Why Are Religious Individuals More Obsessional - 1373 Words

Abstract: The article, Why Are Religious Individuals More Obsessional? The Role of Mental Control Beliefs and Guilt in Muslims and Christians, presents the data results from a study comparing Canadian Christian and Turkish Muslim students’ measures of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and beliefs, guilt, religiosity, and negative affect. It is a unique study, as there have been few studies directly exploring this topic and even fewer using a non-Western Muslim sample. Thesis Cognitive-behavioral theory recognizes that obsessions are linked to particular cultural experiences, such as following strict religious beliefs about controlling one’s intrusive thoughts. Firstly, the authors hypothesized that the higher the religiosity in a student, the†¦show more content†¦Seventy-six percent of them reported their religious affiliation as Christian. The Turkish sample was composed of 243 male and 177 female students with a mean age of 21.73 years who were lifetime citizens of Turkey. Seventy-seven percent of them reported that they were Muslim. Ninety-three point seven percent of the sampled individuals identified their ethnicity as Turkish, while six point three percent identified as Kurdish. Both screening samples were given the same battery of questionnaires. These included a demographic sheet assessing age, sex, relationship status, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and five Likert ratings on religious beliefs and behavior. Likert ratings determine religious beliefs and behaviors by assessing the frequency of worship attendance, prayer, religious text reading (Bible, Koran), volunteerism, giving money, as well as the importance religion plays in guiding the decisions and behaviors, i.e. 1 = not at all important, to 5 = extremely important). The final rating determined the high and low religious groups. â€Å"Low religious† group participants identified that religion did not bear influence on their decisions and behaviors (1). â€Å"High religious† group participants indicated that religion was either very important (4) or extremely important (5) in guiding their decisions and behavior. All of the students gave