The experience of pursuing a graduate seminary education is rife with many stressors, including the heavy financial burden required to fund a seminary degree. Shame, understood as an experience of being unworthy and inadequate at one’s core, may be a natural reaction to financial hardship as many individuals may believe their inadequacy is the cause of their financial difficulties. The present study assessed 189 graduate seminary students from institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools to further understand the relationships between shame, financial distress, depression, anxiety, and spiritual well-being. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that financial well-being and shame would be negatively correlated. Furthermore, we hypothesized that shame would mediate the relationship between financial well-being and a number of negative outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and lack of spiritual well-being. Our findings demonstrated that the seminary population experienced shame in regard to perceived lack of financial well-being; shame was significantly and negatively related to financial well-being and significantly mediated the relationship between financial well-being and depression, anxiety, and spiritual well-being. These results indicate that financial hardship, including student debt, appears to have a far-reaching impact that causes distress on various levels for seminary students and that shame may be an important mechanism in understanding how this happens.

追求研究生神学院教育的经历充满了许多压力，包括资助神学院学位所需的沉重经济负担。羞耻，被理解为一种在核心上不值得和不足的经历，可能是对经济困难的自然反应，因为许多人可能认为他们的不足是他们经济困难的原因。本研究评估了来自神学院协会认可机构的 189 名神学院研究生，以进一步了解羞耻、财务困境、抑郁、焦虑和精神健康之间的关系。根据之前的研究，我们假设财务状况和羞耻感呈负相关。此外，我们假设羞耻感会调节财务状况与许多负面结果之间的关系，包括抑郁、焦虑和缺乏精神福祉。我们的研究结果表明，神学院的人因缺乏财务状况而感到羞耻；羞耻感与财务福祉显着负相关，并显着调节财务福祉与抑郁、焦虑和精神福祉之间的关系。这些结果表明，包括学生债务在内的经济困难似乎具有深远的影响，对神学院的学生造成不同程度的困扰，而羞耻感可能是理解这种情况如何发生的重要机制。我们的研究结果表明，神学院的人因缺乏财务状况而感到羞耻；羞耻感与财务福祉显着负相关，并显着调节财务福祉与抑郁、焦虑和精神福祉之间的关系。这些结果表明，包括学生债务在内的经济困难似乎具有深远的影响，对神学院的学生造成不同程度的困扰，而羞耻感可能是理解这种情况如何发生的重要机制。我们的研究结果表明，神学院的人因缺乏财务状况而感到羞耻；羞耻感与财务福祉显着负相关，并显着调节财务福祉与抑郁、焦虑和精神福祉之间的关系。这些结果表明，包括学生债务在内的经济困难似乎具有深远的影响，对神学院的学生造成不同程度的困扰，而羞耻感可能是理解这种情况如何发生的重要机制。和精神福祉。这些结果表明，包括学生债务在内的经济困难似乎具有深远的影响，对神学院的学生造成不同程度的困扰，而羞耻感可能是理解这种情况如何发生的重要机制。和精神福祉。这些结果表明，包括学生债务在内的经济困难似乎具有深远的影响，对神学院的学生造成不同程度的困扰，而羞耻感可能是理解这种情况如何发生的重要机制。