The relationship between subjective perception of religiosity, tawakkul and stress

Stress is one of the most common problems today. Various methods have been developed to cope with stress, which has a negative effect on physiological and psychological health. Furthermore, attention has been drawn to the importance of some elements that may be effective in stress management. In this study, it was envisaged that tawakkul in Islam, an Islamic value, could be one of these elements. Tawakkul means that the individual, on the one hand, does his part in his work, and on the other hand, trusts in Allah and relies on Him. It is understood that tawakkul, which is seen to be commanded to believers in the Holy Quran and hadiths, is an orientation expected from religious individuals. Within psychological perspective, tawakkul has features that will provide psychological comfort and peace to individuals with both the positive elements it contains and the spiritual power it provides against difficulties. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between the subjective perception of religiosity and tawakkul and stress, and whether tawakkul is effective in coping with stress or not. Within this regard, individuals living in the central district of Çorum, between the ages of 21 and 75 and belonging to three different developmental periods: young adulthood, middle adulthood and old age, were determined as the sample group of the research, and it was tested how the perceived stress levels and tawakkul orientations of the participants differed according to independent variables. It is thought that examining the effect of tawakkul, which is seen as a tool in coping with stress, in preventing stress with a quantitative method shows the originality of this thesis. If it is taken into consideration the fact that the field work of the research was conducted during a period when the Covid-19 pandemic was ongoing and therefore carried the effects of the pandemic process also adds importance to the study. In the field study of our research, quantitative research method, survey design from quantitative research method designs, and relational survey model from survey designs were used. Moreover, stratified sampling method was used in order to increase the validity level of our research. Gender, age, marital status, subjective perception of economic situation, health, profession, educational status and subjective perception of religiosity constitute the independent variables of our study. As a result of the examination and analysis, it was determined that there were vital differences between tawakkul and the variables of gender, age, marital status, education, profession and subjective perception of religiosity, and that there was no vital difference between the subjective perception of economic situation and health variables. It was found that there were vital differences between perceived stress and the variables of gender, age, marital status, education, subjective perception of economic status, occupation and subjective perception of religiosity, and that there was no vital difference between perceived stress and health status variables. As a result of the correlation analysis between tawakkul orientation and perceived stress, a negative significant relationship was detected, and as a result of the regression analysis, it was understood that tawakkul orientation was effective on perceived stress. In summary, as a result of the research, it was found that as the level of subjective religiosity increases, the orientation of tawakkul (in the dimensions of positive attitudes towards emotions, thoughts and behavior) increases, and the level of perceived stress decreases (in both the perception of stress and the perception of insufficient autonomy dimensions of the scale); It was revealed that as the tawakkul orientation of the sample increased, the perceived stress level decreased.