Religiousness and aggression in adolescents: The mediating roles of self‐control and compassion

Abstract

Although people have used religion to justify aggression, evidence suggests that greater religiousness corresponds with less aggression. We explored two explanations for the religion-aggression link. First, most major religions teach self-control (e.g., delaying gratification, resisting temptation), which diminishes aggression. Second, most major religions emphasize compassionate beliefs and behavior (i.e., perspective taking, forgiveness, a broader love of humanity) that are incompatible with aggression. We tested whether self-control and compassion mediated the relationship between religion and aggression (direct and indirect) in a longitudinal study of 1,040 adolescents in the United States. Structural equation analyses revealed that self-control and compassion together completely mediated the religion-aggression relationship for both types of aggression.

Why are Religiousness and Spirituality Associated with Externalizing Psychopathology? A Literature Review

“…Similarly, Pirutinsky (2014) found that higher religiousness (measured via personal religiousness) predicted decreased future criminal behaviors partially mediated by increased self-control (indirect effects 95% CI for b* = [−.19, −.11]) in a sample of adolescents that had committed a serious criminal offense. Furthermore, another study found that self-control fully mediated (indirect effect b * = −.06, p < .001) the relation between higher religiousness (measured by religious values, beliefs, and practices) and lower aggressive behavior in a sample of adolescents (Shepperd, Miller, & Smith, 2015). …”

Religiosity and Effortful Control as Predictors of Indonesian Adolescents’ Tobacco and Alcohol Use: Moderation and Mediation

“…Although two of the studies discussed above used longitudinal data extending across several years, both lacked the necessary controls to test for longitudinal change. Both Shepperd, Miller, and Smith () and Kim‐Spoon et al. () assessed the extent to which variables assessed at baseline predicted outcome variables at a later time.…”

Actitudes religiosas, valores y razonamiento moral prosocial en una muestra adolescente

“…Parece ser que, en líneas generales, el grado de religiosidad está asociado negativamente a las tendencias agresivas. Se ha sugerido que este efecto es mediado por el rol del autocontrol y la compasión: mayor religiosidad correspondería a un incremento en ambas respuestas (Shepperd, Miller, & Smith, 2015). Los estudios que han examinado los correlatos psicológicos de la religiosidad durante la juventud tienden a mostrar resultados optimistas, estando negativamente relacionada con conductas problemáticas y síntomas de depresión en adolescentes de 12 o de 14 años de edad (Pearce, Little, & Pérez, 2003) a 18 años (Schapman & InderbitzenNolan, 2002).…”