The Mediating Role of Religious Spirituality in the Relationship between Identity Styles and Teaching Anxiety among Student-Teachers

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the mediating role of religious (Islamic) spirituality in the relationship between identity styles and teaching anxiety among student-teachers. This descriptive-correlational research employed a structural equation modeling design. The statistical population included 1,283 student-teachers at Allameh Tabataba’i and Ayatollah Kamalvand campuses of Farhangian University in Lorestan Province during the academic year 2023–2024. A sample of 295 participants was selected using Cochran’s formula and simple random sampling. Data were collected using the Teaching Anxiety Scale (TAS), the Identity Style Inventory (ISI) and the Religious (Islamic) Spirituality Questionnaire (RISQ). Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling using SPSS 26 and AMOS 26. The findings supported the good fit of the proposed model. Direct path coefficients indicated that informational and normative identity styles were negatively associated with teaching anxiety (p<0.05) and positively associated with religious spirituality (p<0.05). Conversely, the diffuse-avoidant identity style showed a significant positive relationship with teaching anxiety (p<0.01) and a significant negative relationship with religious spirituality (p<0.01). In addition, religious spirituality was negatively related to teaching anxiety (p<0.01). Results also confirmed the mediating role of religious spirituality in the relationship between informational and diffuse-avoidant identity styles and teaching anxiety (p<0.01). Overall, religious spirituality was found to strengthen the protective effect of the informational identity style and to mitigate the adverse impact of the diffuse-avoidant style, thereby reducing teaching anxiety among student-teachers.