Abstract
Background: In general, religious/spiritual dimensions are found to be negatively correlated with all kinds of psychiatric disorders such as depression, suicidal ideation and substance abuse. Contrary to these findings, the goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between dimensions of religious/spiritual well-being (RSWB) and less favorable aspects of personality - the so-called ‘dark triad' of personality traits, i.e. narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy - together with general deficits in personality structure. Sampling and Methods: A total of 312 college students (220 females) completed the Multidimensional Inventory for RSWB, the revised Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Machiavellianism Inventory and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale along with the 16-item Inventory of Personality Organization. Results: RSWB was confirmed to be negatively correlated with these negative aspects of personality, in particular with subclinical psychopathy. More specifically, there were several notable overlaps; narcissism, for instance, was found to be significantly positively associated with some RSWB subdimensions such as ‘hope' or ‘connectedness'. Conclusions: First deductions can be made from these data concerning an ambivalent role of spirituality in impaired personality structure. These associations might be further investigated especially in psychiatric patients diagnosed with personality disorders in order to describe potential psychopathological facets of religion and spirituality more adequately.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.