Is the relationship between religiosity and personality ‘contaminated’ by social desirability as assessed by the Lie Scale? A methodological reply to Michael W. Eysenck (1998)

Abstract

Eysenck (Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 1, 11–19, 1998) raised a number of important theoretical and methodological issues in his review of the literature related to religion and the Eysenckian model of personality. The present aim is to methodologically address one such issue: Is the relationship between religiosity and personality ‘contaminated’ by social desirability as assessed by the Lie Scale? Data from two studies employing the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, alongside measures of Eysenckian Personality and Obsessionality among Northern Irish students are presented. In study one, using a survey design, significant associations were found between high scores on the religiosity scale and high scores on the Obsessional Trait Scale and low scores on the Psychoticism Scale. These findings remained significant even after the Lie Scale scores were statistically partialled out. In study two, using a repeated measures experimental design, respondents completed the questionnaires two weeks apart. However, on the second occasion they were connected to a ‘bogus pipeline’. No significant differences were found between scores on the two administrations. In addition, significant associations were found between high scores on the religiosity scale and high scores on the Obsessional Symptom Scale and low scores on the Psychoticism Scale. It is argued that the present studies provide further support that the association between religiosity and the personality traits of obsessionality and psychoticism are not simply a function of social desirability.