Belief in Divine Support and Sense of Mattering: The Image of God as a Moderator?

This study investigates the relationship between belief in divine support—the perception of a personally engaged and supportive higher power—and the sense of mattering, defined as feeling significant to others, using data from the nationally representative 2017 Baylor Religion Survey of American adults. The findings indicate that belief in divine support is positively associated with a greater sense of mattering, even after controlling for demographic, social, and religious factors. However, this positive association is moderated by individuals’ images of God, specifically being weaker among those who perceive God as distant—characterized by low engagement and low judgment—while no significant moderation was found for authoritative, benevolent, or critical God images. The study highlights the nuanced role of divine beliefs and God imagery in shaping self-concept and suggests that incongruence between implicit beliefs in divine support and explicit perceptions of a distant God may diminish the psychological benefits related to mattering.