Qualitative Analysis of Iranian Experts’ Views on the Role of Spiritual and Doctrinal Beliefs Affecting Emotion Regulation

 Religion and religious beliefs play an important role in human life in many societies, Therefore, the present study aimed to qualitatively analyze the opinion of Iranian experts about the role of spiritual and doctrinal beliefs affecting emotion regulation.

 The present study had a qualitative design and was conducted by content analysis. The participants were specialists and experts working in the field of emotion regulation in Iran and were selected through purposeful sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 experts until the saturation point was reached. In this study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests.

 After conducting the interviews, similar and duplicate codes were removed and matched. The results of data analysis yielded three main categories with six sub-themes. The main categories included religious and spiritual attitudes, taught spiritual/religious emotion regulation, and differentiating beliefs from superstitions.

 The results showed that spiritual and doctrinal beliefs played a significant role in the way individuals regulated their emotions. Therefore, counselors and mental health therapists are recommended to pay attention to this important issue while interacting with the clients during treatment sessions.