Personality Differences between High and Low Dogmatism Groups of Pentecostal Believers

Abstract

FUNDAMENTALIST believers in general, and especially Pentecostal believers, are frequently stereotyped as being rigid, dogmatic, anxious, prejudiced, rejecting of themselves and others, etc. Such overgeneralized descriptions are often the results of inappropriate comparisons between different denominational groups which fail to take into account (1) that there are numerous factors (e.g., socioeconomic status and educational level) that influence denominational affiliation and are also related to personality, but may be only tangentially related to religious beliefs, such as fundamentalism, and (2) that there is a distinction between the content of religious beliefs and the manner in which such beliefs are held (Adorno, et al, 1950, p. 218). The present study sought to correct both of the above flaws by comparing the personality patterns of people who vary only in the manner in which they hold their religious beliefs, and are homogeneous on content of belief and on educational and socio-economic levels. It is the general hypothesis of this study that within a highly homogeneous group of Pentecostals (known to hold the same fundamental religious beliefs) those who are identified as holding their beliefs