Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, and Social Dimensions of Religiousness across Cultures

• Published in: Journal of cross-cultural psychology Vol. 51; no. 7-8; pp. 551 - 575
• Main Authors: Saroglou, Vassilis, Clobert, Magali, Cohen, Adam B., Johnson, Kathryn A., Ladd, Kevin L., Van Pachterbeke, Matthieu, Adamovova, Lucia, Blogowska, Joanna, Brandt, Pierre-Yves, Çukur, Cem Safak, Hwang, Kwang-Kuo, Miglietta, Anna, Motti-Stefanidi, Frosso, Muñoz-García, Antonio, Murken, Sebastian, Roussiau, Nicolas, Tapia Valladares, Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2020; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Agreeableness; Attachment; Authoritarianism; Believing; Buddhism; Catholicism; Christianity; Cognition; Cognitive science; Conscientiousness; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural differences; Cultural heritage; Extraversion; Humanities and Social Sciences; Islam; Judaism; Life satisfaction; Morality; Openness; Personality; Protestantism; Psychology; Religion; Religiosity; Religious beliefs; Religious orthodoxy; Spirituality; Taoism; religious dimensions; Big Five personality traits; cross-cultural differences; life satisfaction; closed-mindedness; Religious Dimensions, Big Five Personality Traits, Cross-Cultural Differences, Life Satisfaction, Closed-Mindedness
• ISSN: 0022-0221; 1552-5422
• DOI: 10.1177/0022022120946488

Based on theorization on the four basic dimensions of religiousness, Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging, and corresponding cognitive, emotional, moral, and social motives and functions of religion, we developed a measure and investigated cross-cultural consistency of the four dimensions as well interindividual and cross-cultural variability. Data were collected from 14 countries varying in religious heritage: Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism/Taoism (N = 3,218). Beyond their high interrelation and common personality correlates, that is, agreeableness and conscientiousness, the four dimensions were distinct across cultures and religions, less interrelated in Eastern Asia compared to the West, differentially preferred across cultural zones, and characterized by distinct features. Believing and bonding, to which spirituality was primarily related, were preferred in Western secular societies. Behaving and belonging, valued in religious societies, were importantly related to fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and low openness. Bonding and behaving were primordial in, respectively, Israel and Turkey. Furthermore, belonging (marked by extraversion) and bonding were uniquely associated with increased life satisfaction, whereas believing was uniquely related to existential quest and decreased life satisfaction. Thus, the multidimensionality of religiousness seems deeply rooted in distinct psychological dispositions evident at both the individual and the cultural levels.