Existential therapy and changes in purpose in life in Christian subjects.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between two groups of Christians, two existential therapies, and the Purpose In Life (PIL) test. The Exit Questionnaire provided additional descriptive data. Forty subjects participated in the study. The subjects fit into two length of Christian commitment groups. Half of the subjects had been born again Christians for more than 3 years; half of the subjects had been born again Christians for less than 3 years. All subjects were administered a PIL pre-test. Each commitment group was divided into two therapy groups. Half of the subjects received Solomon's spirituotherapy; half of the subjects received Robertson's laws of the kingdom of God. One month later all subjects were administered a PIL post-test, and an Exit Questionnaire. A 2 x 2 x 2 analysis of variance of the PIL scores revealed no main effects or interaction effects for either length of Christian commitment or type of Christian therapy. Pre-test and post-test scores did differ significantly but the changes could not be attributed to length of Christ commitment or therapy. The Exit Questionnaire revealed that 50% of the subjects exposed to spirituotherapy, and 30% of the subjects exposed to Iaws of the kingdom of God (regardless of Iength of Christian commitment) reported the therapies to be life changing. All subjects considered the therapies a positive experience (M = 8.5 on a 10 point scale); 62\% of the subjects agreed with everything taught, and 82% of the subjects desired further instruction on their topic. Of the 16 subjects who reported the therapies to be positive and life changing, 10 had PIL scores which decreased from pre-test to post-test. These results led to the conclusion that the therapies may have been effective but not as regards life meaning as measured by the PIL test.