The relationship of religious attitude with self-control andself-discrepancy in students

Abstract

Background and Aim: Spiritual attitude is one of the factors affecting mental health of students. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of religious attitudes with self-control and self-discrepancy (S-D) in students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (SKUMS) in 2017. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 328 students of the SKUMS were studied. The participants completed Tangney Self-control Survey, Higgins Self-discrepancy Questionnaire, a religious attitude questionnaire, and a checklist of demographic information. For data analysis, in addition to descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and one-way ANOVA were used. Stata software was used to analyze the data. Results: The mean values of religious attitude, self-control, and self-discrepancy were higher in women in comparison with men (P< 0.05). There was a significant difference between self-control religious beliefs, actual-self minus actual-self (S-D2), and self-discrepancy in terms of total monthly income of all family members (P< 0.05). Academic discipline was significantly associated with religious attitude, ideal-self minus actual-self (S-D1), S-D2, and S-D (P< 0.05), but self-control difference was not significant (P= 0.84). There was a linear relationship, significant correlation of religious attitude with the mean values of self-control, required self, actual-self, idea-self, self-discrepancy, and S-D1 and S-D2 (P< 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, religious attitude was associated with self-control, self-discrepancy, and their dimensions.