In plain language
Why do some teenagers come to endorse religious values while others do not — and does personality play a role? Most research on personality and religiousness has been done with adults at a single point in time, which makes it impossible to say whether personality shapes religious values or the other way around. This study followed Australian high school students across three waves of measurement to look at how personality, religious values, and social and emotional well-being unfold together during adolescence.
The study began with 784 high school students (382 males, 394 females), of whom 563 provided data at all three time points. The researchers focused on two major personality dimensions — Eysenckian psychoticism (a trait marked by toughmindedness and low empathy) and conscientiousness — and examined whether changes in these traits between the first and second waves predicted the religious values students endorsed at the third wave.
Both personality itself and change in personality predicted later religious values, and the specific pattern of effects depended on gender. The study also found that religious values went hand in hand with markers of positive functioning: adolescents higher in hope, joviality, psychological acceptance, and mindfulness tended to endorse religious values more strongly. The authors discuss what these links mean for adolescent well-being and resilience.
Key findings
- In a three-wave longitudinal design, 784 high school students participated at Time 1, and 563 provided data at all three time points.
- Changes in Eysenckian psychoticism and conscientiousness from Time 1 to Time 2 were examined as predictors of religious values at Time 3.
- Both personality and personality change predicted adolescents' religious values over time.
- The specific effects of personality on religious values differed between males and females.
- Adolescents higher in hope, joviality, psychological acceptance, and mindfulness tended to be higher in religious values, linking religious values to social and emotional well-being.
How to cite
APA
Heaven, P. C. L., & Ciarrochi, J. (2007). Personality and religious values among adolescents: A three-wave longitudinal analysis. British Journal of Psychology, 98(4), 681-694. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712607X187777
BibTeX
@article{heaven2007personality,
author = {Heaven, Patrick C. L. and Ciarrochi, Joseph},
title = {Personality and religious values among adolescents: A three-wave longitudinal analysis},
journal = {British Journal of Psychology},
year = {2007},
volume = {98},
number = {4},
pages = {681--694},
doi = {10.1348/000712607X187777}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
- Process-Based Therapy & Idionomic Analysis
Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.