The need for cognitive closure and locus of control as predictors of religiosity among Maltese university students

Abstract

The influence of the need for closure and locus of control on religiosity among Maltese individuals was explored through a sample of university students (N = 57). While the literature revealed that religious individuals tend to have a high need for closure, the relationship between locus of control and religiosity was found to be mediated by age, gender and socioeconomic status. In effect, taking these moderating variables into account, the research question revolved around whether or not a high need for closure and an external locus of control together predicted religiosity in the present sample. However, the results found were not statistically significant. Thus, religiosity in this sample was assumed to stem for reasons other than the participants' need for closure and locus of control, ascertaining the complexity involved in separating religiosity from its antecedents.