1 A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity on the Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity on the Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students Bertulfo, Mary Apple Divinagracia, Charles Gacus, Rudiela Maria Tessa Gealon, Jirah Mae Navos, Michelle University of San Carlos Department of Psychology Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City
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1A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
Bertulfo, Mary Apple
Divinagracia, Charles
Gacus, Rudiela Maria Tessa
Gealon, Jirah Mae
Navos, Michelle
University of San Carlos
Department of Psychology
Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City
2A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
Risk taking behavior is a widely debated topic. The nature versus nurture argument is at the
center of the discussion. Freud and Watson relied heavily on biological bases as indicators of
personality development. They argue that underdeveloped biological systems can result in
impulsive, and risk taking behavior (adolescent risk taking). Other theorists contest the biological
basis for personality development and stress the importance of external forces (social experience)
as a driving force in personality development. Social experience is an essential part of
development because social interaction is encountered frequently. Religion is one important
social experience that holds certain ideologies and doctrines. Firm belief, adequate knowledge
and implementation of religious doctrines comprise religiosity. This study aims to supply further
knowledge of the relationship between levels of religiosity and its correlation to risk taking
behavior. The religiosity measure which incorporates the different dimensions of
religiosity( Glock & Stark, 1965) and the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) (Weber,
Blais & and Betz, 2002) was used as the bases for correlating levels of religiosity and risk taking
behavior. There was no significant correlation between levels of religiosity and risk taking
behavior as a whole. On the other hand, certain dimensions of religiosity were found to be
significantly correlated with certain aspects of risk taking behavior. This information can be used
to stress the importance of certain dimensions of religiosity and its effects on certain aspects of
risk taking behavior.
Religion is an integral part of most cultures across the world. It is an organized system of
beliefs, practices and rituals designed to facilitate closeness to God (a higher power or ultimate
truth) and develop personal relationships with other people (Thoresen, 1999). It is considered as
a powerful construct that influences values, beliefs, decision making, personality, self-
3A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
knowledge, and the development of self-control (Cacioppo & Brandon, 2002). In general, it can
influence behavior and personality. Behavior, which refers to the way in which a person acts in
response to a particular situation or stimulus, can be internal or external, conscious or
unconscious, voluntary or involuntary. Each action caused by a certain behavior can create
different outcomes that may benefit or cost the individual. How the person responds to these
uncertain outcomes is the definition of Risk-taking behavior (Trimpop, 1994).
Risk-taking behavior can be caused by both external and internal factors. There has been
a healthy debate as to the weight of external and internal influences. Sigmund Freud says that
anatomy translates into destiny (Freud, 1924). He believes that individuals have predisposed
traits, and these traits guide personality development throughout a lifetime. Other psychologists
such as Adler have contrasting ideas. He has a more optimistic view of people, arguing that
people rely heavily on social interest, and that people are largely responsible for who they are
(Feist & Feist, 2010). External factors (social experiences) are encountered by individuals from
the moment they are born. These social experiences continue as the person progresses through
life. In general, people encounter social experiences every day and it cannot be ignored that these
heavily influence perception and action regardless of internal factors. One social experience that
is a popular construct is the belief in a higher power or ultimate truth. Most refer to this construct
as Religion.
Since religion is an important social experience, therefore it can influence behavior. Risk
taking is one type of behavior. Kumar et al. (2010) explained that religious beliefs have
diverging effects on risk-taking behaviors. If a person has high levels of devoutness, it can mean
4A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
stronger grasp on the religious beliefs. Do these stronger grasp on religious beliefs lower risk
taking behavior? On a nationally representative sample of American high school seniors,
Johnston and O’Malley (1993) at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, tested
respondents action to risk taking activities (adventure seeking). They found a negative
correlation between self-reported importance of religion and aversion to pure risk. In a similar
study, Religious attendance was correlated with several measures of aversion to uncertainty (i.e.
trying new things in life) (Hilary & Hui 2009). They found out that there was a negative
correlation between religious attendance and the preference of risk taking. According to the
studies, religious attendance and religious beliefs can lower risk taking behavior, but going to
church regularly and recognizing religious beliefs is not a measure of religiosity. People can go
to church regularly and believe in religious concepts but it does not translate how devout the
person is. Religiosity is multi-dimensional (experiential, ideological/intellectual, consequential,
ritualistic) and does not rely on conceptual belief of the person only. If one dimension of
religiosity is present, it does not necessarily guarantee the acquisition of other dimensions, nor
does one dimension of religiosity flow in another (Glock & Stark, 1965). Therefore, it is
important to factor in the different dimensions of religiosity when assessing the religiosity of a
person.
This study tries to correlate the different dimensions of religiosity and level of risk
taking behavior. Since, religiosity is a frequent social encounter; we predict that there is a
negative correlation between levels of religiosity and risk taking behavior.
The main objective of this study is to be able to find a connection between an individual’s
level of religiosity and the degree of risk-taking behavior, and also to know the role of an
5A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
individual’s religion towards his principles and decisions in doing such actions that may or may
not lead to unknown consequence. Since, the society in present time is concerned with the high
rates of involvement in risk behaviors; this study gives concrete awareness on how the degree of
religiosity influences risk taking behavior. Every religion has constructs which the individual is
expected to follow. It is logical to assume that the more devout the individual is to the respective
religion, the likelihood of following the constructs of the religion also increases but another
argument can be made. High levels of devoutness can also entail the individual to adopt the
“leave it all to God” attitude, thus allowing the person to disregard the constructs and take the
risk. If there is indeed a negative relationship between levels of religiosity and the degree of risk
taking behaviors, this information can be very useful for assessing why people take risks,
especially adolescents. Adolescents engage in risk taking behavior more often than adults. This
study can also be used to encourage adolescents to actively participate in religious activities if
there is a relationship between the two variables.
WHAT IS RELIGIOSITY?
Religiosity is a complex construct which is hard to define mainly because of two reasons.
The first reason is that the nature of the English word religiosity is said to be uncertain and
imprecise. It is synonymous with other terms such as faith, religiousness, orthodoxy, belief,
piousness, devotion, and holiness. However, the studies conducted about religiosity would
consider these as parts, aspects, or dimensions of religiosity instead of considering them as an
equivalent term for it. The second reason for this complexity is that the concept of religiosity is
usually discussed over several academic disciplines, and that these academic disciplines have
6A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
different approaches and views about religiosity (Cardwell, 1980; Demerath & Hammond,
1969).
Though religiosity is a hard word to define (Fetzer Institute, 1999; Hackney & Sanders,
2003), most theorists agree that it is not the same with spirituality (Fetzer Institute, 1999; Miller
1999), and that religiosity is the external or outward expression of the inward spiritual system
Mutch, & Chitwood, 1996; Miller, Davies, & Greenwald, 2000). In addition, a study of 954
Australian teens (ages 15-19) indicated that youth who consider themselves highly religious were
less involved in behaviours that youth in the study classified as high-risk. Considerable evidence
shows that involvement in a religious community seems to exert on adolescent behaviour. Teens
who report that religion is important in their lives and who participate in organized worship and
religious activities will exhibit lower rates of risk behaviours. In Sinha, Cnaan and Gelles’ study,
the age of the teen was the most consistent and powerful explanation of risk involvement, where
engagement in risk behaviours increased with age, and a culture that encourages older teens to
experiment with new behaviours means that with each additional year of age, the chance of
engaging in risk behaviour increases. If the youth is exposed to religion at an early age, it may
moderate the increase of risk taking behaviour in individuals each year.
14A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
It is also possible that involvement with organized religion and perceived importance of
religion helped set clear boundaries for teens and teens are more accepting of limits when
boundary messages are consistent and well-grounded in more than one setting (Ianni, 1989). A
final possible explanation is that youth who value religion as important and are active with
religious congregations have parents who supervise them more closely and encourage them to
get involved with organized religion and thus contribute to their decreased risk activity (Cnaan,
Gelles, & Sinha, 2004). A lot of evidence highlights the importance of religiosity in decreasing
risk taking behaviour. Further study of the relationship between religiosity and risk taking
behaviour in adolescents will help understand the true value of religiosity.
15A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
METHODS
A. Research Participants
The participants will be composed of sixty second year psychology students from
the University of San Carlos.
B. Research Design
The researchers will hand out two different tests to each participant. The two
questionnaires will be the bases for correlating the two variables (religiosity and risk-
taking behaviors). The method for choosing the participants will be based on their
availability.
C. Research Instruments
The Religiosity Measure (Rohrbaugh & Jessor, 1975) is a questionnaire used to
evaluate the impact of religion on the respondent’s daily, secular life as well as to
determine the extent of individual participation in ritual practices (Bolvin). It is a reliable
test because it is intended to be applicable to religiosity in general. Moreover, no
particular religious affiliation is needed. It makes use of the four dimensions of religiosity
(Glock, 1959) namely ritual, consequential, ideological and experiential. It has two
multiple choice questions for each dimension. Each question is scored from zero (least
religiosity) to four (greatest religiosity). The “attendance at religious services” question is
categorized according to four meaningful breaks in the response distribution. Each
subscale has a maximum score of 8. Thirty- two is the maximum score for the entire
16A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
scale. It has a Cronbach coefficient alpha of over .90. This indicates high internal
consistency for the instrument (Scott, 1960).
The Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale developed by Weber, Blais,
and Betz (2002) is revised in order to be applicable to a wider range of ages, cultures, and
educational levels (Blais & Weber, 2006). This test looks at five subscales of risk-taking
(ethical, financial, health/safety, recreational and social). It is composed of a thirty item
test with values from one (indicating extremely unlikely) to seven (indicating extremely
likely). The DOSPERT test has an average Cronbach alpha of .74
In order to correlate the two variables (religiosity and risk-taking behavior), the
Pearson R correlation will tell the magnitude and direction of the association between
two variables that are on an interval or ratio scale (Archambault, 2000).
D. Research Procedure
1. Data Gathering
The proponents used convenience sampling but targeted second year psychology
students to gather the 60 required subjects for the study. Each participant answered two
questionnaires (the religiosity measure & DOSPERT scale). There was no specific time
allotted for both questionnaires. Participants returned the questionnaires whenever they
felt like returning them. All sixty participants returned the questionnaires within three
days. There were questions in the religiosity measure which were not answered properly
(How many times have you attended religious services during the past year?). These
questions were scored zero. For the DOSPERT Scale, some questions were left blank and
therefore also scored zero.
2. Data Analysis
17A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
The dimensions used in the religiosity measure were individually scored (e.g
ritualistic-8, consequential-5, ideological-6, and experiential-5). The score of each
dimension was then added. This is now the individual’s level of Religiosity. The second
questionnaire (DOSPERT scale) had thirty questions. Each question was scored from 1 to
7. The maximum score for the DOSPERT scale is 210. Like the religiosity measure, the
DOSPERT scale has different aspects of risk( dimensions for religiosity). Each aspect is
composed of 6 questions scattered among the 30 questions. The score of each aspect of
risk taking was indicated as well (e.g. ethical-31, financial-22, health/safety-15,
recreational-18, and social-24). Adding each risk taking aspect determines the
individual’s total score for risk taking behavior. After computing the scores of each
dimension of religiosity and aspects of risk taking, the researchers correlated these
variables (e.g. ritualistic dimension of religiosity correlated with ethical aspect of risk
taking). Aside from correlating each dimension of religiosity and aspect of risk taking,
level of religiosity and level of risk taking behavior was correlated as a whole. SPSS 14.0
student version was used to input and correlate the data gathered.
18A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
RESULTS
There was no significant correlation between levels of religiosity and level of risk
taking behavior as a whole, r=-.179. Even if there was no significant relationship between the
two variables, certain dimensions of religiosity were significantly correlated with certain aspects
of risk taking behavior. The consequential and ideological dimensions of religiosity were
significantly correlated to health and safety risk taking at .05 level, r=-.261, r=-318 respectively.
This indicates that having strong ideologies about religion (ideological) and knowing the
consequences of an individual’s action (consequential) can lead to lesser health/safety risk
taking. Furthermore, correlations between dimensions of religiosity were present. The
ritualistic dimension of religiosity was significantly correlated to the consequential dimension
of religiosity at .01 level, r=.373. This means attending religious services more often (ritualistic)
can lead to awareness of consequences (consequential) of an individual’s action. The
consequential dimension and ideological dimension were also positively correlated at .05 level,
r=.341 indicating a possibility that adequate knowledge of an individual’s religion (ideological)
may cause a person to be more wary of the consequences of the individual’s action
(consequential). The experiential dimension and consequential dimension were also
significantly correlated at .01 level, r=.382. This indicates a possibility that personal experiences
with a God(experiential) can affect how an individual look at consequences of a certain act.
Correlations between risk taking behavior aspects were found as well. Ethical risk
taking was significantly correlated to financial & health and safety risk taking at .01 level,
19A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
r=.455, r=.404, respectively. Ethical risk taking (moral principles of a person) may lead to
engaging in unprotected sex (health and safety) and betting (financial). Health and Safety risk
taking was significantly correlated to recreational and social risk taking at .01 level, r=.344,
r=.403, respectively. Finally, recreational risk taking was significantly correlated to social risk
taking at .01 level, r=.372.
20A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
21A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
LIMIT ATIONS
This study finds that there is no significant relationship between levels of religiosity and
risk taking behavior. The results of the study were derived from a sample size of 60. It must be
remembered that a smaller sample size can result in errors. A sample size of sixty is very
susceptible to those errors.
Some of the participants knew the nature of the study, so this may have contributed to
bias in their answers.
Another limitation is evident in the religiosity scale. Although the scale is acceptable for
all religions, it cannot be avoided that some questions bias a certain religion.
This study is only applicable to a select group of people who have a religion; therefore
people who do not have a religion may not be assessed in terms of their risk taking behavior.
Finally, the DOSPERT scale looks at certain kinds of risks only, and may exclude other
kinds of risk taking behavior, leading to inconsistencies in measuring risk taking.
Conclusion
This study concludes that risk taking behavior is not predicted by an individual’s level of
religiosity. This study also finds out that certain dimensions of religiosity affect risk taking
behavior, but its affect on risk taking as a whole is minimal. Another finding is that the
consequential dimension of religiosity is the most common variable which had significant
correlations with certain aspects of risk taking and dimensions of religiosity. This implies that
knowing the consequences of an action can be an indicator of changes in risk taking behavior
22A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
and levels of religiosity. In addition two possibilities can be derived from the study. First, the
“leave it all” to God attitude, wherein the individual takes the risk due to an individual’s full
belief in a God may still be possible because there was no significant negative correlation
between the two variables (levels of religiosity and risk taking behavior). Second, risk taking
may still be partly due to levels of religiosity but “the leave it all to God” attitude may have
contributed to inconsistencies in the results.
23A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
APPENDIX
Appendix A
Name (optional):
Age (required):
Instructions: The following questionnaire consists of seven multiple-choice items with one fill-in-the-blank item. Please answer the following questions by circling the appropriate letter for the multiple-choice items and providing the most accurate number for the fill-in-the-blank question.
1. How many times have you attended religious services during the past year? _______ times
2. Which of the following best describes your practice of prayer or religious meditation?a. Prayer is a regular part of my daily life.b. I usually pray in times of stress or need but rarely at any other time.c. I pray only during formal ceremonies.d. I never pray.
3. When you have a serious personal problem, how often do you take religious advice or teaching into consideration?
a. Almost alwaysb. Usuallyc. Sometimesd. Never
4. How much influence would you say that religion has on the way that you choose to act and the way that you choose to spend your time each day?
a. No influenceb. A small influencec. Some influenced. A fair amount of influencee. A large influence
5. Which of the following statements comes closest to your belief about God?a. I am sure that God really exists and that He is active in my life.b. Although I sometimes question His existence, I do believe in God and believe He
knows of me as a person.
24A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
c. I don’t know if there is a personal God, but I do believe in a higher power of some kind.
d. I don’t know if there is a personal God or a higher power of some kind, and I don’t know if I ever will.
e. I don’t believe in a personal God or in a higher power.6. Which one of the following statements comes closest to your belief about life after death
(immortality)?a. I believe in a personal life after death, a soul existing as a specific individual
spirit.b. I believe in a soul existing after death as a part of a universal spirit.c. I believe in a life after death of some kind, but I really don’t know what it would
be like.d. I don’t know whether there is any kind of life after death, and I don’t know if I
will ever know.e. I don’t believe in any kind of life after death.
7. During the past year, how often have you experienced a feeling of religious reverence or devotion?
a. Almost dailyb. Frequentlyc. Sometimesd. Rarelye. Never
8. Do you agree with the following statement? “Religion gives me a great amount of comfort and security in life.”
a. Strongly disagreeb. Disagreec. Uncertaind. Agreee. Strongly agree
25A Study on the Effect of Level of Religiosity onthe Degree of Risk Taking Behavior on Second Year Psychology Students
Appendix B
Name (optional):
Age (required):
For each of the following statements, please indicate the likelihood that you would engage in the described activity or behavior if you were to find yourself in that situation. Provide a rating from Extremely Unlikely to Extremely Likely,