Inclusion Of Transcendence Research Articles

An Analytic Cognitive Style Negatively Predicts a More Literal but Not a More Symbolic Religiosity Type

ABSTRACT The idea that a more analytic cognitive style is associated with lower religiosity is a theoretical prediction that has been challenged by some empirical findings. We conducted three studies with Argentine participants (N = 719) to clarify this issue. In Study 1, we replicated the negative correlation between analytic cognitive style, measured with the Cognitive Reflection Test, and Belief in Supernatural Agents, Intrinsic, and Intuitive Religiosity. In Studies 2 and 3, participants responded to the Post-Critical Beliefs Scale which measures both the presence of a transcendent dimension in beliefs and the extent to which literal-vs.-symbolic beliefs are endorsed, and we also tested for individual differences in Need for Cognitive Closure. Results showed that a more analytic cognitive style negatively predicted both inclusion of transcendence and a literal interpretation of religious ideas. Moreoever, an analytic cognitive style was negatively associated with a literal but not with a symbolic inclusion of transcendence in beliefs. In turn, higher scores of closed-mindedness were positively associated with a more literal interpretation of religion. We conclude that present data support the hypothesis that religiosity may be negatively associated with an analytic cognitive style, but individuals who experience religion more symbolically do not accommodate to that pattern.

The Differing Effects of Symbolic Interpretation and Inclusion of Transcendence on Life Goals and Mental Health in Hungarian Adults

This study aimed to investigate the influence of religious attitudes, namely Inclusion of Trancendence and Symbolic Interpretation on life goals and different aspects of mental health.Participants (N = 604) filled in an online questionnaire including the Post-Critical Belief Scale (Martos et al., 2009), the short version of Aspiration Index (Martos et al., 2006), and the Mental Health Test (MHT; see Oláh et al., 2018).We investigated the relationship between religious attitudes, life goals, and the subscales of mental health using path analyses. The Symbolic Interpretation of religious content predicts support for intrinsically motivated life goals, while the Inclusion of Transcendence predicts the refusal of extrinsic aspirations. Positive effects were revealed between the Inclusion of Transcendence and global well-being, strategies aim at creating and enchancing happiness, and resilience. Symbolic Interpretation was positively related to creative, executing individual and social efficiency, while negatively influenced resilience.The Inclusion of Transcendence and Symbolic Interpretation separately predict different aspects of life goals and mental health, and jointly support a higher quality of life.

Cognitive rigidity explains the relationship between religious fundamentalism and insanity defence attitudes

ABSTRACTReligious fundamentalism is related to both prejudice and punitiveness. Wulff's theory of religion suggests that fundamentalism is associated with beliefs in the inclusion of transcendence and literal interpretation of religious beliefs and experiences. The current research examines the relationship between fundamentalism and punitive insanity defence attitudes with the goal of specifically identifying which dimension of Wulff’s theory better explains the relationship. Results suggest that fundamentalism predicts punitive attitudes toward the insanity defence and that this is primarily explained by a less symbolic (or more literal) interpretation of religious beliefs and experiences. This association likely captures the literal interpretation of religious teachings on mental illness and skepticism of insanity. Implications are discussed.

It’s not only what you hold, it’s how you hold it: Dimensions of religiosity and meaning in life

Previous research has linked meaning in life and religiosity, usually relying on simplistic unidimensional models. The present study revisited these relations, viewing both religiosity and meaning as multidimensional constructs. Dimensions of religiosity (Inclusion of Transcendence and Symbolic Interpretation) were assessed in two adult Hungarian samples ( Ns 330, 437) and associations were assessed with presence of meaning (Studies 1 and 2) and search for meaning (Study 2), controlling for personality traits (Study 2). Inclusion of Transcendence was positively related to presence of meaning, and Symbolic Interpretation was positively related to search for meaning. Differing patterns of relations across explicit and implicit measures of presence of meaning suggested potentially important distinctions between whether people believe and how they believe. Together, results show that life appears more meaningful when religiosity is complex and open.

The Interplay Between Post-Critical Beliefs and Anxiety: An Exploratory Study in a Polish Sample

The present research investigates the relationship between anxiety and the religiosity dimensions that Wulff (Psychology of religion: classic and contemporary views, Wiley, New York, 1991; Psychology of religion. Classic and contemporary views, Wiley, New York, 1997; Psychologia religii. Klasyczna i współczesna, Wydawnictwo Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa, 1999) described as Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. The researchers used the Post-Critical Belief scale (Hutsebaut in J Empir Theol 9(2):48–66, 1996; J Empir Theol 10(1):39–54, 1997) to measure Wulff’s religiosity dimensions and the IPAT scale (Krug et al. 1967) to measure anxiety. Results from an adult sample (N = 83) suggest that three dimensions show significant relations with anxiety. Orthodoxy correlated negatively with suspiciousness (L) and positively with guilt proneness (O) factor—in the whole sample. Among women, Historical Relativism negatively correlated with suspiciousness (L), lack of integration (Q3), general anxiety and covert anxiety. Among men, Historical Relativism positively correlated with tension (Q4) and emotional instability (C), general anxiety, covert anxiety and overt anxiety. External Critique was correlated with suspiciousness (L) by men.

Believing literally versus symbolically: values and personality correlates among Spanish students

Values and personality correlates of general religiousness may be specific and even different when one distinguishes between Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal versus Symbolic thinking on religious issues. In the present study, 133 Spanish students were administered the Schwartz Value Survey, the NEO‐PI‐R and the Post‐Critical Belief scale. Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence reflected the conflict between openness to change (and hedonism) and conservation values; it was positively related to agreeableness and conscientiousness, and negatively to universalism and openness to experience. Literal versus Symbolic thinking reflected the conflict between self‐enhancement and self‐transcendence values, and was associated with high openness to experience. Results partially replicated previous studies in Belgium, with some differences that were rather in line with previous meta‐analyses. The discussion also points out cultural and contextual specifics.

Domain and facet personality correlates of religiosity among Iranian college students

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of religion, defined in terms of Islamic Shiite creeds/rituals, Islamic Shiite morals, inclusion of transcendence, and symbolic processing, to the five-factor model of personality at the domain and facet levels as measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory using a religiously homogeneous sample of 359 Iranian college students. Results indicated that all five Revised NEO Personality Inventory domains are significantly related to religion as measured across all four operationalizations of the construct used, though some sex differences were observed. Our findings support but also elaborate previous findings regarding the relation of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness to religion by demonstrating that facets of these domains are selectively associated with some indices of religion but not others. Angry Hostility was a negative predictor of Islamic morals. Warmth predicted Islamic creeds/rituals and Inclusion of Transcendence. Ideas was a positive predictor of symbolic processing and Islamic morals. Fantasy was a positive predictor of symbolic processing but a negative predictor of Islamic creeds/rituals and Inclusion of Transcendence. The present findings are in agreement with the necessity of considering multidimensional measures of religiosity and providing evidence in support of the construct validity of the Post Criticical Belief Scale and the Islamic Religious Orientation Scale. Implications of the present findings are discussed in relation to the differential and in some cases substantial association of religion indices with personality. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also overviewed.

Personality, identity styles, and religiosity: An integrative study among late and middle adolescents

Past research has shown that the way people deal with religion is related to prejudice. Therefore, it is important to study the determinants of individual differences in adolescent religious attitudes. In the present study, it is proposed that both differences in personality and identity formation might determine these religious attitudes. Recently, Duriez, Soenens, and Beyers (2004, Journal of Personality, 72, 877–910) tested an integrative model of the Five Factor Model of personality, Berzonsky's (1990, Advances in Personal Construct Psychology, 1, 155–186) identity styles and the religiosity dimensions of Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. In this model, it is assumed that the relationships between adolescent personality and adolescent religious attitudes are mediated by the identity styles. The aim was to replicate this model among late adolescents (Sample 1; N = 332 ) and to test whether it extends to middle adolescence (Sample 2; N = 323 ). Whereas most personality factors were weakly and inconsistently related to the religiosity dimensions, Openness to Experience was consistently positively related to Literal vs. Symbolic and negatively to Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence. Whereas the former relation was mediated by the informational identity style, the latter relation was mediated by the normative identity style in Sample 1 only.

Personality, identity styles, and religiosity: an integrative study among late adolescents in Flanders (Belgium).

The relationship between the two main dimensions of the religiosity domain (Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic) and both the Five-Factor Model of personality and Berzonsky's (1990) identity styles was investigated in a Flemish sample of late adolescents (N = 335). The results show that, whereas Exclusion vs. Inclusion is unrelated to any of the personality dimensions, Literal vs. Symbolic was strongly related to Openness to Experience and moderately to Agreeableness. Further, it was shown that Exclusion vs. Inclusion was positively related to the normative identity style, and that Literal vs. Symbolic correlated positively with the informational identity style and negatively with the diffuse/avoidant identity style. As expected, the relation between Openness to Experience and Literal vs. Symbolic was fully mediated by the informational identity style. Once Openness to Experience was taken into account, Agreeableness was no longer an important determinant of Literal vs. Symbolic.

Introducing the shortened Post-Critical Belief Scale

Recently, Fontaine et al. (2003) have shown that the Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS) captures the two orthogonal dimensions of the religiosity domain, namely Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. The major drawback of the PCBS, however, is that it is a fairly lengthy questionnaire (33 items) with some rather lengthy and complex questions. In this article, a shortened version with 18 short items is presented. In three different samples (adolescents, students and adults) (Total N = 1003), the dimensions that can be distilled from this version are shown to be equivalent to the dimensions that can be distilled from the original version ( r’s > .90). In addition, it is shown that the components of the shortened and the original PCBS yield highly similar relations with external variables.

Religiosity and conservatism revisited: relating a new religiosity measure to the two main conservative political ideologies.

The relation between the two religiosity dimensions which Wulff (1997) described (Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs Symbolic) and two conservative political ideologies (Cultural and Economic Conservatism) was investigated in a sample of 714 students, a heterogeneous sample of 262 adults, and a sample of 301 religiously affiliated adults gathered in Flanders (Belgium). Both Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs Symbolic were expected to relate only to Cultural Conservatism. Analysis supported these hypotheses, providing further evidence for the close association between religiosity and Cultural Conservatism and the validity of the Post-Critical Belief scale as a measure of Wulff's dimensions of religiosity.

The German Post-Critical Belief Scale: Internal and External Validity

Abstract: Recently, Duriez, Fontaine and Hutsebaut (2000) and Fontaine, Duriez, Luyten and Hutsebaut (2003) constructed the Post-Critical Belief Scale in order to measure the two religiosity dimensions along which Wulff (1991 , 1997 ) summarized the various possible approaches to religion: Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. In the present article, the German version of this scale is presented. Results obtained in a heterogeneous German sample (N = 216) suggest that the internal structure of the German version fits the internal structure of the original Dutch version. Moreover, the observed relation between the Literal vs. Symbolic dimension and racism, which was in line with previous studies ( Duriez, in press ), supports the external validity of the German version.

The internal structure of the Post-Critical Belief scale

According to Wulff (1991, 1997) the various approaches to religion can be located in a two-dimensional space along the bipolar dimensions Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. Drawing on Wulff, Hutsebaut and his colleagues (1996, 1997, 2000) developed the Post-Critical Belief scale to measure interindividual differences in these dimensions. In this article, results from multidimensional scaling and principal component analyses in 16 samples (N=4648) gathered in Flanders (Belgium) are presented which support the interpretation of the relationships between the Post-Critical Belief scale items in terms of Wulff's dimensions.

Approaches To Religion and the Moods and Emotions Associa Ted With Religion

In the epilogue of his influential book, Wulff (1991; 1997) identified four approaches to religion, which can be located in a two-dimensional space along the dimensions inclusion of transcendence versus exclusion of transcendence and literal versus symbolic. The present study explores how the moods and emotions people associate with religion are related to the way in which they approach religion. Results suggest that inclusion of transcendence is related to associating religion with positive moods and emotions, whereas approaching religion in a literal way is related to association with negative moods and emotions.