Personality and religiousness/spirituality (R/E)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although there are many studies linking the religious context with fisical and mental health, there is little research on the interface between religiousness/spirituality and personality. OBJECTIVES: The main goal was to review the empirical research on the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and personality. METHODS: A survey of the academic production through virtual databases: PubMed and PsychInfo, published until January of 2008 and using the combinations: "personality and spiritu*" and "personality and religio*" was conducted, in addition to articles presented in a meta-analysis about the subject. RESULTS: High Religiousness is associated with low Psychoticism and high Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Conscientiousness in adolescents can be a significant predictor for the higher religiosity in the early adulthood. And the dimension of Religiosity seems to be a potentially candidate to be beyond the Big Five. DISCUSSION: The belief in a dimension of Religiosity, in a transcendent reality or in a personal God, in some cases, does not seem to show associations between any of the five factors of personality. This can indicate that the R/E is a potential sixth factor of personality that is not present in the current models of personality.