Faculty Articles
Is Thought-Action Fusion Related to Religiosity? Differences between Christians and Jews
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Behavior Research and Therapy
ISSN
0005-7967
Publication Date
4-2007
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between thought–action fusion (TAF) and religiosity in Christians and Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform). There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that religiosity is related to obsessive cognitions in Christian samples, but conceptual and empirical ambiguities complicate the interpretation of that literature and its application to non-Christian groups. As predicted on the basis of previous research, Christians scored higher than Jews on moral TAF. This effect was large and not explained by differences in self-reported religiosity. The Jewish groups did not differ from each other. Furthermore, religiosity was significantly associated with TAF only within the Christian group. These results qualify the presumed association between religiosity and obsessive cognitions. General religiosity is not associated with TAF; it rather depends on what religious group. Moreover, large group differences in a supposed maladaptive construct without evidence of corresponding differences in prevalence rates call into question the assumption that TAF is always a marker of pathology.
DOI
10.1016/j.brat.2006.05.001
Volume
45
Issue
4
First Page
829
Last Page
837
NSUWorks Citation
Siev, J.,
Cohen, A. B.
(2007). Is Thought-Action Fusion Related to Religiosity? Differences between Christians and Jews. Behavior Research and Therapy, 45(4), 829-837.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/164
