Abstract
Religiosity is related to a variety of positive outcomes and the nature of this relationship has long been a topic of inquiry. Recently, it was proposed that an important piece of this puzzle may be the propensity for religious beliefs to promote self-control, a trait that is linked to a range of benefits. How religion translates into self-control, however, remains unclear. We examined the extent to which religiosity's relationship with self-control is mediated by self-monitoring, perceived monitoring by God, and perceived monitoring by other people. Results revealed that more religious people tended to monitor their standing regarding their goals (self-monitoring) to a greater degree, which in turn related to more self-control. Also, religious people tended to believe that a higher power was watching them, which related to greater self-monitoring, which in turn was related to more self-control.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 691-697 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Social Psychological and Personality Science |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: John Templeton Foundation, grant #14845.
Keywords
- religion
- self-control
- self-focus
- self-monitoring
- self-regulation