Religiosity and the value of being moral: Understanding the meaning of morality through a personal values perspective

Noga Sverdlik, Eyal Rechter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We demonstrate how religiosity predicts relationships between personal values and perceptions of morality in four studies across two cultures (Jews in Israel and mainly Christians in the US). In Studies 1A (N = 337) and 1B (N = 200), we explored the commonalities and differences between religious and non-religious participants in the association between values and the importance of being moral. In Studies 2A (N = 131) and 2B (N = 250), we tested the role of religiosity in the association between values and evaluations of others’ morality. Power (negatively) and Benevolence (positively) were associated with morality across levels of religiosity. The associations with Conservation were more positive for more religious participants; the associations with Universalism were more positive for less religious participants. Finally, the associations with at least one of the Openness-to-change values were more negative if a person was more religious. Studies 2A and 2B showed these associations existed over and above differences in personal values.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)406-421
Number of pages16
JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
Volume50
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2020

Keywords

  • morality
  • personal values
  • values-religiosity interaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology

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