 33. Personality and Religion  715
Personality and Religion: Empirical Points 
of Contact
Religion, Spirituality, and  Well‑Being
Positive Effects of  Religion and  Spirituality
The growth in empirical research on re -
ligious and spiritual topics has been influ -
enced by many factors, not the least of which 
is the growing body of scientific findings 
that religious and spiritual variables impact 
human health and subjective well-being. Re -
ligious practices and experiences have mea -
surable effects on important psychosocial 
and health outcomes, and these effects seem 
to be independent of at least some plausible 
alternative mediators (e.g., social support, 
age, and health status; Masters & Hooker, 
2013). For example, religious practices, in -
cluding participation in religious activities 
such as prayer and attending services, have 
been linked to better coping with stress, 
prevention of and recovery from illness, and 
even longevity. An impressive research liter -
ature, though not uncontroversial, has doc -
umented that religious practices are associ -
ated with morbidity and mortality across the 
lifespan (McCullough, Hoyt, Larson, Koe -
nig, & Thoresen, 2000; Oman, 2018; Pow -
ell, Shahabi, & Thoresen, 2003). Protective 
effects of religion on mortality are primarily 
found in studies of initially healthy rather 
than diseased populations (Chida, Steptoe, 
& Powell, 2009). Proximal mechanisms for 
these links are being explored, as many reli -
gious rituals, ceremonies, and practices are 
biologically significant events.
A series of early studies controlling for 
personality with FFM personality measures 
tested the relationship between spirituality 
and most facets of subjective well-being. 
Considerable evidence now exists that the 
FFM accounts for considerable variance re -
lated to psychosocial outcomes but does not 
eliminate religiosity’s predictive ability. Con -
trolling for age, gender, marital status, and 
personality with Methodist ministers, spiri -
tuality predicted less psychological exhaus -
tion and more cognitive well-being (Golden, 
Piedmont, Ciarrocchi, & Rodgerson, 2004). 
In a sample of Maltese undergraduates, 
spiritual transcendence predicted both posi -
tive affect and cognitive well-being over and 
above personality but did not predict nega -tive affect (Galea, 2008). A similar pattern 
emerged in a sample of male sex offenders, 
with faith maturity predicting positive affect 
and cognitive well-being but not negative af -
fect (Geary, Ciarrocchi, & Scheers, 2004). 
Faith maturity predicted cognitive well-
being over personality but was unrelated 
to negative emotionality in female patients 
with breast cancer (Ciarrocchi & Deneke, 
2005); spirituality made a unique contribu -
tion in predicting subjective well-being by 
virtue of its relation to positive emotional -
ity and life satisfaction. Finally, relationship 
with the deity, religious denomination, and 
spiritual commitment predicted hope and 
optimism after researchers controlled for 
personality traits (Ciarrocchi, Dy-  Liacco, & 
Deneke, 2008).
These results are notable in that, despite 
using a variety of instruments to measure 
both personality and well-being, the pat -
tern of the outcomes is similar in most of 
the studies. Spirituality predicts the posi -
tive aspects of subjective well-being but fails 
to predict negative emotionality. Overall 
these results render plausible Fredrickson’s 
(2002) theory that religion’s major influence 
on well-being may be its ability to enhance 
positive emotions. She hypothesized that 
positive emotion mediates the beneficial ef -
fects of religion through the “most reliable 
path” (p. 211) of meaning. In other words, 
religion provides meaning that creates posi -
tive emotions, leading to the development of 
personal capacities that promote health and 
well-being.
Negative Effects of  Religion and  Spirituality
Although a great many studies have estab -
lished positive relations among religion, 
spirituality, health, and well-being, there 
are also instances in which religion and 
spirituality lead to negative outcomes. A siz -
able corpus of research has documented the 
deleterious effects of religious and spiritual 
struggles, as well as negative religious cop -
ing.
Religious and spiritual struggles refer to 
elements of a person’s religious or spiritual 
life (including beliefs, practices, relation -
ships, or experiences) that cause or perpetu -
ate distress, primarily in the forms of nega -
tive emotions or internal conflict (Exline, 