Personality Differences between Christian and Secular College Students

Abstract

Evangelicals almost routinely assume that the personalities of Christians are different from those of non-Christians, but there is little objective evidence for this assertion. The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey was used to evaluate personality differences between Christian students and two groups of secular students. A number of statistically significant differences were found which suggested that Christian students had fewer social contacts than secular students but that they saw themselves as more friendly and good-natured. In addition, Christian females saw themselves as more submissive and less energetic than their secular counterparts. These differences were so small, however, that they were of no practical significance, and the possibility that they might be related to factors other than Christian belief could not be eliminated. The implications of the study for the integration of psychology with Christianity were discussed.