Gordon Allport: The Concept of Personal Religious Orientations

6830

Abstract

The paper reviews Gordon Allport's concept of religious orientations — intrinsic and extrinsic religion, that is, views of religion as an end to itself or rather as a means to an end, both 'orthogonal' to the essence of faith. This concept laid the foundation of modern psychology of religion and shaped its development for a few decades. The core problem of the concept is why religiosity can serve as a basis not only for extremely positive phenomena, but for extremely negative ones as well. The paper traces the history of the concept from Allport's early ideas and studies, through the main outcomes and innovations, and to his later reflections and criticism. This review reveals Allport's chain of thought; the similarity between the late and early — undeservedly for- gotten — criticism; the controversial character of Daniel Bateson's additions. The paper also focuses on how the concept is applied in modern psychology and on the issues that remain unsolved. The problem that was Allport's core interest is still relevant today. Those who criticized his concept called for a clear theoretical explanation for his guess. The final part of the paper describes the attempt of the modern motivation theory supporters to carry on Allport's work and continue the explorations on a new level.

General Information

Keywords: religiosity, psychological well-being, religious orientations, intrinsic and extrinsic religion, reli- gion as quest

Journal rubric: Theory and Methodology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Titov R.S. Gordon Allport: The Concept of Personal Religious Orientations. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2013. Vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 2–12. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Gordeeva T.O. Teoriya samodeterminacii: nastoyashee i budushee. Chast' 1: Problemy razvitiya teorii [Elektronnyi resurs] // Psihologicheskie issledovaniya: elektronnyi nauch- nyi zhurnal. 2010. № 4 (12). URL: http://psystudy.ru (data obrasheniya: 3.04.2011).
  2. Dzheims U. Mnogoobrazie religioznogo opyta / Per. s angl. M., 1993.
  3. Leont'ev D.A. Kesaryu — kesarevo // Psihologiya. Zhurnal Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki. 2007. T. 4. № 2.
  4. Olport G. Stanovlenie lichnosti. Izbrannye trudy / Per. s angl. M., 2002.
  5. Fromm E. Psihoanaliz i religiya / Per. s angl. // Sumerki bogov. M., 1990.
  6. Emmons R. Psihologiya vysshih ustremlenii: motivaciya i duhovnost' lichnosti / Per. s angl. M., 2004.
  7. Allport G.W. The individual and his religion. N. Y., 1971.
  8. Allport G.W. The Religious Context of Prejudice // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1966. V. 5. № 3.
  9. Allport G.W., Ross J.M. Personal religious orientation and prejudice. // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1967. V. 5. № 4.
  10. Argyle M. Psychology and Religion: An Introduction. L., 2000.
  11. Assor A., Cohen-Malayev M., Kaplan A., Friedman D. Choosing to stay religious in a modern world. // Advances in motivation and achievement. V. 14: Religion and motivation / Maehr M.L., Karabenick S. (еds.) Oxford, 2005.
  12. Baker M., Gorsuch R. Trait Anxiety and Intrinsic- Extrinsic Religiousness // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1982. V. 21. № 2.
  13. Batson C.D. Religion as Prosocial: Agent or Double Agent? // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1976. V. 15. № 1.
  14. Batson C.D., Flink C.H., Schoenrade P.A. et al. Religious Orientation and Overt Versus Covert Racial Prejudice // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1986. V. 50. № 1.
  15. Batson C.D., Oleson K.C., Weeks J.L. et al. Religious Prosocial Motivation: Is It Altruistic or Egoistic? // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1989. V. 57. № 5.
  16. Batson C.D., Raynor-Prince L. Religious Orientation and Complexity of Thought about Existential Concerns // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1983. V. 22. № 1.
  17. Batson C.D., Schoenrade P.A. Measuring Religion as Quest: 1) Validity Concerns // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1991. V. 30. № 4.
  18. Batson C.D., Schoenrade P.A. Measuring Religion as Quest: 2) Reliability Concerns // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1991. V. 30. № 4.
  19. Batson C.D., Schoenrade P., Ventis L. Religion and the Individual. N. Y., 1993.
  20. Beck R., Jessup R.K. The Multidimensional Nature of Quest Motivation // Journal of Psychology and Theology. 2004. V. 32. № 4.
  21. Brown L.B. Classifications of Religious Orienta- tion // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1964. V. 4. № 1.
  22. Byrd K.R., Hageman A., Isle D.B. Intrinsic Motivation and Subjective Well-Being: The Unique Contribution of Intrinsic Religious Motivation // International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2007. V. 17. № 2.
  23. Cohen A.B., Hill P.C. Religion as Culture: Religious Individualism and Collectivism Among American Catholics, Jews, and Protestants // Journal of Personality. 2007. V. 75. № 4.
  24. Darley J.M, Batson C.D. From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1973. V. 27. № 1.
  25. Dittes J.E. Psychology of religion / Lindzey G., Aron- son E. (еds.). The handbook of social psychology. V. 5. Reading: 1969.
  26. Dittes J.E. Typing the Typologies // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1971. V. 10. № 4.
  27. Donahue M.J. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiousness: Review and Meta-Analysis // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1985. V. 48. № 2.
  28. Donahue M.J. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiousness: The Empirical Research // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1985. V. 24. №. 4.
  29. Feagin J.R. Prejudice and Religious Types: A Focused Study of Southern Fundamentalists // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1964. V. 4. № 1.
  30. Flere S., Lavric M. Is intrinsic religious orientation a cultur- ally specific American Protestant concept? The fusion of intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation among non-Protestants // European Journal of Social Psychology. 2008. V. 38.
  31. Francis L.J. Introducing the New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO): Conceptualization and measurement // Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 2007. V. 10. № 6.
  32. Francis L.J., Jewell A., Robbins M. The relationship between religious orientation, personality, and purpose in life among an older Methodist sample // Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 2007. V. 13. № 7—8.
  33. Genia V. A Psychometric evaluation of the Allport-Ross I/E scales in a religiously heterogeneous sample // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1993. V. 32. № 3.
  34. Genia V. I, E, Quest and Fundamentalism as Predictors of Psychological and Spiritual Well-Being // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1996. V. 35. № 1.
  35. Gorsuch R.L. Toward Motivational Theories of Intrinsic Religious Commitment // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1994. V. 33. № 4.
  36. Gorsuch R.L., McPherson S.E. Intrinsic/Extrinsic Measurement: I/E-Revised and Single-Item Scales // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1989. V. 28. № 3.
  37. Gorsuch R.L., Venable G.D. Development of an "Age Universal" I-E Scale // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1983. V. 22. № 2.
  38. Hill P.C., Pargament K.I. Advances in the Conceptuali- zation and Measurement of Religion and Spirituality: Implications for Physical and Mental Health Research // Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. 2006. V. 8. № 1.
  39. Hoge D.R. A Validated Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1972. V. 11. № 4.
  40. Hood R.W., Jr. A Comparison of the Allport and Feagin Scoring Procedures for Intrinsic / Extrinsic Religious Orientation. // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1971. Vol. 10. № 4.
  41. Hood R.W., Jr. The Conceptualization of Religious Purity in Allport's Typology // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1985. V. 24. № 4.
  42. Hood R.W., Jr. The Usefulness of the Indiscriminately Pro and Anti Categories of Religious Orientation // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1978. V. 17. № 4.
  43. Hood R.W., Jr., Morris R.J. Conceptualization of Quest: A Critical Rejoinder to Batson // Review of Religious Research. 1985. V. 26. № 4.
  44. Hood R.W., Jr., Morris R.J., Watson P.J. Quasi- Experimental Elicitation of the Differential Report of Religious Experience Among Intrinsic and Indiscriminately Pro-Religious Types // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1990. V. 17. № 2.
  45. Hui V. K.-Y., Fung H.H. Mortality Anxiety as a Function of Intrinsic Religiosity and Perceived Purpose in Life // Death Studies. 2009. V. 33. № 1.
  46. Hunt R.A., King M. The Intrinsic-Extrinsic Concept: A Review and Evaluation // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1971. V. 10. № 4.
  47. Ji C. C., Ibrahim Y. Islamic Doctrinal Orthodoxy and Religious Orientations: Scale Development and Validation // International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2007. V. 17. № 3.
  48. Jonas E., Fischer P. Terror Management and Religion: Evidence That Intrinsic Religiousness Mitigates Worldview Defense Following Mortality Salience // Journal of Persona- lity and Social Psychology. 2006. V. 91. № 3.
  49. Kahoe R.D. Intrinsic Religion and Authoritarianism: A Differentiated Relationship // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1977. V. 16. № 2.
  50. Kahoe R.D. Personality and Achievement Correlates of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religious Orientations // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1974. V. 29. № 6.
  51. Kahoe R.D. The Development of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religious Orientations // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1985. V. 24. № 4.
  52. Kirkpatrick L.A., Hood R.W., Jr. Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation: The Boon or Bane of Contemporary Psychology of Religion? // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1990. V. 29. № 4.
  53. Li Y.J., Johnson K.A., Cohen A.B. Fundamental(ist) Attribution Error: Protestants Are Dispositionally Focused // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2012. V. 102. № 3.
  54. Mahalik J.R., Lagan H.D. Examining Masculine Gender Role Conflict and Stress in Relation to Religious Orientation and Spiritual Well-Being // Psychology of Men and Masculinity. 2001. V. 2. № 1.
  55. Maslow A.H. Religions, Values and Peak Experiences. N. Y., 1994.
  56. Masters K.S. Of Boons, Banes, Babies, and Bath Water: A Reply to the Kirkpatrick and Hood Discussion of Intrinsic- Extrinsic Religious Orientation // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1991. V. 30. № 3.
  57. Morris R.J., Hood R.W., Jr. The Generalizability and Specificity of Intrinsic/Extrinsic Orientation // Review of Religious Research. 1981. V. 22. № 3.
  58. Neyrinck B. Cognitive-Affective Correlates of Autono- mous and Controlled Motivation: An Exploration in the Religious Realm and Beyond. Proefschrift aangeboden tot het verkrijgen van de grad van Doctor in de Psychologie. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2009.
  59. Nielsen S.L., Johnson W.B., Ellis A. Counseling and Psychotherapy with Religious Persons: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach. L., 2001.
  60. O'Connor B.P., Vallerand R.J. Religious Motivation in the Elderly: A French-Canadian Replication and an Exten- sion // Journal of Social Psychology. V. 130. № 1.
  61. Pargament K.I. The Bitter and the Sweet: An Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of Religiousness // Psy- chological Inquiry. 2002. V. 13. № 3.
  62. Park C., Cohen L.H., Herb L. Intrinsic Religiousness and Religious Coping as Life Stress Moderators for Catholics Versus Protestants // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1990. V. 59. № 3.
  63. Possel P., Martin N.C., Garber J. et al. Bidirectional Relations of Religious Orientation and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study // Psycholo-gy of Religion and Spirituality. 2011. V. 3. № 1.
  64. Rip B., Vallerand R.J., Lafreniere M.-A.K. Passion for a Cause, Passion for a Creed: On Ideological Passion, Identity Threat, and Extremism // Journal of Personality. 2012. V. 80. № 3.
  65. Ross C.F.J., Francis L.J. The relationship of intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations to Jungian psycho- logical type among churchgoers in England and Wales // Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 2010. V. 13. № 7—8.
  66. Ryan R.M., Connell J.P. Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two do- mains // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1989. V. 57. № 5.
  67. Ryan R.M., Deci E.L. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being // American Psychologist. 2000. V. 55. № 1.
  68. Ryan R.M., Rigby S., King K. Two Types of Religious Internalization and Their Relations to Religious Orientations and Mental Health // Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1993. V. 65. № 3.
  69. Sapp G.L., Jones L. Religious Orientation and Moral Judgment // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1986. V. 25. № 2.
  70. Sheldon K.M. Catholic Guilt? Comparing Catholics' and Protestants' Religious Motivations // International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2006. V. 16. № 3.
  71. Smith T.B., McCullough M.E., Poll J. Religiousness and Depression: Evidence for a Main Effect and the Moderating Influence of Stressful Life Events // Psychological Bulletin. 2003. V. 129. № 4.
  72. Strickland B.R., Weddell S.C. Religious Orientation, Racial Prejudice, and Dogmatism: A Study of Baptists and Unitarians // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1972. V. 11. № 4.
  73. Tisdale J.R. Selected Correlates of Extrinsic Religious Values // Review of Religious Research. 1966. V. 7. № 2.
  74. Trimble D.E. The Religious Orientation Scale: Review and meta-analysis of social desirability effects // Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1997. V. 57. № 6.
  75. Vaill K.E. III, Rothschild Z.K., Weise D.R. et al. A Terror Management Analysis of the Psychological Functions of Religion // Personality and Social Psychology Review. 2010. V. 14. № 1.
  76. Watson P.J., Howard R., Hood R.W. et al. Age and Religious Orientation // Review of Religious Research. 1988. V. 29. № 3.
  77. Watson P.J., Morris R.J., Foster J.E. et al. Religiosity and Social Desirability // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1986. V. 25. № 2.
  78. Watson P.J., Morris R.J., Hood R.W., Jr. Attributional Complexity, Religious Orientation, and Indiscriminate Proreligious- ness // Review of Religious Research. 1990. V. 32. № 2.
  79. Wong-McDonald A., Gorsuch R.L. A Multivariate Theory of God Concept, Religious Motivation, Locus of Control, Coping, and Spiritual Well-Being // Journal of Psychology and Theology. 2004. V. 32. № 4.

Information About the Authors

R. S. Titov, PhD student at the Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, intern researcher at the Laboratory of Positive Psychology and Life Quality, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Metrics

Views

Total: 10898
Previous month: 98
Current month: 64

Downloads

Total: 6830
Previous month: 12
Current month: 11