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Relationships Among Religiosity, Impulsivity, and Delayed Gratification in Brazilian Adults

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Abstract

Religiousness generally favors self-control and is associated with fewer occurrences of impulsive behavior. Religions often favor delayed rewards as this factor is directly linked to religious principles and dogma. We aimed to analyze the possible association between religiosity, impulsivity, and delayed gratification in Brazilian adults. The study sample consisted of 538 adults evaluated using instruments validated for virtual platform administration through which aspects such as religiosity, impulsiveness, delayed gratification, mental health, personality, and socioeconomic conditions were assessed. We determined the associations among variables through Pearson correlation and regression analysis and found significant correlations between general impulsivity and organized religiosity, nonorganized religiosity, and intrinsic religiosity. We also found significant but weak correlations between gratification delay and religiosity categories. The results of our study suggest that people who are more religious are generally less impulsive and more capable of delaying gratification, although it is a slight correlation. Some mechanisms by which religiosity might be connected to self-control are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

AAP received a Scholarship from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, Belo Horizonte, MG, 6627, Brazil

    Aline Arantes Porto

  2. Programa de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, Belo Horizonte, MG, 190, Brazil

    Bruna Carmeni Di Fini, Lucas Gomes da Silva & Jonas Jardim de Paula

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  1. Aline Arantes Porto
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  2. Bruna Carmeni Di Fini
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  3. Lucas Gomes da Silva
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Correspondence to Aline Arantes Porto.

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Porto, A.A., Di Fini, B.C., da Silva, L.G. et al. Relationships Among Religiosity, Impulsivity, and Delayed Gratification in Brazilian Adults. Pastoral Psychol 73, 271–281 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-023-01096-6

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