PERSONALITY EFFECTS IN PERSONAL AND PUBLIC ORIENTATIONS TOWARD RELIGION

The aim of this study was to consider comprehensively the relationship between a number of religious measures and Eysenckian and Freudian th eories of religiosity. The sample comprised 324 (145 males, 179 female s) adults from two U.S.A. Southern Baptist town communities. Subjects completed the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the 'Age Universal' I-E scale, the abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Per sonality Questionnaire, the Sandler-Hazari Obsessionality Inventory, a nd two additional questions concerning the frequency of two religious behaviours. A principal components analysis with oblique rotation of t he scales demonstrated that low psychoticism is fundamental to a perso nal orientation towards religion, whilst obsessionality underpins a pu blic orientation towards religion. This distinction between types of r eligiosity demonstrates empirical evidence for both Eysenckian theory and Freudian theory. Suggestions are made for future research.