The Relationship Between Spirituality And Personality

Personality and spirituality are two common psychological fields. Psychologists are constantly watching closely and observing how these topics are related. Also how spirituality affects human behavior and the way people perceive the world. The relationship between personality and spirituality therefore becomes more relevant as time goes on.

Although the study of spirituality and religion is nothing new, a branch that falls under the name Psychology of Religion and Spirituality is only 20 years old.

Some of the goals are to shed light on the relationship between personality traits and spiritual faith. How they develop throughout the life cycle as well as the adaptive significance for some personality types. The main existing disadvantage, however, is to reach an agreement on what spirituality and religious tendencies are.

One of the most commonly used definitions is that spirituality is the innate motivation that drives and guides our behavior toward the construction of a broader personal meaning. In other words, the belief that there is something out there in the universe that is bigger than yourself. In that sense, some authors suggest that this may even be a personality factor.

Similarly, religion is a set of beliefs, values ​​and practices that are explicitly governed by a social or institutional tradition. This depends on education and culture. A person’s spirituality thus influences and modulates their religious tendencies.

Personality

Although there are different models that classify personality differently, the studies are generally based on the five-factor model for personality (FFM). According to this model , one can define a personality according to its degree in each of the following points:

• Neuroticism. This has to do with emotional instability and a tendency to experience negative emotions.

• Extroversion. The tendency to communicate and interact with others.
• Openness or experience. The tendency to show intellectual curiosity, imagination and aesthetic sensitivity.
• Kindness. Establishment of social ties, altruistic attitude and interest in others.
• Responsibility. The tendency to have clear purposes and goals as well as the ability to control impulses and do tasks in an organized way.

Spirituality and personality

As we mentioned above, spirituality consists of an innate motivation and a belief that something greater than ourselves determines our behavior.

In some studies, spirituality has been related to the five personality factors, such as extroversion, openness and kindness.

Other authors, however, claim that spirituality has nuances that do not include other people (simplicity, indifference, or loneliness). They therefore consider that spirituality should be the sixth personality factor.

Depending on the degree of spirituality present, a person will show certain behavioral tendencies and ways of perceiving the world around him.

Religion and personality

Religious tendencies provide examples of a person’s degree of spirituality. Given that spirituality is more like a personality factor, most studies associate different personality traits with religiosity.

In this way, there are indications that greater religious spirituality is related to a lower presence of neuroticism, although approximately 60% of the studies find no connection.

Similarly, 40% of studies indicate that more religious people show more responsibility. In other words, a greater presence of goals as well as the ability to achieve them in a planned and organized way.

87% of researchers noticed that people with a higher degree of religiosity are friendlier. In terms of openness or the ability to have greater imagination and curiosity, 42% of the studies found a positive relationship.

However, some authors believe that greater religious tendencies would be associated with narrow-mindedness if the effect of spirituality were outside the equation (that is, everyone has it to the same degree).

The relationship between personality and spirituality

One study analyzed the relationship between spirituality, religiosity and personality. In it, they found that all personality factors, except openness, are related to the degree of spirituality. This result was remarkable in terms of comfort and responsibility. However, a religious tendency was only associated with these two factors.

More specifically , they saw that religion had more to do with high neuroticism and openness when the approach to religion occurs in search of answers to existential questions. However, the sense of faith and spiritual meaning was low. Similarly, it is related to low extroversion, comfort and awareness.

The research also found that religion is more related to low neuroticism, comfort and openness when people approach religion in a more instrumental way, as it gives them security or a source of socialization.