RELIGIOSITY AND WELL-BEING IN SLOVAK AND HUNGARIAN STUDENT SAMPLES: THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS

The paper deals with the relationship between religiosity and different aspects of well-being in samples of Slovak and Hungarian university students and raises the question of whether this relationship is moderated by personality traits. Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, Purpose in Life test, Steger's Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Bipolar Big Five Markers were administered to 274 Slovak and 249 Hungarian university students. The results of bi-variety comparisons showed that religiosity correlated positively with meaning in life in both samples, but higher religiosity was associated with satisfaction and happiness only in the Hungarian sample. A series of moderated regression analysis testing three-way interaction models (religiosity x personality trait x nation) showed no support for an overall moderation effect of personality traits. Only weak interactions were found for agreeableness and openness in the Slovak sample when predicting meaning in life. The authors emphasize the need to take the cultural context of the religiosity/well-being relationship into account and suggest the need for further research on the question of whether religiosity could be considered as a universal source of meaning in different cultures.