Examining legalism, scrupulosity, family perfectionism, and psychological adjustment among LDS individuals

Abstract

This study examined the relationships and interactions between legalism, scrupulosity, family perfectionism, guilt, and shame among 421 Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormons). The results showed that scrupulosity fully mediated the links between legalism and guilt, as well as legalism and shame. A moderated-mediation effect was found, in which family discrepancy (maladaptive perfectionism) intensified the scrupulosity-shame association in the mediation model of legalism and shame by scrupulosity. Family discrepancy was not a significant moderator for the mediation model of legalism and guilt by scrupulosity. Additional results are provided and implications of these findings are outlined.

I worry that I am almost perfect! Examining relationships among perfectionism, scrupulosity, intrinsic spirituality, and psychological well-being among Latter-Day Saints.

“…Often, thoughts of inadequacy or fear of God not accepting us because of our weaknesses can lead to avoidance of heaven's help and, ultimately, psychological distress. Learning how to effectively cope with these constant debilitating messages in counseling could assist these individuals in alleviating the effects of maladaptive perfectionism and scrupulosity (Allen et al, 2015). In addition, clinicians may wish to explore ways religious clients can seek a more accurate understanding of the nature and love of God as taught by the LDS Church.…”

“…Moreover, maladaptive perfectionism has been linked to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in some clinical and nonclinical samples (Abramowitz et al, 2002; Irwin & Jones, 2017; Pinto et al, 2017) and scrupulosity among Latter-day Saints (Allen et al, 2015; Allen & Wang, 2014). Abramowitz et al (2002) define scrupulosity as religious obsessions about sinful acts and compulsions to participate in excessive religious acts.…”

Examining religious commitment, personality, and well-being among Latter-day Saints

“…While LDS people worldwide are generally noted for their devout religious and spiritual living, more research is needed about personality traits relating to being a member of the LDS Church. However, some research, particularly mediating and moderating effect models has been done on LDS individuals and psychological well-being (Allen & Heppner, 2011), adjustment, perfectionism (Allen & Wang, 2014;Allen, Wang, & Stokes, 2015), psychotherapy (Bergin, Payne, Jenkins, & Cornwall, 1994;Richards & Bergin, 2005;Richards & Bergin, 2014), and overall mental health (Barlow & Bergin, 1998;Koltko, 1990), but research lacks specificity around their long-term characteristics (i.e., personality) as they relate to psychological adjustment among LDS individuals.…”

“…Based on recent research regarding specific factors and relationships among highly religious LDS individuals related to psychological well-being (Allen & Heppner, 2011), perfectionism (Allen & Wang, 2014;Allen, Wang, & Stokes, 2015), coping (Allen & Heppner, 2011), and adjustment (Allen & Wang, 2014;Allen, Wang, & Stokes, 2015), the purpose of this study was to add to the existing research around LDS people and well-being, more specifically adding factors such as personality traits to this body of research, which can enhance the existing research on LDS communities. The aim is that these findings about personality traits can provide more information about how LDS individuals may manifest their faith through certain influential personality factors.…”

Counseling Attitudes and Stigma Among Polynesian Americans

“…We sought to evaluate a similar model examining a possible mediated relationship with those variables (Figure 1; Hypothesis 4). Based on recent mediation analysis research (Allen & Wang, 2014;Allen, Wang, & Stokes, 2015) and recommendations for running mediation analyses (Hayes, 2013), we used the SPSS macro PROCESS to conduct the mediation analysis. PROCESS offers bootstrap estimates to calculate bias-corrected confidence intervals (CIs) for the mediation effects.…”