Religion, Self-Regulation, and Self-Control: Associations, Explanations, and Implications

Many of the links of religiousness with health, well-being, and social behavior may be due to religion's influences on self-control or self-regulation. Using Carver and Scheier's (1998) theory of self-regulation as a framework for organizing the empirical research, the authors review evide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological bulletin Vol. 135; no. 1; pp. 69 - 93
Main Authors McCullough, Michael E, Willoughby, Brian L. B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Psychological Association 01.01.2009
Subjects
Character
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Culture
Goal Orientation
Goals
Guidelines
Health
Humans
Individuality
Internal-External Control
Meditation
Metacognition
Moral Development
Motivation
Personality Inventory
Quality of Life - psychology
Religion
Religion and Psychology
Religious Factors
Self Concept
Self Control
Self Management
Social Behavior
Socialization
Spirituality
Theories
Well Being
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Summary:Many of the links of religiousness with health, well-being, and social behavior may be due to religion's influences on self-control or self-regulation. Using Carver and Scheier's (1998) theory of self-regulation as a framework for organizing the empirical research, the authors review evidence relevant to 6 propositions: (a) that religion can promote self-control; (b) that religion influences how goals are selected, pursued, and organized; (c) that religion facilitates self-monitoring; (d) that religion fosters the development of self-regulatory strength; (e) that religion prescribes and fosters proficiency in a suite of self-regulatory behaviors; and (f) that some of religion's influences on health, well-being, and social behavior may result from religion's influences on self-control and self-regulation. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research.
ISSN:0033-2909
DOI:10.1037/a0014213