Experience of Wondering Awe and Perception of Nature as a Resource during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Findings from a Cross Sectional Survey of Participants in Jerusalem

Author:

Büssing Arndt1ORCID,Zini Avraham2ORCID,Vered Yuval2

Affiliation:

1. Professorship Quality of Life, Spirituality and Coping, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, 58313 Herdecke, Germany

2. Hadassah Medical Center, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 12272, Israel

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic most people had to cope with the negative implications of the lockdowns, and perceived times of social isolation and loneliness, and thus low wellbeing. Among the best predictors of positive changes of pandemic related attitudes and behaviors was the experience of pausing in wondering awe with subsequent feelings of gratitude. As these observations came from a secular society with a Christian background, we now aimed to analyzed to what extend Jewish people from Israel were experiencing such moments of wondering awe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these perceptions are related to their psychological wellbeing. For that purpose, between June and July 2021 a cross-sectional survey with standardized questionnaires was applied among 147 participants from Jerusalem. Those with high wellbeing and those who can rely on their faith as a resource to cope with the pandemic were more intensively perceiving moments of Awe/Gratitude. Awe/Gratitude and a low perception of COVID-19 related stressors were the best predictors of participants’ psychological wellbeing. Against our expectation, Awe/Gratitude was not significantly associated with the experience of nature and enjoying reflective times of silence. Both resources, Awe/Gratitude as a an experiential aspect of spirituality and Nature/Silence as a source to encounter the sacred in one’s life, are relevant and should be supported.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Religious studies

Reference42 articles.

1. Abbany, Zulfikar (2022, December 02). COVID: Why Are Infections Rising in Israel?. Available online: https://p.dw.com/p/3z5ER.

2. Agnon, Shmuel Yosef (1995). Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days, Schocken Books.

3. COVID-19 Pandemic: A Serious Threat for Public Mental Health Globally;Anjum;Psychiatria Danubia,2020

4. Antonovsky, Aaron (1987). Unraveling the Mystery of Health: How People Manage Stress and Stay Well, Jossey-Bass.

5. Measuring wellbeing rather than the absence of distress symptoms: A comparison of the SF-36 mental health subscale and the WHO-Five wellbeing scale;Bech;International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research,2013

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