Personality and Religious Belief Change: A Study of English-Speaking Albanian Adults

This study examined associations between Big Five personality traits and self-reported substantial religious or nonreligious belief change among English-speaking Albanian adults, with openness to experience as the focal trait. A convenience sample of 104 adults completed an online religious-history questionnaire and the 30-item Big Five Inventory–2 Short Form. Point-biserial correlations compared respondents reporting substantial belief change since ages 10–16 with those reporting no change (N = 76; N = 75 for conscientiousness). Openness was not significantly associated with belief change, r = .077, p = .508, 95% CI [−.151, .297]. Agreeableness showed a negative exploratory association, r = −.266, p = .020, which did not remain significant after Holm correction across four exploratory tests (adjusted p = .081). Extraversion, conscientiousness, and negative emotionality were nonsignificant. Post hoc checks identified weak internal consistency for openness (α = .500). Welch and Spearman analyses broadly preserved the conclusions. Weak openness reliability, modest samples, retrospective measurement, convenience recruitment, and the cross-sectional design preclude causal conclusions. This study was not preregistered and did not receive institutional ethics review; participants provided informed electronic consent.