Moral emotions and moral distress. Do religiousness and sense of coherence mediate or moderate this relationship?

Abstract

Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between moral emotions -guilt and shame- and moral distress. Moral distress is said to occur when one acknowledges the right thing to do but is unable to act upon it. Moral emotions are found to be significant predictors of the severity of moral distress. Moreover, religiousness and Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence (SOC) have repeatedly been associated with stress outcome. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between moral emotions and moral distress. Secondly, the mediating or moderating role of religiousness and SOC is examined. Methods. Data collection was held in April 2022 via online questionnaires on platform Qualtrics Survey Solutions. The sample consists of 77 Greek participants. For each participant, data were collected about socio-demographic profile and religious beliefs. Cognitions following a traumatic moral conflict were assessed through MR-MI, MIAS scales. SOC was measured using the short version SOC-13. Results. Pearsons’s R and regression analyses showed that moral distress is positively correlated and significantly predicted by moral emotions. Moral distress was also negatively correlated with SOC. Moderation analysis indicated that the relationship between moral emotions and moral distress only really emerges in people with low or average levels of SOC. Results for mediations and the variable religiousness were non-significant. Discussion The research highlights the significant relationship between moral emotions, SOC and moral distress and through empirical data points out the importance of addressing SOC before directly dealing with traumatic moral distress.