Religiosity, authoritarianism, and attitudes toward psychotherapy in later life

Abstract

Objective: This study explores whether intrinsic religiosity in older adults is associated with attitudes toward psychotherapy (perceived need, stigma tolerance, interpersonal openness, and confidence in mental health practitioners) when controlling for authoritarianism.

Method: Interviews were conducted with a sample of 307 community-residing adults aged 65–82. Data were collected from 164 Black and 142 White older adults about their intrinsic religiosity, authoritarianism, and mental health help-seeking attitudes.

Results: Intrinsic religiosity was associated with stigma tolerance and interpersonal openness after controlling for authoritarianism.

Conclusion: Intrinsic religiosity and authoritarianism appear to be independently related to psychotherapy attitudes. Religious older adults may prefer to seek help in religious contexts, while the association of authoritarianism to less favorable psychotherapy attitudes toward psychotherapy may be explained by a fear of external perspectives. Results on the whole reinforce the importance of including religiousness and authoritarianism in models of mental health help-seeking.

Keywords:

• mental health and aging
• religiousness
• authoritarianism
• attitudes toward psychotherapy