Relationship of a Measure of Self-Actualization to Religious Participation

Summary

This study examined the hypothesis that self-actualization is negatively associated with reported frequency of active involvement in religious activities. A group of 63 male undergraduates enrolled in a Catholic coeducational institution indicated the extent of their involvement in religious activities and completed Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), a comprehensive measure of self-actualization. Results indicated substantial support for the hypothesis. Nine of the 12 Shostrom POI subscales were significantly correlated with the religious participation index in the predicted direction. It was suggested that self-actualizing students construe involvement in religious activities as being detrimental to their psychosocial development.