Abstract
Background. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between internal/external religious orientation and methods of coping with stress and high-risk behaviors. This research is deemed applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of nature and method.
Method. The population studied in this research includes all the young people aged 19 to 25 in Tabriz city in 1400, of which 100 people were selected by the convenience sampling method. In order to collect data, Allport's religious orientation questionnaire, Andler and Parker's Coping with Stress (CISS) questionnaire, and Young's high-risk behavior questionnaire were employed. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression tests in SPSS version 23, we analyzed the data.
Results. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between internal orientation and each sub-category of high-risk behaviors (violence, vandalism, drug use, alcohol, and unhealthy sexual relations); also, there was a significant positive correlation between external religious orientation and high-risk behaviors. Among them, consumption of alcoholic beverages and unhealthy sexual relations showed the most significant relationship compared to other variables. Also, the results indicated a negative correlation between coping with problem-oriented stress with high-risk behaviors and a positive correlation between emotion-oriented and avoidance methods with high-risk behaviors.
Conclusion. According to the results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that individuals with internal orientation performed better in terms of controlling their behavior compared to those with external orientation. Besides, we conclude that people with problem-oriented coping seem to be more satisfied with how to control stressful events (p<0.05).
Practical implications. From the results, we infer that it is better to direct the educational interventions of young people in schools and universities toward understanding the meaning and concept of orientations; gaining insight into different types of internal and external religious orientations may help us eliminate their risky behaviors.