I’ve always pondered the reasons behind my disinclination to join groups. Could it be because of my introverted personality or perhaps my upbringing? My family has a long history of being skeptical outsiders. Or maybe it’s a cultural shift? After all, Americans have shown a decline in group participation over time. In 2011, Pew Research reported that “75 percent of Americans are active in one kind of group or another.” However, in 2019, Pew reported that only 57 percent of Americans “participate in some type of community group or organization.” Some readers of my series also raised the question of whether there is an inherent quality that determines whether individuals are joiners or not. This sparked my curiosity to investigate further.
After extensive research and conversations with research psychologists, I’ve come to believe that my lack of desire to join groups is likely a combination of various factors, including personality, identity, family environment, and the broader culture. However, I discovered one unexpected twist (at least surprising to me) — religiosity may have a minor genetic component.
Zachary Hohman, an associate professor of psychological sciences at Texas Tech University who specializes in group behavior, explains that people have multiple motivations for joining groups, but uncertainty about one’s identity and place in society plays a significant role. The less certain you are about who you are, the more likely you are to seek guidance from a group, which can provide direction on your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This is why teenagers and young adults, whose sense of self is still developing, tend to be more inclined to join groups, which may explain the enduring popularity of Greek life in American universities.
However, when it comes to religious groups, there is something unique about the individuals who join them, as pointed out by Mohsen Joshanloo, an associate professor of psychology at Keimyung University in South Korea. Joshanloo studies the “Big 5” personality traits — neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness — and their relationship to religiosity. According to Joshanloo, on a population level, agreeableness (level of compassion and cooperation) and conscientiousness (level of responsibility) weakly correlate with religiosity.
On an individual level, Joshanloo’s research indicates that a person’s level of openness, which refers to their curiosity and acceptance of new ideas, is associated with their future religiosity. Interestingly, an increase in openness is linked to a decrease in religiosity after approximately ten years.
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