This study will investigate whether reading a practical resource book (Sollereder 2021) has a positive impact on those who have experienced a loss. The qualitative study (Interpretative Content Analysis) will interview 3 groups of 8-10 people who have worked through the practical resource after a loss. The key question is Does a “choose your own theodicy” model help those in grief to process and create meaning in suffering? If so, how?
This project is needed because the book explores a new intervention in meaning-making: a "Compassionate Theodicy" approach. This project would constitute a foundational exploratory study of whether the approach has salience for those who are suffering. If successful, it will lay the foundation for a larger project in compassionate theodicy.
The project will deliver two manuscripts, one to Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and one to the mainstream Journal of Religion and Health. It will also submit for presenting at two conferences: the American Academy of Religion and the International Association for the Psychology of Religion. The postdoc will give a public lecture in Oxford, and a public panel discussion will be held with all the project advisors and the postdoc on project themes. The impact is two-fold: it will indicate whether theodicy in this form can be therapeutically beneficial, and it will contribute to psychological research on the nature of religious cognition and coping.
