Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Moderating Effects of Personality Traits in Relationship Between Religious Practices and Mental Health of University Students

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study focused on examining the effects of personality traits in moderating relationship between religiosity and mental health of university students. It was conducted on a sample of (N = 372) university students aged between 20 and 26 years equated to gender: 186 male and 186 female students at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan. The religiosity, mental health and personality traits were measured by using the scale of Religiosity of Islam, Inventory of Mental Health and Big Five Inventory, respectively. The correlation analyses showed the significant relationship of religiosity with behavioral control but negatively associated with anxiety and depression as two dimensions of mental health. The results further demonstrated that openness to experience and agreeableness as traits of students’ personality considerably moderated the relationship of religiosity and mental health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allport, G. W. (1950). The individual and his religion: A psychological interpretation. New York: Macmillian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amering, M., & Schmolke, M. (2009). Recovery in mental health: World psychiatric association evidence and experience in psychiatry. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Behere, P. B., Das, A., Yadav, R., & Behere, A. P. (2013). Religion and mental health. Indian journal of psychiatry, 55(Suppl ), S187–S194. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.105526.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bergin, A. E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical re-evaluation and meta-analysis. Professional Psychology. Research and Practice, 14, 170–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergin, A. E. (1991). Values and religious issues in psychotherapy and mental health. American Psychologist, 46, 394–403.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. (2005). Study of the relationship of personality traits and job satisfaction among professional sales representatives in the pharmaceutical industry in Taiwan. Unpublished Dissertation. Nova Southeastern University.

  • Cloninger, C. R. (2004). Feeling good: The science of well-being. NewYork: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R. (2006). The science of well-being: An integrated approach to mental health and its disorders. World Psychiatry, 5, 71–76.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, A. (1965). The psychotherapist’s case against religion. Paper presented at a meeting of the Humanist Society. New York

  • Fakharri, A., Jahani, A., Sadeghi-Bazargani, H., Farahbakhsh, M., & Asl, A. M. (2017). Personality patterns and smoking behavior among students in Tabriz. Iran. Electronic Physician, 9(3), 3950–3957. https://doi.org/10.19082/3950.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L. J. (1992). Religion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. In J. F. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 149–160). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gartner, J., Larson, D. B., & Allen, G. D. (1991). Religious commitment and mental health: A review of the empirical literature. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 6–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48(1), 26–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hafizi, S., Tabatabaei, D., & Koenig, H. G. (2014). Borderline personality disorder and religion: A perspective from a Muslim country. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 9(3), 137–141.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hashi, A. A. (2011). Islamic ethics: An outline of its principles and scope. Revelation and Science, 01(03), 122–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, P., Francis, L. J., Argyle, M., & Jackson, C. J. (2004). Primary personality trait correlates of religious practice and orientation. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 61–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hussain, I., & Ramzan, S. (2018). Islamic perspective of adult education: An overview. Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research, 19(1), 51–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jafarnejad, P., Farzad, V., Moradi, A., & Shokri, O. (2005). A study of the relationship between the big five factors of personality, coping styles and mental health in undergraduate students. Journal of Psychology and Education, 35(1), 51–74. [Persian].

    Google Scholar 

  • Jana-Masri, A., & Priester, P. E. (2007). The development and validation of a Qur’an-based instrument to assess Islamic religiosity: The religiosity of Islam scale. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 2, 177–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big-Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josefsson, K., Cloninger, C. R., Hintsanen, M., Jokela, M., Pulkki-Råback, L., & Keltikangas-Järvinen, L. (2011). Associations of personality profiles with various aspects of wellbeing: A population-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.03.023.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, S., & Wood, A. (2010). Assessment of positive functioning in clinical psychology: Theoretical and practical issues. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 830–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, C. (1933). Modern man in search of a soul. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Religion and mental health: Evidence for an association. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 67–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, D. B., Sherrill, K. A., Lyons, J. S., Craigie, F. C., Jr., Thielman, S. B., Greenwold, M. A., et al. (1992). Associations between dimensions of religious commitment and mental health reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry and Archives of General Psychiatry, 1978–1989. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 557–559.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie, J. F., & Katz, Y. J. (1992). The relationship between personality and religiosity in an Israeli sample. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion., 31(2), 153–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, M., Hofmann, W., Eid, M., & Lucas, R. E. (2012). Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 592–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R. (1999). Mainstream personality psychology and the study of religion. Journal of Personality, 67, 1208–1218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2008). The five- factor theory of personality. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality (pp. 159–181). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, M. E., Tsang, J.-A., & Emmons, R. A. (2004). Gratitude in intermediate affective terrain: Links of grateful moods to individual differences and daily emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 295–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirnics, Z., Heincz, O., Bagdy, G., Surányi, Z., Gonda, X., Benko, A., et al. (2013). The relationship between the big five personality dimensions and acute psychopathology: Mediating and moderating effects of coping strategies. Psychiatria Danubina, 25(4), 379–388.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moreira-Almeida, A., Neto, F. L., & Koenig, H. G. (2006). Religiousness and mental health: A review. Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 28(3), 242–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberoi, A. K., & Trickett, E. J. (2018). Religion in the hallways: Academic performance and psychological distress among immigrant origin Muslim adolescents in high schools. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(3–4), 344–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne, I. R., Bergin, A. E., Bielema, K. A., & Jenkins, P. H. (1991). Review of religion and mental health: Prevention and the enhancement of psychosocial functioning. Prevention in Human Services, 9(2), 11–40. https://doi.org/10.1300/J293v09n02_02.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Razavieh, A. L., & Asl, B. F. (2011) Personality characteristics and job satisfaction married marital veterans affairs Shiraz Shahid foundation. Journal of Scientific-New Research from the Community, 1–18.

  • Sadeghi, A., Zadeh, M. H., Niayfar, G. H., & Azizi, S. (2016). Survey of relationship between personality traits with mental health and academic staffs’ job satisfaction in the university of Guilan, Iran. Health, 8, 1120–1127. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2016.811117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saroglou, V. (2002). Religion and the five factors of personality: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 15–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setta, S. M., & Shemie, S. D. (2015). An explanation and analysis of how world religions formulate their ethical decisions on withdrawing treatment and determining death. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine: PEHM, 10, 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13010-015-0025-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seybold, K. S., & Hill, P. C. (2001). The role of religion and spirituality in mental and physical health. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 21–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veit, C. T., & Ware, J. E., Jr. (1983). The structure of psychological distress and well-being in general populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(5), 730–742.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, S. R., & Pargament, K. I. (2014). The role of religion and spirituality in mental health. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 27(5), 358–363. https://doi.org/10.1097/yco.0000000000000080.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2011). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 443–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Gillett, R., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008a). The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 854–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Stewart, N., Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2008b). A socialcognitive model of trait and state levels of gratitude. Emotion, 8, 281–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., & Tarrier, N. (2010). Positive Clinical Psychology: A new vision and strategy for integrated research and practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 819–829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irshad Hussain.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Moreover, there was/is no conflict of interest among researchers or any individual or organization.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sultan, S., Kanwal, F. & Hussain, I. Moderating Effects of Personality Traits in Relationship Between Religious Practices and Mental Health of University Students. J Relig Health 59, 2458–2468 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00875-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00875-x

Keywords

Navigation