Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications.

McCullough, Michael E.; Willoughby, Brian L. B.

doi:10.1037/a0014213

Psychological Bulletin

2009

DOI: 10.1037/a0014213

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Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications.

Michael E. McCullough

¹

,

Brian L. B. Willoughby

²

Abstract: Many of the links of religiousness with health, well-being, and social behavior may be due to religion's influences on self-control or self-regulation. Using Carver and Scheier's (1998) theory of self-regulation as a framework for organizing the empirical research, the authors review evidence relevant to 6 propositions: (a) that religion can promote self-control; (b) that religion influences how goals are selected, pursued, and organized; (c) that religion facilitates self-monitoring; (d) that religion fosters… Show more

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Cited by 1,102 publications

(910 citation statements)

References 217 publications

Supporting

46

Mentioning

829

Contrasting

7

Unclassified

28

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“…Our finding that religiousness was not related with better self-control was unexpected and in contrast with several other studies (DeWall et al, 2014; Walker et al, 2007; Desmond, et al, 2013; McCullough & Willoughby, 2009). It should be noted, however, that in none of these studies the population consisted of patients with ADHD and SUD.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Religiousness and self-control in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Begeman

¹

,

Schellekens

²

,

Brink

³

et al. 2025

Int J Soc Psychiatry

0

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Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

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“…Our finding that religiousness was not related with better self-control was unexpected and in contrast with several other studies (DeWall et al, 2014; Walker et al, 2007; Desmond, et al, 2013; McCullough & Willoughby, 2009). It should be noted, however, that in none of these studies the population consisted of patients with ADHD and SUD.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Religiousness and self-control in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Begeman

¹

,

Schellekens

²

,

Brink

³

et al. 2025

Int J Soc Psychiatry

0

Get access via publisher Add to dashboard Cite

Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

show abstract

“…An important implication worth noting is how the current findings lie opposite to the prevailing claim that religion improves self-control (e.g., McCullough & Willoughby, 2009). Heightened willingness to take risks in a positively aroused state is indicative of a lack of self-control.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

A camel through the eye of a needle: The influence of the prosperity gospel on financial risk-taking, optimistic bias, and positive emotion.

Hobson

¹

,

Kim

²

,

MacDonald

³

2021

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

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“…The positive correlation between AFE and RBA supports the results of previous studies, which found a negative link between negative beliefs about the afterlife and mental health (Flannelly 2017;Ghayas and Batool 2017;Ghorbani et al 2008). However, the findings contradict studies suggesting that fear of the afterlife is one of the most important functions of religion in activating self-control (Baumeister et al 2010;Kim-Spoon et al 2015;Laurin et al 2012;McCullough and Willoughby 2009;Pirutinsky 2014;Rounding et al 2012), promoting positive social behavior (Saleam and Moustafa 2016), and reducing levels of crime (Shariff and Rhemtulla 2012). One of the possible explanations for this contradiction-supported by the results of the present study-is that the negative effect of afterlife fear is due to the imbalance with afterlife hope.…”

Section: Discussion and Directions For Future Researchcontrasting

confidence: 96%

To Heaven or to Hell: Are Muslims’ Afterlife Hope and Fear Balanced? A Cross-Cultural Study

Al-Issa

¹

,

Krauss

²

,

Roslan

³

et al. 2020

Review of Religious Research

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Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

show abstract

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