The Dark Side of Purpose: The Interplay of Meaning in Life, Criminal Attitudes, and Deviant Association

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between meaning in life, criminal attitudes, deviant association, and self-sacrifice for religion. The total population was 354, consisting of online respondents, students, respondents in drug rehabilitation settings, and prisoners. The researchers used Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses to analyze the data. Results revealed that there was a significant relationship between meaning in life and self-sacrifice for religion (r = .456, p < .01), and that meaning in life is a significant predictor of self-sacrifice (β = .446, p < .001). Criminal attitude also positively correlated with self-sacrifice (r = .329, p < .01) and significantly predicted it (β = .258, p < .001). Meanwhile, deviant association was negatively related to self-sacrifice (r = −.208, p < .01) and negatively predicted the outcome (β = −.348, p < .001). The predictors explained 36.1% of the variance (R² = .361). The results suggest that there are unique relationships between religious self-sacrificial tendencies and each of these characteristics when they are assessed statistically. Because this is a cross-sectional study, the results cannot be interpreted as causal and are more likely associations.