Date of Award

7-22-1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

George A. Henly

Abstract

Although there has been a resurgence of interest in the psychological study of religiosity and dimensions of spirituality, few studies have explored the relationship between measured personality traits of normal adults, aspects of spirituality and religious practice. This study is intended to further such an exploration.A sample of 181 upper middle class male volunteers aged 35-55 participated in the study. Participants completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Spiritual Orientation Inventory (SOI), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS), and a Demographics and Religiosity Profile (DRP). The basic design was that of a correlational study, with denominational membership as the grouping factor.To simplify the exploration of SOI-FFM relationships a principal components analysis of the SOI scales was conducted. Two components were extracted: a central dimension of spirituality and a second component which may be described as a kind of benevolent optimism.The study demonstrated an overlap between personality factors and dimensions of spirituality, particularly between a kind of benevolent and optimistic spirituality and Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. The second hypothesis was also supported in that a strong association was shown between the general spirituality factor and religious practice. Religious practice did not appear to be related to the altruistic/idealistic component of spirituality.The third hypothesis predicted that personality factors would be significantly related to religious practice. The results of the study indicated that religious practice may not be highly associated with psychological adjustment. Agreeableness was the only NEO factor significantly associated with religious practice.A fourth hypothesis explored the association between denominational affiliation and personality, spirituality, and religious practice. The non-affiliated group scored significantly lower on religious practice than the other affiliational groups. As expected, more conservative groups scored higher on general spirituality. The non-affiliated group scored significantly lower than other groups on Conscientiousness, while scoring significantly higher on Openness to Experience. Further directions for research were explored.

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