Self-Enhancement and Religiosity

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jochen E. Gebauer
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology ; Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 235808290

Self-enhancement and religiosity are central human phenomena. But how are the two related? World religions describe self-enhancement as something irreligious. They believe that religiosity lets self-enhancement run dry. If this were the case, one would have to doubt the existence of a universal need for self-esteem, because self-enhancement is self-esteem's most reliable expression. Thus, the topic of self-enhancement and religiosity is relevant for the much-debated universality question surrounding self-esteem. The topic is also relevant for the validity of many self-theories, which are based on the assumption that self-esteem and self-enhancement are human universals. Additionally, the topic informs about the suitability of much-discussed techniques to quite self-enhancement permanently.Here, I apply for the first research program investigating the relation between self-enhancement and religiosity: (1) A meta-analysis will summarize existent indirect evidence in order to further validate the Self-Enhancement Increases Religiosity (SEIR) model. (2) Experimental analogs of the meta-analysis will test the causal assumptions of the SEIR model. (3) A three-wave longitudinal study will test for a complementary effect of religiosity on self-enhancement in the religious domain and this study will also seek to establish religious self-enhancement as a process explaining established religiosity effects.The present research is therefore relevant for the universality of self-enhancement and its implications. The present research is also relevant for a key question of the psychology of religion: Why does religiosity persist?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants