Descriptions of religious experience using trait and affect adjectives.
Psychological Reports February 1, 2000 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.2000.86.1.308 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDuring religious experiences, adults rate themselves as feeling positive affect (enthusiastic, at ease), low neuroticism (calm, relaxed), and high agreeableness (soft-hearted, sympathetic), conscientiousness (conscientious, reliable), and extraversion (sociable, talkative). Openness to experience did not discriminate religious experiences, supporting Block's (1995) criticism of the five-factor model of personality.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 66 |
| Population | Adults |
| Key finding | Adjectives representing positive affect, low neuroticism, high agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion were rated as descriptive of religious experiences, while openness did not discriminate them. |
Abstract
66 adults rated the relevance of adjectives representing dimensions of affect and personality for describing how they felt during religious experiences. Adjectives, representing positive affect (enthusiastic, at ease), low neuroticism (calm, relaxed), and high agreeableness (soft-hearted, sympathetic), conscientiousness (conscientious, reliable), and extraversion (sociable, talkative), were rated to be descriptive of religious experiences. The failure of openness to discriminate religious experiences is consistent with Block's criticism (1995) of the five-factor model of personality.