god image and five-factor model personality characteristics in later life: a study among inhabitants...
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God image and Five-Factor Modelpersonality characteristics in laterlife: A study among inhabitants ofSassenheim in The NetherlandsA.W. Braam a , B. Mooi b , J. Schaap Jonker c , W. van Tilburg a &D.J.H. Deeg aa Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO) andDepartment of Psychiatry , Vrije Universiteit , VU Medical Center,Amsterdam, The Netherlandsb Department of Old Age Psychiatry , Meerkanten GGZ Flevo-Veluwe, Ermelo, The Netherlandsc Department of Practical Theology , Protestant TheologicalUniversity , Kampen, The NetherlandsPublished online: 23 Jul 2008.
To cite this article: A.W. Braam , B. Mooi , J. Schaap Jonker , W. van Tilburg & D.J.H. Deeg(2008) God image and Five-Factor Model personality characteristics in later life: A study amonginhabitants of Sassenheim in The Netherlands, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 11:6, 547-559,DOI: 10.1080/13674670701641886
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670701641886
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Mental Health, Religion & CultureVol. 11, No. 6, September 2008, 547–559
God image and Five-Factor Model personality characteristics in later
life: A study among inhabitants of Sassenheim in The Netherlands
A.W. Braama*, B. Mooib, J. Schaap Jonkerc, W. van Tilburga and D.J.H. Deega
aInstitute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO) and Department of Psychiatry,Vrije Universiteit, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; bDepartment of OldAge Psychiatry, Meerkanten GGZ Flevo-Veluwe, Ermelo, The Netherlands; cDepartment of
Practical Theology, Protestant Theological University, Kampen, The Netherlands
(Received 21 June 2007; final version received 21 August 2007)
Affective or emotional aspects of religiousness are considered to be crucial in theassociation between religiousness and well-being, especially in later life. Suchaffective aspects can be understood as pertaining to the God–object relationship,corresponding to feelings of trust towards God or to religious discontent.Personality characteristics, such as those defined by the Five-Factor Modelof Personality, are expected to correspond with God image. A small sampleof older mainline church members in Sassenheim, The Netherlands (n¼ 53),aged 68–93, filled out a questionnaire, including 120 items of the NEO-PI-R,the Questionnaire God Image, frequency of prayer, church attendance, anddepressive symptoms. Neuroticism was associated with feelings of anxietytowards God as well as discontent towards God. Agreeableness was associatedwith perceiving God as supportive and with prayer. These findings persisted afteradjustment for depressive symptoms. For the other three personality factors,no clear patterns emerged. Results were compared with those from studies ofGod image and the Five-Factor Model of personality among younger people.
Keywords: God image; Five-Factor Model; personality; ageing; religion;depression
Introduction
There is a rapidly growing body of literature on religiousness as a resource of well-beingand coping in later life (Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001; Pargament, 1997). Ingeneral, global measures of religiousness, such as frequency of church attendance, showpositive associations with well-being, also in longitudinal studies (Braam et al., 2004; Levin& Taylor, 1998). The strength, however, of these associations remains modest. When amore precise conceptualization and measurement of the aspects of religiousness isemployed, more substantial findings may emerge, and further understanding as to howreligiousness relates to well-being and other aspects of psychological functioning maycome within reach.
There has been some consensus about the multidimensionality of religiousness fordecades (e.g., Glock, 1962): within the behavioural, cognitive, affective, and motivationaldimensions, many varieties can be distinguished. With respect to the relationship between
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
ISSN 1367–4676 print/ISSN 1469–9737 online
� 2008 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13674670701641886
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religiousness and well-being, one may assume that the affective dimension of religiousnessis of crucial importance. This affective dimension, however, did not receive much attentionin empirical studies until recently. Glock conceptualized the affective dimension as‘‘religious experience’’. Although not intended as such by Glock, the term ‘‘experience’’bears the connotation of relatively eccentric, or at least very private emotions, such asthose related to conversion, mysticism, or exaltation. These types of sudden emotions mayarise less in daily life, and presumably will not apply to all religious believers. This leavesthe question as to how basic religious feelings in common life can be conceptualized.
From a psychodynamic perspective, the affective domain of religiousness also includesthe object-relational aspects of the God Image, as has been elaborated by Ana-MariaRizzuto (1979). Object relations are ongoing, internalized representations of relationshipswith significant others, especially with regard to the emotional functions of therelationships. Rizzuto elaborated on psychoanalytical ideas on the mental representationof the relationship with God. On the one hand, this special type of object relation bearssome resemblance to one’s relationships with early attachment figures. On the other hand,the God object relation also relates to cultural traditions (Van der Lans, 2001). The Godobject relation, often denoted as God image, may nurture a sense of basic trust, but couldalso be experienced as arousing a sense of awe, anxiety, discontent, or anger.
In several recent empirical studies, emotional aspects of the relationship with Godunfold in either a positive or negative image of God. Although this dichotomy can beregarded as a simplification (Kunkel, Cook, Meshel, Daughtry, & Hauenstein, 1999), theevidence so far can be qualified as strong. Some studies have shown that a positive imageof God, as supportive, benevolent, or loving, was associated with higher levels of well-being or lower levels of depressive symptoms, in samples varying between students andpsychiatric-in and outpatients (Chukwu & Rauchfleisch, 2002; Eurelings-Bontekoe,Hekman-Van Steeg, & Verschuur, 2005; Levin, 2002; Tisdale et al., 1997). Some of thestudies also included measures on a negative image of God, as punishing or controlling.This type of image was correlated with higher levels of depressive symptoms or distress(Braam et al., 2008; Eurelings-Bontekoe et al., 2005; Schaap-Jonker, Eurelings-Bontekoe,Verhagen, & Zock, 2002).
Another way of measuring aspects of the relationship with God has been incorporatedin the empirical approach to religious coping (Pargament et al., 2000). Religious copingrepresents a domain of research in itself. Nevertheless, in the measurement of religiouscoping, positive and negative types of religious coping are distinguished, based on a rangeof expectations about God and feelings towards God. The negative religious coping itemsare referred to in the literature as ‘‘religious discontent’’, a term underlining its affectivecomponent. Negative religious coping has been reported to be associated with higher levelsof depressive symptoms (Bosworth et al., 2003; Fitchett et al., 1999, 2004; Hills et al., 2005;Koenig, Pargament, & Nielsen, 1998; Pargament et al., 2004). Two of these studies(Bosworth et al., 2003; Koenig et al., 1998) also revealed a significant association betweenpositive religious coping and lower levels of depressive symptoms.
Whereas a pattern emerges in the literature that God image closely relates to higher orlower levels of depressive symptoms, for example, the question arises as to how thisassociation should be understood. Returning to object-relations theory, the God objectrelation includes an internalized representation of God, a representation of the self, and anaffect linking the two. When the God object relation is more or less stable over time, theassociation between God representation and self representation may persist, representingan ongoing abridging affect, irrespective of temporary mood states. One may assume thatrepresentations of the self are reflected by personality characteristics. Indeed, several
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authors provide evidence suggesting that the God image is closely connected withpersonality characteristics (Eurelings-Bontekoe et al., 2005; Schaap-Jonker et al., 2002).Eurelings-Bontekoe and colleagues described how a negative image of God was associatedwith temperament and character aspects, as well as an insecure attachment style, allcontributing to the vulnerability to distress and psychopathology. The opposite was foundfor a positive image of God.
In the current study, a similar approach to personality has been pursued, following theFive-Factor Model of Personality (FFM) as elaborated on by McCrae and Costa (2003).The FFM is considered to be an effective framework for identifying and structuringpersonality traits that are organized along the following dimensions: Neuroticism refersto emotional stability versus emotional instability; Extraversion refers to assertivenessversus submissiveness, the quantity and intensity of interpersonal interaction, activity,need for stimulation, and capacity of joy; Openness to Experience refers to anunconventional versus a moralistic attitude; Agreeableness refers to one’s interpersonalorientation along a continuum from compassion to antagonism; and Conscientiousnessrefers to the organized versus self-indulgent behaviour. The FFM has been employed inmany studies and therefore has the advantage of an extensive empirical basis.
With respect to the image of God, positive and negative aspects of this relationship canbe expected to relate in different ways to the FFM characteristics. In a meta-analyticalreview of several empirical studies among younger adults (mainly student samples),Saroglou (2002) described some consistent associations between general measures ofreligiousness and the FFM characteristics. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness especiallyand, to a lesser extent, Extraversion were positively associated with religiousness. It mightbe hypothesized therefore that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion willrelate positively to a positive God image in old age. Although critical or negative aspects ofreligiousness were not represented in the meta-analysis of Saroglou, the trait of Neuroticismis possibly the most evident factor to be related to a negative image of God.
The aim of the present study is to explore the associations between the FFMcharacteristics and several aspects of the image of God in a small population sample ofolder adults in the Netherlands. Studying the older population in the Netherlands enablesus to study personality and the image of God in a phase that both have been consolidated inthe course of life. Moreover, the socialization of older adults in the Netherlands took placein a period when religion was still a significant, even dominating, aspect of society.Therefore, in this generation, the image of God is likely to have been shaped along clearpatterns, whereas in the younger, mostly secularized generation, the image of God isprobably far less stereotypical. Neuroticism is an important determinant of depressivemood, and depressive mood may also be associated with the perception of God, such asfeeling abandoned by God. Mood status, however, is likely to represent a temporary state,whereas personality traits are assumed to be relatively stable. Therefore, the study accountsfor effects by current mood status, as well as other possibly confounding factors.
Method
Sample
The current study is based on a follow-up assessment, 13 years after the baseline interview,among older inhabitants of Sassenheim, a small town in the West of The Netherlands(Beekman, Deeg, Smit, & van Tilburg, 1995). The original sample, aged 55–89, was drawnfrom the community-registers in 1991. The study was designed as a pilot study for the
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Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, an ongoing interdisciplinary study on predictorsand consequences of changes in autonomy and well-being in the aging population.To obtain the baseline sample of 359 respondents, 550 older adults were approachedbetween November 1991 and April 1992 (response rate 65.3%).
In 2004, the municipality register of Sassenheim provided an update of addressesand vital status of the original 359 respondents. For the purpose of the present study,174 surviving respondents were sent a mail questionnaire in the fall of 2004. Meanwhile,another 11 persons had died, leaving a sample size of 163 subjects approached. Of these,69 (42.3%) returned the questionnaire. Fifty-nine (36.2%) respondents refused toparticipate; 20 subjects (12.2%) were ineligible due to frailty or cognitive problems, and15 (9.2%) could not be contacted. Two respondents made use of the offer to obtainpersonal assistance with filling in the questionnaire, because of disability. Item non-response was reduced by sending mini-questionnaires on missing items, leaving sufficientdata available for 56 respondents (net-response 34.4%). Because there were onlythree respondents without religious affiliation, only the affiliated were included in thestudy (n¼ 53).
Non-responders were significantly older than responders (t¼�2.8; df¼ 1, 161,p¼ 0.006). Non-responders were more often widowed, and had somewhat less education,but these differences did not reach significance, possibly also due to the limited statisticalpower. Non-response was not predicted by gender, religious affiliation, or functionallimitations.
Instruments
Personality
The Dutch NEO-PI-R Short Form for older adults is a 120-item short form of theauthorized Dutch/Flemish adaptation of the NEO-PI-R (Hoekstra, de Fruyt, & Ormel,2003; Hoekstra, Ormel, & de Fruyt, 1996) that was construed particularly for research ofpersonality among older adults. Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale rangingfrom ‘‘strongly agree’’ to ‘‘strongly disagree’’. Similar to the American NEO-PI-R(Costa & McCrae, 1992), the scales are balanced to control for the effect of acquiescence.The five major domain scales are: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experiences,Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. The Dutch NEO-PI-R Short Form for older adultshas shown good similarity to the NEO-PI-R; Tucker’s congruence coefficients were 40.95for the domain scales in a mixed age sample, indicating the NEO-PI-R-SF to be highlyequivalent to the NEO-PI-R (Lorenzo-Seva & ten Berge, 2006). Coefficient alphas for thedomain scales range from 0.88 for Neuroticism to 0.76 for Agreeableness.
God image
The QGI is a translation and adaptation of Sebastian Murken’s scales of Godrelationships [Skalen zur religiosen Beziehung] (Murken, 1998). According to Murken,the image of God can be studied, focusing on two dimensions, one being feelings aboutGod, the other dimension being the perception of God’s actions. The original Germanversion of this scale has been translated into Dutch and applied in two samples(Eurelings-Bontekoe et al., 2005; Schaap-Jonker et al., 2002).
The ‘‘Feelings about God’’ dimension of the QGI consists of items with brief statements(e.g., ‘‘When I think of God I experience gratitude’’). Response categories ranged
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between 1 (‘‘entirely not’’) and 5 (‘‘very strongly’’). Three ways of feeling are distinguishedwithin the ‘‘Feelings about God’’ dimension: positive, fearful, and discontent. Therefore,items are grouped within corresponding subscales, representing positive feelings (14 items,�¼ 0.97 [in current sample]), feelings of anxiety (6 items, �¼ 0.85), and feelings of discontent(12 items, �¼ 0.80).
The ‘‘Perception of God’s actions’’ dimension of the QGI also consists of items withbrief statements (e.g.: ‘‘God exercises power’’). Five response categories ranged between1 (‘‘totally disagree’’) and 5 (‘‘totally agree’’). For this dimension, three subscales weredistinguished: supportive actions of God (12 items, �¼ 0.98), passivity of God (7 items,�¼ 0.76), and God as ruling/punishing (5 items, �¼ 0.71).
Other religious variables
Three other religious variables were selected: religious affiliation, church attendance, andfrequency of prayer. For religious affiliation, two categories are distinguished: RomanCatholic and Protestant (mostly mainline Calvinists). Non-church members, identified in1991/1992, were not selected for the present study. Frequency of church attendance wasassessed using five response categories, between 1 (‘‘once a year or less’’) and 5 (‘‘once aweek or more’’). Frequency of prayer was assessed with the interview question: ‘‘How oftendo you pray or meditate?’’ Seven response possibilities were available, ranging from (1)‘‘never’’ to (7) ‘‘more than once a day’’.
Demographics, physical health, and depressive symptoms
Demographic variables included age, gender, marital status, and years of education.Functional limitations were assessed using six self-report items, e.g., climbing up anddown a staircase and cutting one’s own toenails (Van Sonsbeek, 1988). Five responsecategories ranged from 0 ‘‘yes, without difficulty’’ to 4 ‘‘cannot’’ (score range of 0–24;�¼ 0.87).
Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic StudiesDepression Scale (CES-D), a 20-item self-report scale designed to measure depressivesymptoms in the community (Radloff, 1977). Respondents were asked how oftenthey experienced each symptom during the previous week. Items were coded in fourresponse categories, ranging from 0 (‘‘rarely or none of the time’’) to 3 (‘‘most of orall the time’’), yielding a score range of 0 to 60. The Cronbach � in the current sampleis 0.84.
Statistical procedure
Because of the modest sample size, associations were analysed conservatively, computingrank-order, spearman correlation coefficients. Correlations were computed between thefive factors of the FFM on the one hand, and the God image and other religious variableson the other hand. Next, associations between the five factors of the FFM (as independentvariables) and the God image and other religious variables (as dependent variables) wereanalysed by linear regression analyses, based on the rank-order correlations. Thesemultivariate analyses included depressive symptoms as possible confounding variablesin a first step, and other demographic variables and functional limitations, if necessary,in a second step.
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Results
Characteristics of the sample
Table 1 shows the frequencies and distributions of scores as observed in the sample.
The mean age was 76 years. Half of the sample were male, and over half were still
married. Proportions of Roman Catholics and Protestants were equal. Seventy percent of
the respondents prayed daily or more often, and the rate of weekly church attendance was
about 40%: both figures are similar to observations among church-members in a
different, larger sample of older adults in the Netherlands (Braam, Beekman, Poppelaars,
van Tilburg, & Deeg, 2007).Respondents scored higher on the scales pertaining to positive feelings to God and
perceiving God as supportive, than on the other scales pertaining to more critical feelings
and perceptions. Feelings of discontent towards God were reported least.
Correlations between Five-Factor Model personality characteristics and God image
Neuroticism correlated significantly with feelings of anxiety towards God as well as to
feelings of discontent towards God (Table 2). Extraversion, Openness, and
Conscientiousness correlated negatively with feelings of anxiety towards God, although
Table 1. Characteristics of the sample (N¼ 53).
Variable % Range M SD
Female vs. male 50.9Age 68–93 75.7 6.1Education years 6–18 9.0 2.9Married vs. not/no longer married 60.4Functional limitations 0–15 3.2 4.3Depressive symptoms 0–29 11.6 6.8Protestant vs. Roman Catholic 47.2Frequency of church-attendance
(n¼ 52) weekly or more38.5 0–4 2.3 1.7
Frequency of prayer 0–6 4.3 2.0Daily or more 69.8
Five-Factor Model personality traitsNeuroticism 41–86 64.5 8.7Extraversion 54–97 70.6 9.2Openness 51–86 70.4 8.6Agreeableness 55–109 90.0 8.6Conscientiousness 65–108 89.4 9.5
QGI: feelings to God [a]Positive/trust (14 items) 14–67 42.9 [3.1] 12.4Fearful/anxious (6 items) 6–25 10.2 [1.7] 4.2Discontent (12 items) 12–36 18.5 [1.5] 5.8
QGI: perception of GodSupportive (12 items) 12–60 43.2 [3.6] 11.4Passive (7 items) 7–24 14.9 [2.1] 7.0Ruling/punishing (5 items) 5–20 11.6 [2.3] 3.9
Note: QGI: Questionnaire God Image; [a]: mean score per item, compare levels between scales withdifferent number of items.
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these findings remained at the level of a statistical trend. None of the personalitycharacteristics correlated with positive feelings towards God.
Agreeableness correlated significantly with perceiving God as supportive. A negativecorrelation at the level of a statistical trend was found between Agreeableness andperceiving God as passive. Openness correlated negatively with perceiving God as rulingor punishing, also at trend level.
The personality characteristics did not correlate with church attendance and affiliation.One characteristic, Agreeableness, correlated significantly with frequency of prayer.
Analyses adjusting for confounding variables
Depressive symptoms, demographic variables, and functional limitations were consideredas potential confounders. Depressive symptoms correlated with anxious feelings to
Table 2. Correlations between the Five-Factor Model personality characteristics and God Image(feelings and perceptions) and other religious variables.
QGI: feelings to God
Positive Fearful, anxious Discontent
Variable rspearman p rspearman p rspearman p
Neuroticism 0.12 0.394 0.47 0.000 0.36 0.009
Extraversion �0.05 0.748 �0.24 0.078 �0.17 0.227Openness �0.02 0.887 �0.27 0.056 �0.04 0.797Agreeableness 0.19 0.173 �0.20 0.154 �0.09 0.540Conscientiousness 0.06 0.688 �0.26 0.056 �0.11 0.439
QGI: perception of God
Supportive Passive Ruling/punishing
rspearman p rspearman p rspearman p
Neuroticism 0.05 0.723 –0.03 0.839 0.14 0.303Extraversion 0.02 0.916 0.19 0.185 0.03 0.838Openness �0.16 0.257 0.09 0.520 �0.30 0.027
Agreeableness 0.36 0.008 �0.27 0.054 �0.15 0.296Conscientiousness 0.11 0.419 0.06 0.695 �0.03 0.829
Other religious measures
Church attendance Prayer Catholic vs. Protestant
rspearman p rspearman p rspearman p
Neuroticism 0.09 0.534 0.04 0.803 �0.10 0.470Extraversion 0.01 0.968 �0.11 0.452 0.05 0.725Openness �0.06 0.698 �0.15 0.286 �0.05 0.712Agreeableness 0.17 0.236 0.36 0.008 0.01 0.951Conscientiousness 0.03 0.809 0.05 0.722 0.16 0.239
Note: QGI: Questionnaire God Image. Significant results are shown in bold (p5 0.05); findings thatapproach significance (p5 0.10) are shown in italics.
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God (0.27, p¼ 0.047), feelings of discontent to God (0.34, p¼ 0.013), reported in aprevious study, Braam et al., 2008), and Neuroticism: (0.44, p¼ 0.001). With respect to thedemographic variables, age correlated with positive feelings towards God (0.29, p¼ 0.040),anxious feelings towards God (0.29, p¼ 0.039), perceiving God as supportive (0.29,p¼ 0.038), and prayer (0.32, p¼ 0.009). Education correlated with perceiving God aspowerful (�0.32, p¼ 0.023) and with prayer (�0.39, p¼ 0.002). Functional limitationscorrelated with Extraversion (�0.29, p¼ 0.045).
The associations that were probably relevant, as appeared in the correlations betweenpersonality characteristics and God image variables described above, were examined againin two series of regression analyses. In the first series, adjustment was made for depressivesymptoms, whereas in the second series, adjustment was also made for age and functionallimitations. Adjustment for education led to a decrease in the number of respondentsincluded, and was therefore only applied to two of the associations under study.
The results of the regression analyses are shown in Table 3. The associations betweenNeuroticism and anxious feelings towards God persisted after adjustment for depressivesymptoms. For the other personality characteristics, associations with anxious feelingstowards God turned to insignificance. The association between Neuroticism and feelingsof discontent towards God became weaker after adjustment for depressive symptoms. Theassociation between Agreeableness and perceiving God as supportive remained significantafter adjustment for confounders, and the same pertained to the association betweenAgreeableness and prayer (also adjusted for education). The negative association betweenAgreeableness and perceiving God as passive lost strength and turned to insignificanceafter adjustment for age and functional limitations. Similarly, the negative associationbetween Openness and perceiving God as ruling and punishing turned to insignificanceafter adjustment for age, functional limitations, and education.
Discussion
Some of the factors of the Five-Factor Model of personality clearly related to image ofGod, as well as to prayer, as examined in the current study among older church membersin the Netherlands. Neuroticism correlated strongly with two types of a negative Godimage, based on feelings of anxiety and discontent towards God. Neuroticism did notcorrelate, however, with two other aspects of a negative image of God, namely consideringGod as passive or as ruling and punishing. Agreeableness strongly correlated withperceiving God as supportive, but not to positive feelings to God. Finally, Agreeablenessalso correlated strongly with frequency prayer, which of course can be understood asbehaviour directed to the desire to be close to God.
Although there are few empirical studies on possible relationships between personalitycharacteristics and God image, there is some literature on more general aspects ofreligiousness such as intrinsic religious motivation and spirituality. A relevant reviewincluding 13 studies has been provided by Saroglou (2002). None of these studies wasbased on samples of older adults. Nevertheless, Saroglou’s meta-analysis revealed thatgeneral measures on religiousness, especially intrinsic religious motivation and also prayer,were associated with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion. One otherpattern was that all FFM characteristics were positively associated with spirituality ormature religion, except Neuroticism, which showed a negative association. The currentresults partly fit in with these patterns, especially with respect to the relationship betweenAgreeableness and perceiving God as supportive and frequency of prayer. The feelings of
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anxiety and discontent towards God, however, cannot be simply equated to ‘‘immature’’religiousness or to low levels of spirituality.
The findings about Neuroticism and the negative image of God find some analogy toresults described for a sample of churchgoing Anglicans in Australia (Greenway, Milne, &Clarke, 2003). In that study, personality characteristics were assessed by the MMPI(Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), an instrument which is historically relatedto the FFM. In particular, the characteristic of Irritability was associated with a negativeimage of God among males, with an association of similar strength as described forNeuroticism in the current study.
Associations between personality and God image are likely to be influenced by currentmood status. Therefore, the current approach included adjustment for depressivesymptoms, yielding possibly trait-like associations between God image and personalitycharacteristics. Adjustment for mood status is not always included in studies on the FFM
Table 3. Associations between God Image variables, prayer, and Five-Factor Model personalitycharacteristics; results from non-parametric linear regression analyses based on Spearmancoefficients, with adjustment for depressive symptoms and functional limitations.
QGI: feelings to God QGI: perception of God
Fearful, anxious Discontent Supportive
Variable � p � p � p
Neuroticism 0.43a
0.003 0.26 0.0760.40b 0.008 0.30 0.048
Extraversion �0.18 0.185�0.12 0.429
Openness �0.22 0.102�0.18 0.202
Agreeableness 0.35 0.011
0.35 0.016Conscientiousness �0.22 0.102
�0.19 0.175
QGI: perception of God Other religious variables
Passive Ruling/punishing Prayer
� p � p � p
NeuroticismExtraversionOpenness �0.30 0.034
�0.29c 0.055Agreeableness �0.28 0.049 0.36 0.007
�0.22 0.145 0.36c
0.012Conscientiousness
Notes: QGI: Questionnaire God Image. Significant results are shown in bold (p5 0.05); findings thatapproach significance (p5 0.10) are shown in italics.aAdjustment for depressive symptoms.bAdjustment for depressive symptoms, age and functional limitations.cAdjustment for depressive symptoms, age, functional limitations, and years of education.
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and religion. Although the association between Neuroticism and feelings of discontenttowards God decreased in strength after adjustment for depressive symptoms, theassociation between Neuroticism and feelings of anxiety towards God remainedunaffected. This finding looks very similar to the results described by Rowatt andKirkpatrick (2002) on the relationship between Neuroticism and the anxiety dimension ofthe attachment to God. However, the anxiety dimension as formulated by those authorsmainly incorporated ambivalent perceptions of God, such as experiencing God’s reactionsas inconsistent. This ambivalence has been thoroughly conceptualized on the theoryattachment psychology. Therefore, it may differ from the feelings of (plain) anxiety asapplied in the current study.
The associations between the personality factor Neuroticism and feelings of anxietytowards God paralleled those with feelings of discontent towards God. Both represent acritical way of feeling towards God, but feelings of anxiety might be understood from theperspective of humility or guilt, whereas feelings of discontent, such as anger, or feelingabandoned by God, imply a more independent perspective. From a psychodynamic pointof view, however, anger and anxiety are closely related phenomena, especially when theindividual experiences fearful dependency in a relationship (Busch, Cooper, Klerman,Shapiro, & Shear, 1991). On the one hand, the dependency leads to the fear of beingseparated, whereas on the other hand the realization of this dependency may causenarcissistic humiliation and subsequently feelings of anger. In preliminary analyses in thecurrent study, it was indeed the facet scale of Angry Hostility within the domain ofNeuroticism (containing six facet scales) that had the strongest correlation with feelings ofanxiety towards God (0.37, p¼ 0.007).
The emotional basis for religiousness has been theorized to be rooted in major objectrelations (Rizzuto, 1979), or phrased differently, in attachment relationships (Kirkpatrick,1992) such as those of the relationship with mother and father. In this way, a negative orcritical God image may originate in an insecure attachment relationship. Simultaneously,an insecure attachment style will contribute to personality traits, apart from tempera-mental factors which may also have a genetic basis. There is abundant evidence thatinsecure attachment styles relate to Neuroticism (Noftle & Shaver, 2006). The image ofGod, transmitted by cultural traditions (Van der Lans, 2001), might therefore crystallize asa function of several, closely related factors: attachment style, self-image, personalitytraits, and temperament. A certain susceptibility for transcendence (spiritual transcen-dence; Piedmont, 1999), even suggested to represent a sixth factor of personality, maybe a necessary condition to develop and maintain the God image during childhood intoadult life.
One might raise the question as to why there were some associations betweenpersonality factors on negative emotions towards God, but not on positive emotions. Twopoints need to be addressed here. First, when more statistical power had been available,there might have been a significant association between positive feelings towards God andAgreeableness, for which now a correlation of 0.19 did not reach significance. Second,and more importantly, the aspects of the feelings towards God do not move on onesingle continuum, with negative feelings on the one end, and positive on the opposite.Instead, more dimensions are discerned. Kunkel and colleagues (1999) employed aphenomenological approach and distinguished two main dimensions, with a variety ofGod images in between. The dimensions were ‘‘punitive’’ versus ‘‘nurturant’’, and‘‘mystical’’ versus ‘‘anthropomorphic’’.
Whereas the current sample is population-based and includes very old adults, alimitation is that there was considerable non-response. Therefore, the sample size only
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allowed detection of associations of medium strength at least. Furthermore, due to thesmall sample size, selective non-response could be demonstrated for older age only. Thislimitation may have had fewer consequences, however, for the main goal of the study,to examine patterns of associations, instead of describing the prevalence of the phenomenain the population. One might raise the question of whether the current sample representsa selection of highly religious older adults. With respect to rates of prayer and churchattendance, comparison between the current Sassenheim sample and a nationwide sampledescribed elsewhere (Braam et al., 2007) showed differences that were negligible, with theSassenheim sample being slightly less religious. A recommendation for future studies is toinclude older adults who do not or no longer connect with religion in their personal lives.Especially among church-leavers, negative emotions to God are likely to persist. It remainsproblematic, however, to motivate this particular group to fill in elaborate questionnairesas has been employed in the current study.
The current study provided support that some personality characteristics are firmlyassociated with the affective dimension of religiousness in old age. It would be a challengeto examine how both phenomena develop through all phases of life and periods of crisisand turmoil. Especially more knowledge about the emergence or persistence of feelingsof anxiety and discontent towards God might be desirable, as these feelings seem to beintertwined with suffering, and may obstruct adaptive ways of religious coping.
Acknowledgements
The data reported on were collected in the context of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam,which is financed primarily by the Netherlands Ministry of Welfare, Health and Sports. The study ofreligious resources and common mental disorders was supported by a grant from the NetherlandsOrganisation for Health Research and Development (ZON-MW grant 2003-05769).
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