ORIGINAL PAPER Religiosity and Proactive Coping with Social Difficulties in Romanian Adolescents Nicoleta Ra˘ban-Motounu • Ileana Loredana Vitalia Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Even though medical and psychological sciences and services evolved so much, in many cases, the healing process has its mystery, and some recoveries seem to be entirely magical. Especially in such cases, religion seems to play an important role, as it helps people face the ‘‘mystery’’ of the healing process and integrate it. Religion has helped people face potentially traumatic events with minimum consequences for their health, or, moreover, to use these experiences for personal development, making them more prepared for life challenges. Adolescents with developed proactive coping skills are less socially inhibited or non-assertive, and those that are less cold/distant or more self- sacrificing have stronger spiritual values. Keywords Spiritual values Á Proactive coping Á Interpersonal problems Á Adolescents Introduction Some of the greatest mysteries of life, including illness and healing, the charm and the suffering given by human interactions, and a person’s relationship with the elements in the universe, find their special place in the religious life. A profound religious life involves accepting and living with such mysteries, searching and finding a meaning in the life experiences according to these mysteries, which makes people more prepared for life. According to new perspectives in stress effects research, personal agency is a construct that needs to be reconsidered (Thoits 2006). In personal agency theory, individuals appear as ‘‘architects of their lives, motivated to avoid unpleasant experiences or solve the problems that cause them and to pursue meaningful and rewarding alternative role involvements’’ (Thoits 2006, p. 316). The personal agency can be used to explain the N. Ra˘ban-Motounu (&) Á I. L. Vitalia Faculty of Socio-Humanistic Sciences, University of Pites¸ti, Str. Taˆrgu din Vale, Nr.1, Corp I, 110040 Pitesti, Arges¸, Romania e-mail: nicoleta_raban@yahoo.com 123 J Relig Health DOI 10.1007/s10943-014-9888-1