing on mental health-related quality of life of older people: randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2015;207(3):250–255. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.129908. PubMed DOI

Denzin NK. Sociological methods: A sourcebook. McGraw-Hill; 1978.

Durkheim É. The elementary forms of the religious life. Free Press; 1995.

ECHO24. Opět „best in covid“. ČR je v počtu nově nakažených na milion obyvatel nejhorší na světě - Echo24.cz. echo24.cz [online]. 2021-01-05 [cit. 2021-01-05], to see more: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Ellison CG. Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1991;32(1):80–99. doi: 10.2307/2136801. PubMed DOI

Greenfield EA, Marks NF. Religious social identity as an explanatory factor for associations between more frequent formal religious participation and psychological well-being. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2007;17(3):245–259. doi: 10.1080/10508610701402309. PubMed DOI PMC

Hayward RD, Krause N. Religion, mental health and well-being: Social aspects. In: Saroglou V, editor. Religion, Personality, and Social Behavior. Psychology Press; 2014. pp. 255–280.

Hayward RD, Owen AD, Koenig HG, Steffens DC, Payne ME. Religion and the presence and severity of depression in older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2012;20:188–192. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e31822ccd51. PubMed DOI PMC

Henrich J. The evolution of costly displays, cooperation and religion: Credibility enhancing displays and their implications for cultural evolution. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2009;30(4):244–260. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.03.005. DOI

Huremović D. Mental health of quarantine and isolation. In: Huremović D, editor. Psychiatry of Pandemics. Springer; 2019. pp. 95–118.

Inzlicht M, Tullett AM. Reflecting on God: Religious primes can reduce neurophysiological response to errors. Psychological Science. 2010;21:1184–1190. doi: 10.1177/0956797610375451. PubMed DOI

Irons W. Religion as a hard-to-fake sign of commitment. In: Nesse R, editor. Evolution and the capacity for commitment. Russell Sage Foundation; 2001. pp. 292–309.

Irons W. An evolutionary critique of the created co-creator concept. Zygon Journal of Religion and Science. 2004;39(4):773–790. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2004.00618.x. DOI

Kawachi I. Invited commentary: Religion as a social determinant of health. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2020;189(12):1461–1463. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwz204. PubMed DOI

Kay AC, Gaucher D, Napier JL, Callan MJ, Laurin K. God and the government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2008;95(1):18–35. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.18. PubMed DOI

Khan SS, Hopkins N, Reicher S, Tewari S, Srinivasan N, Stevenson C. Shared identity predicts enhanced health at a mass gathering. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. 2014;18(4):504–522. doi: 10.1177/13684302145567032. DOI

Koenig HG. Religion, spirituality, and health: The research and clinical implications. ISRN Psychiatry. 2012 doi: 10.5402/2012/278730. PubMed DOI PMC

Kray LJ, Layne Paddock E, Galinsky AD. The effect of past performance on expected control and risk attitudes in integrative negotiations. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. 2008;1(2):161–178. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-4716.2008.00009.x. DOI

Kupor DM, Laurin K, Levav J. Anticipating divine protection? Reminders of God can increase nonmoral risk taking. Psychological Science. 2015;26(4):374–384. doi: 10.1177/0956797614563108. PubMed DOI

Lang M, Krátký J, Shaver JH, Jerotijević D, Xygalatas D. Effects of anxiety on spontaneous ritualized behavior. Current Biology CB. 2015;25(14):1892–1897. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.05.049. PubMed DOI

Larkin M, Thompson A. Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Thompson A, Harper D, editors. Qualitative research methods in mental health and psychotherapy: a guide for students and practitioners. Wiley; 2012. pp. 99–116.

Larkin M, Watts S, Clifton E. Giving voice and making sense in interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2006;3(2):102–120. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp062oa. DOI

Lee M, Lim H, Xavier MS, Lee EY. A divine infection: A systematic review on the roles of religious communities during the early stage of COVID-19. Journal of Religion and Health. 2021 doi: 10.1007/s10943-021-01364-w. PubMed DOI PMC

Liénard P, Boyer P. Whence collective rituals? A cultural selection model of ritualized behavior. American Anthropologist. 2006;108(4):814–827. doi: 10.1525/aa.2006.108.4.814. DOI

Lietz CA, Zayas LE. Evaluating qualitative research for social work practitioners. Advances in Social Work. 2010;11(2):188–202. doi: 10.18060/589. DOI

Meza D. In a pandemic are we more religious? Traditional practices of Catholics and the COVID-19 in Southwestern Colombia. International Journal of Latin American Religions. 2020;4:218–234. doi: 10.1007/s41603-020-00108-0. DOI

Minton EA, Cabano FG. Religiosity’s influence on stability-seeking consumption during times of great uncertainty: The case of the coronavirus pandemic. Marketing Letters. 2020 doi: 10.1007/s11002-020-09548-2. PubMed DOI PMC

Müller M, Halová D, Jedličková L, Cserge T. Existential disruptions of managers as a collapse of childhood patterns: An interpretative phenomenological investigation. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science. 2022;56(3):779–800. doi: 10.1007/s12124-021-09662-4. PubMed DOI

Müller M, Kubátová J. Existential values and insights in Western and Eastern management: Approaches to managerial self-development. Philosophy of Management. 2022;21(2):219–243. doi: 10.1007/s40926-021-00184-y. PubMed DOI PMC

Nizza IE, Farr J, Smith JA. Achieving excellence in interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA): Four markers of high quality. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2021;18(3):369–386. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2020.1854404. DOI

Ransome Y. Religion, spirituality, and health: New considerations for epidemiology. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2020;189(8):755–758. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwaa022. PubMed DOI PMC

Rappaport RA. Ecology, meaning and religion. North Atlantic Books; 1979.

Rappaport RA. Ritual and religion in the making of humanity. Cambridge University Press; 1999.

Sanal AM, Gorsev S. Psychological and physiological effects of singing in a choir. Psychology of Music. 2014;42(3):420–429. doi: 10.1177/0305735613477181. DOI

Schjødt U, Stødkilde-Jørgensen H, Geertz AW, Roepstorff A. Rewarding prayers. Neuroscience Letters. 2008;443(3):165–168. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2008.07.068. PubMed DOI

Singh M, Henrich J. Why do religious leaders observe costly prohibitions? Examining taboos on Mentawai shamans. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 2020;2(e32):1–15. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2020.32. PubMed DOI PMC

Singh P, Tewari S, Kesberg R, Karl JA, Bulbulia J, Fischer R. Time investments in rituals are associated with social bonding, affect and subjective health: A longitudinal study of Diwali in two Indian communities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2020;375(1805):20190430. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0430. PubMed DOI PMC

Smith JA. Participants and researchers searching for meaning: Conceptual developments for interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2019;16(2):166–181. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2018.1540648. DOI

Smith JA, Flowers P, Larkin M. Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. SAGE; 2009.

Smith JA, Osborn M. Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Smith JA, editor. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage; 2003.

Sohi KK, Singh P, Bopanna K. Ritual participation, sense of community, and social well-being: A study of Seva in the Sikh community. Journal of Religion and Health. 2018;57(6):2066–2078. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0424-y. PubMed DOI

Sosis R. Religion and intragroup cooperation: Preliminary results of a comparative analysis of utopian communities. Cross-Cultural Research. 2000;34(1):70–87. doi: 10.1177/106939710003400105. DOI

Sosis R. Religious behaviors, badges, and bans: Signaling theory and the evolution of religion. In: McNamara P, editor. Where god and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion. Praeger; 2006.

Sosis R, Bressler ER. Cooperation and commune longevity: A test of the costly signaling theory of religion. Cross-Cultural Research. 2003;37(2):211–239. doi: 10.1177/1069397103037002003. DOI

Sosis R, Kress HC, Boster JS. Scars for war: Evaluating alternative signaling explanations for cross-cultural variance in ritual costs. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2007;28(4):234–247. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.02.007. DOI

Sulkowski L, Ignatowski G. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on organization of religious behaviour in different Christian denominations in Poland. Religions. 2020;11(5):254. doi: 10.3390/rel11050254. DOI

TN.cz. "The confusion around covid-19. Only half of Czechs know their way around the restrictions" translated from original: "Zmatky kolem covidu-19. V restrikcích se orientuje jen polovina Čechů." TN.cz [online]. 2021-06-23 [cit. 2021-06-23]. To see more: https://tn.nova.cz/zpravodajstvi/clanek/425513-zmatky-kolem-covidu-19-v-restrikcich-se-orientuje-jen-polovina-cechu

Tybur JM, Lieberman D. Human pathogen avoidance adaptations. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2016;7:6–11. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.06.005. DOI

Xygalatas D, Khan S, Lang M, Kundt R, Kundtová-Klocová E, Krátký J, Shaver J. Effects of extreme ritual practices on psychophysiological well-being. Current Anthropology. 2019;60(5):699–707. doi: 10.1086/7056. DOI