A study of personality correlates of spirituality and religiosity

Abstract

In the present day world, the emphasis on virtues as a source of human strength has a profound implication within the positive psychology movement. It provides a potential bridge between personality psychology, spiritual and religious studies. The present study entitled A study of Personality Correlates of Spirituality and Religiosity is an attempt to understand the link between personality and spirituality; personality and religiosity and how spirituality is different from religiosity. As personality shapes and is shaped by compelling forces of culture and is both a cause and consequence of society, societal trends are important sources of information for understanding personality. Spirituality and religiosity are integral part of human culture and as such, have the potential to shape individual lives and personalities and in turn personality psychology is ideally suited to stimulate progress in understanding what is central to human functioning .Spiritual and religious goals; beliefs and practices are not only a distinctive component of a person, for many they are the core of personality. Therefore, the study of relationship between personality traits and spiritual and religious attitudes can bring new insights to the research on personality, spirituality and religiosity. The whole study is divided into six chapters. In chapter-I (introduction), variables incorporated in the study i,e. personality, spirituality and religiosity are described in an elaborate manner, including meaning, concept, nature and historical perspective. Chapter-I also includes the research objectives and questions, in the light of which results are discussed. Operational definitions and conceptual framework of the variables incorporated in the study are also given in chapter-I. In chapter-II, literature review regarding these variables is discussed. Chapter-III is concerned with methodology.