Eysenck personality scales and religiosity in a US outpatient sample

Previous studies have found a relationship between higher intrinsic religiosity and lower Eysenck psychoticism scores in adult populations. The present study examined the relationship between religiosity and Eysenck subscales in a psychiatric outpatient sample when age and sex were controlled. Although there was a negative zero-order correlation between psychoticism and intrinsic religion, only age, extraversion, and lie were associated with intrinsic religion when sex, age, and personality subscales were entered simultaneously in a regression analysis. Frequency of prayer was positively associated with extraversion for men only. Findings suggest that a third variable such as age may be responsible for both the decrease in psychoticism and concomitant increase in intrinsic religiosity. In addition, depression or demoralization may explain the relationship between extraversion and religiosity found in the current sample. Results highlight the need to account for background and other status variables when examining relationships between personality and religiosity.