"What a Friend...": Loneliness as a Motivator of Intrinsic Religion

• Published in: Journal for the scientific study of religion Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 326 - 334
• Main Authors: Burris, Christopher T., Batson, C. Daniel, Altstaedten, Martin, Stephens, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 01.12.1994; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: History and sciences of religions; Loneliness; Motivation; Pretreatment; Psychology; Psychology of religion; Psychometrics; Questionnaires; Religion; Religious Beliefs; Religious psychology; Saliency; Social isolation; Social research; Studies in religion; Vulnerability; Writing assignments; Writing exercises; Religious commitment; Student; Solitude; Theory; Religious psychology
• ISSN: 0021-8294; 1468-5906
• DOI: 10.2307/1386492

Freud (1927, 1930) claimed that devout, intrinsic religion buffers the threat of social isolation, rejection, and loneliness. We reasoned that if Freud was right, then reminding people of their vulnerability to loneliness should lead to increases in self-reported levels of intrinsic religion. To test this prediction, 72 undergraduates at least moderately interested in religion first completed three scales tapping different dimensions of personal religion: Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Quest. About a week later, each subject performed a writing task that either did or did not make vulnerability to loneliness salient, and then completed the three religious orientation scales again. Supporting Freud's claim, high-loneliness-salience subjects reported higher scores on the Intrinsic scale on the second administration, whereas low-salience subjects did not. This effect was specific to the Intrinsic scale; there was no effect of loneliness-salience on either the Extrinsic or Quest scales.