Most scientists agree that religiosity (also called religiousness) is not an independent personality trait, despite there being some commonality between their characteristics.
[2] Examining religiosity as it relates to personality characteristics could provide an empirical way to study a difficult concept.
Over time, the act of being religious has been a consistent behavior across almost every culture, which could suggest that personality is related to religiosity.
With the use of modern, empirically tested personality measures, researchers can look for links and obtain quantitative results to provide insight into how and why religion is such an important element of being human.
[2] It appears that, rather than by personality, religiosity is better explained by environment and upbringing, such that people are likely to maintain the beliefs of the household they grew up in.
[5] In having the ability to separate each essential trait from the other, it is possible to study each personality characteristic and how it relates to religiosity.
There has been research to both support and refute the ability of personality traits to explain religious or spiritual involvement.
[7] A review of studies examined the relations between the FFM and measures of religiosity, spiritual maturity, religious fundamentalism, and extrinsic religion.
[8] Additionally, there was a weak positive correlation with Extraversion, and a very small but significant relationship with low Openness to Experience.
[7] This same study also found that the two different concepts of religiosity and spirituality both involve an overall compassionate attitude towards others and positively correlates with Agreeableness.
[8][10] As previously stated, one of the major strengths for using the FFM to study religiosity in people is that it is empirically tested and considered a reliable and valid measure.
[11] Another strength is that the Big Five is laid out simply, making it easier to use for examining potential links between personality and religiosity.
While this is a huge strength, some research argues that its downfall lies in that it is solely a personality indicator, and is not compatible with religious or spiritual matters.
Each trait allows for its own characteristics, such as: openness to experience reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has; conscientiousness is the tendency to be organized and dependable; extraversion is when one shows positive emotions, assertiveness, sociability; agreeableness is when one is considered to be compassionate and cooperative; lastly, neuroticism is when one experiences unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, and vulnerability.
Attachment Theory is another example of a personality indicator with the ability to help researchers understand religiosity and spirituality.
[26] One theory, the correspondence pathway theory, suggests that individual differences in attachment style lead to differences in religious beliefs, such that an individual with an insecure attachment could be led to either agnosticism and atheism or they could develop an emotional, dependent relationship with God.
Additionally, more research is needed to determine any links between attachment theory, religiosity, and personality.
In this theory, it is hypothesized that the person ends up creating an idea of God according to what the individual needs, and how he or she perceives the world.
Studies on the Big Five, as well as factors such as entitlement, self-esteem, and self-compassion suggest that there is a significant relationship between religious uncertainty and personality.
Even when controlling for the Big Five, there is evidence to suggest that entitlement, self-esteem, and self-compassion might be able to predict religious struggles.
A reason for divine struggles of entitled people is possibly due to their tendency to feel victimized and angry, thus they may not have a positive relationship with God.
[31] Research done by Salsman, Brown, Brechting, and Carlson showed a positive correlation between religion and life satisfaction of about 0.2 to 0.3.
Individual prayer, a feeling of intimacy with the divine, and meditation were all linked to greater psychological well-being and life satisfaction.
Since a religious community can offer psychological, social, or financial support, it may help buffer stress or help individuals recover from hardship.
When used in studies alongside religion, it has been shown that NT types, mostly INTP and ENTP, are more likely to be atheist.
Other research conducted by Thalbourne, Dunbar, and Delin, found Conscientiousness and Neuroticism may be a predictor of paranormal beliefs.