Responsibility: A potential moderator of the relationship between obsessive-compulsive cognitions and religiosity

• Main Author: Howarth, Elizabeth
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Clinical psychology; Cognitive psychology; Religion
• ISBN: 9780549733959; 0549733957

The current study examined the relationships among religiosity and obsessive-compulsive cognitions, symptoms, and other constructs related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), including attitudes about responsibility and guilt. The primary aim of this study was to determine if attitudes about responsibility moderated the relationship between obsessive-compulsive cognitions and religiosity. The sample identified for the current project consisted of 267 undergraduates who completed questionnaire packets assessing these constructs. The results of the study indicated that, after controlling for ethnicity, attitudes about responsibility did not moderate the relationship between obsessive-compulsive cognitions and religiosity. There was, however, a significant main effect for the relationship between moral standards and religiosity. Additional analyses indicated that, after controlling for trait anxiety, there were also significant relationships among obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions, guilt, and obsessive-compulsive cognitions. Indecisiveness, moral standards, contamination, and trait guilt were related to responsibility and threat estimation, while just right, moral standards, and hoarding were related to perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty. Lastly, moral standards and obsessions were found to be related to beliefs about the importance of and need to control thoughts. Suggestions for future research and the clinical implications of research in this area are discussed.