Neuroticism and intensity of religious attitudes among clergy in England.

Ninety-two male and 20 female clergy completed the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck, Eysenck, & Barrett, 1985) and the Francis Scale of Attitude Towards Christianity (Francis & Stubbs, 1987). The findings support Eysenck's central theory regarding an inverse relationship between psychoticism scores and religious attitudes, and they confirm the view that neuroticism scores are also implicated in predicting the intensity of religious attitudes among the religiously committed.     

Neuroticism and Attitudes Toward Action in 19 Countries

Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism‐collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism‐collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals’ less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism‐collectivism.     

Personality Type and Attitude toward Christianity among Student Churchgoers

A sample of 82 student churchgoers completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter together with the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The data demonstrate that feeling types hold a more positive attitude toward Christianity than thinking types.     

Religious Appeals and Implicit Attitudes

This article explores the effects of religious appeals by politicians on attitudes and behavior. Although politicians frequently make religious appeals, the effectiveness of these appeals and the mechanisms of persuasion are unknown. This article explores the possibility that religious language can affect political attitudes through implicit processes. Because religious attachments are formed early in the lives of many Americans, religious language may influence citizens without their awareness. Implicit and explicit attitudes are related but distinct constructs, and implicit attitudes may have behavioral implications in the political realm. I test these hypotheses experimentally, relying on a widely used implicit measure, the Implicit Association Test. I find that a Christian religious appeal affects implicit attitudes and political behavior among people who currently or previously identify as Christian. Furthermore, an explicit preference for less religion in politics does not moderate implicit effects.     

Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type

Rejection of Darwinian evolution (implying rejection of the common origin of all species, including humans) was assessed among 1,100 churchgoers from a range of Christian denominations in England. The main predictors of rejecting evolution were denominational affiliation and attendance. Individuals from Pentecostal or evangelical denominations were twice as likely to reject evolution compared with those from Anglican or Methodist churches. In all denominations, higher attendance was associated with greater rejection of evolution. Education in general, and theological education in particular, had some effect on reducing rejection, but this was not dependent on having specifically scientific or biological educational qualifications. Psychological type preferences for sensing over intuition and for thinking over feeling also predicted greater rejection, after allowing for the association of type preferences and general religiosity. Reasons for the association between psychological type and rejection of evolution are discussed in the light of the known characteristics of different function preferences.     

Attitudes to Authority in Women Religious

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between three stances in attitudes to authority and levels of intrapsychic and interrelational of maturity in women religious in initial stages of membership. Subjects were drawn from congregations throughout the U.S. from those involved in programs of formation or temporary commitment. The total sample (N = 162) was divided into three equal-attitude groups (N = 54), using complementary but uncorrelated measures of attitudes to institutional authority and directiveness. Relationship between the behavioral rating of directiveness seemed associated with intrapsychic measures of individuation, with those scoring as most directive found most mature from this perspective. Maturation rated from an intergenerational system approach seemed to be associated with pro-authority attitudes, with those most supportive of authority scoring highest on this construct. Implications for further research as well as work with religious in formation are suggested.     

The Religious Context of Welfare Attitudes

This article examines the influence of three dimensions of religion—belonging (faith tradition membership), behaving (frequency of service attendance), and context (one's relationship to aggregate population characteristics)—on attitudes toward multiple forms of state‐provided social protection, or welfare attitudes. To do so, this article uses data from 17 countries surveyed in the 2006 “Role of Government” wave of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Results from mixed effects regression show that contextual effects are highly predictive of welfare attitudes. Nations that are more religiously heterogeneous are less supportive of state protection, while nations that are more homogeneous, particularly Catholic nations, are more supportive. Results hold net of fractionalization, political institutional measures, and economic characteristics. At the individual level, all three dimensions of religiosity are predictive of welfare attitudes. These patterns suggest that in rich Western democracies, religion continues to play an important role in structuring the moral economies.     

Attitudes of Muslim Physicians and Nurses Toward Religious Issues

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests a positive role for religious involvement in physical and mental health. Studies have shown that attitudes of physicians toward religion affect their relationship with patients and their medical decisions, and in this way may ultimately affect treatment outcomes. Attitudes of nurses toward religion could also influence whether or not they address patients’ unmet spiritual needs. To assess attitudes of physicians and nurses toward religion and how these attitudes vary by education level and demographic characteristics, a total of 800 physicians, medical students, and nurses from some of the largest hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were approached, of whom 720 completed questionnaires (148 nurses, 572 medical students and physicians). The survey questionnaire included the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), Hoge Intrinsic Religiosity Scale, a brief measure of Negative Religious Coping (NRCOPE), and the brief Trust/Mistrust in God Scale. Religious attitudes and practices were compared between physicians (medical students and physicians) and nurses. Regression analysis revealed that except for intrinsic religiosity, physicians were not less religious than nurses on any other dimension of religiosity. Training level (year of training) was a predictor of religiosity, with those having less training being the most religious. The findings suggest that there are few religious differences between nurses and physicians in Iran. However, religiosity may become less as the training level increases. Lack of emphasis in training on the important role that religion plays in health care may result in a decrease in religious involvement and the development of negative attitudes toward religion over time (displaced by a focus on the technological aspects of health care).     

Christian Commitment and Personal Well Being: Exploring the Connection Between Religious Affect and Global Happiness Among Young Churchgoers in Australia

Drawing on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey, this study was designed to assess the connection between religious affect (as a measure of Christian commitment) and global happiness (as a measure of personal well being) among a sample of 6,194 young churchgoers in Australia between the ages of 8 and 14 years, attending a range of denominations, including Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Pentecostal, and other Protestant churches. Employing the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity and the Powell Index of Global Happiness, the data demonstrate a significant positive correlation between religious affect and global happiness, after controlling for individual differences in sex and age.     

Neuroticism and responses to social comparison among cancer patients

The present study examined how the effects of three audiotapes containing different types of social comparison information on the mood of cancer patients depended on the level of neuroticism. On the procedural tape, a man and woman discussed the process of radiation therapy, on the emotion tape, they focussed on emotional reactions to their illness and treatment, while on the coping tape they focussed on the way they had been coping. A validation study among 115 students showed that the tapes were perceived as they were intended. The main study was conducted among 226 patients who were about to undergo radiation therapy. Compared to patients in the control group, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the procedural and the coping tape. Furthermore, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the coping tape than to the emotion tape. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Association between Religious Attitudes and Aggression Levels in Turkish University Students

Journal of Religion and Health - This study aimed to analyze the relationship between university students’ religious attitudes and aggression levels. Stratified sampling method was used for...     

Psychological Type and Attitude towards Celtic Christianity among Committed Churchgoers in the United Kingdom: An Empirical Study

This article takes the burgeoning interest in Celtic Christianity as a key example of the way in which churches may be responding to the changing spiritual and religious landscape in the United Kingdom today and examines the power of psychological type theory to account for variation in the attitude of committed churchgoers to this innovation. Data provided by a sample of 248 Anglican clergy and lay church officers (who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales together with the Attitude toward Celtic Christianity Scale) demonstrated that intuitive types, feeling types, and perceiving types reported a more positive attitude towards Celtic Christianity than sensing types, thinking types, and judging types. These findings are interpreted to analyse the appeal of Celtic Christianity and to suggest why some committed churchgoers may find this innovation less attractive.     

Religious Character in Church of England Schools: The Relationship Between a Religious Tradition and Its Educational Institutions

Research into the relationship between the Anglican tradition and its schools is relatively undeveloped in England. The research reported here draws on Benne's (2001 Benne , R. ( 2001 ). Quality with soul: How six premier colleges and universities keep faith with their religious traditions . Cambridge , UK : Eerdmans . [Google Scholar]) significant components of the relationship between educational institutions and their founding religious tradition to examine whether these components are a helpful way of describing religious character in Anglican schools. While school leaders and staff are committed to the Christian faith and seek to establish an ethos informed by Christian beliefs and practices, they are less able to articulate a distinctive philosophy of education particularly with respect to teaching, learning and the curriculum; some reasons for this are discussed.     

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire among Students from Poland and Chile

This study verifies the psychometric properties of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORFQ). This measure consists of 10 items regarding strength of religious faith, regardless of religious denomination or affiliation. Participants were 177 students from Chile and 393 students from Poland. The SCSORFQ method is a reliable measure with good internal consistency evaluated by the α-Cronbach coefficient. Factor analysis statistically confirmed the unidimensional structure of the SCSORFQ. The strength of religious faith in both student groups was moderate to strong correlated with public or private aspects of religiousness and strong correlated with spiritual experiences. It was weakly correlated with the cognitive indicator of well-being as satisfaction with life as well as with existential variables like hope and meaning of life. The results confirm that the SCSORFQ is psychometrically sound and is therefore recommended for use by researchers studying the construct of religiousness.     

Inclusion of Religious Behaviors and Attitudes in Counseling: Expectations of Conservative Christians

In this study of 118 religiously conservative Christians' expectations of counseling, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment conditions: a Christian counselor or a counselor whose religious beliefs were unknown. Participants rated their expectations for the counselor's attitude toward their religious beliefs and use of religious behaviors in counseling using the Behavior and Attitude Expectancies scale (C. Belaire & J. S. Young, 2002). Participants also rated their general expectations for counseling using the Expectations About Counseling: Brief Form (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1985). Results showed that participants expected both a Christian counselor and a counselor whose religious beliefs were unknown to be respectful and accepting of conservative Christian religious beliefs and values and to include multiple religious behaviors in counseling sessions. Participants had overall positive expectations of the counseling process.     

Influence of Religious Factors on Attitudes Towards Suicidal Behaviour in Ghana

The objective of this qualitative study was to understand how religion influences lay persons’ attitudes towards suicide in Ghana. Twenty-seven adults from both rural and urban settings were interviewed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the data. Results showed that the participants are committed to core and normative religious beliefs and practices they perceived as life preserving. Such an understanding influenced their view of suicidal behaviour as unacceptable. Nevertheless, religion facilitated their willingness to help people during suicidal crisis. Religious commitment theory is used to explain some of the findings of this study. Implications for suicide prevention are discussed.