Does Religious Beliefs And Behaviours Have A Role To Play In The Emergence Of Magical Thinking And OC Symptoms In Indian Adults- A Correlational Analysis

Background: Having religious beliefs and following religious rituals have been a part of human culture since time immemorial. Literature suggests that excessive use of religious rituals strengthen individual’s belief in unscientific causal relations of the events, i.e., magical thinking. Further, this unscientific causal relations lead to sub-clinical and/or clinical intrusions when individual faces stressful or uncertain life circumstances. To the best of our knowledge there is no Indian empirical research that confirms this literature. Therefore, Aim: The present study aims to explore the causal relation between religious beliefs/behaviours and magical thinking. The study also explores relationship between religious beliefs, magical thinking and OC symptoms in the Indian adult sample. Methods: 400 non-clinical, community-based participants were contacted and assessed on the Religious Belief and Behaviour Questionnaire (RBBQ); Illusory Belief Inventory (IBI); and Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory- revised (OCI-r). Results: A significant positive correlation (r=.33**, .31**, .35**) was found between religious belief/behaviour and magical thinking measure; magical thinking measure and OC symptoms measure (r= .32**); no correlation was found between religious belief/behaviour and OC symptoms measures (r= .06, .03, .05). Conclusion: Religious belief and behaviour have strong influence on magical thinking as observed in strong positive correlation. The result also proposes strong causal relation between magical thinking and OC symptoms. Present research highlights importance of religious rituals and related practices in the conception of magical thinking and OC symptoms. Further, findings related to magical thinking and the role of religion in the acquisition of magical thinking are novel in Indian population.