THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG SPIRITUALITY, RELIGIOUS IDEOLOGY, AND PERSONALITY

An initial pool of 145 undergraduates was administered the Spiritual O rientation Inventory (SOI), Dimensions of Religious Ideology Scale (DR IS), Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), and Minnesota Multiphasic P ersonality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). The SOI and DRIS examine the manner i n which individuals address issues of ultimate meaning and concern in their lives. The POI measures healthy personality characteristics asso ciated with self-actualization, while the MMPI-2 measures maladaptive personality characteristics associated with pathology. On the basis of SOI and DRIS scores five groups of subjects were formed: High Spiritu ality, High Religious Ideology, High Combined, Moderate Combined, and Low Combined. The High Spirituality Group was found to score significa ntly higher than the Low Combined Group for six scales of the POI. Sig nificant differences between groups were also found for the Type A sca le of the MMPI-2.