RESEARCH_FILE
Jonathan S. Abramowitz
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Known for:Cognitive-behavioral model of scrupulosity and treatment of OCD; developer of the Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity
Key findings
- 2014
Religious upbringing creates beliefs about the moral significance of intrusive thoughts that, in vulnerable individuals, activate a maintenance cycle: the thought is appraised as sinful, anxiety rises, compulsive rituals (prayer, confession) provide brief relief, but doubt returns stronger — trapping the person in an escalating loop. Scrupulosity: A Cognitive-Behavioral Analysis and Implications for Treatment ↗
- 2019
In a sample of people with OCD, those identifying as Catholic reported the highest levels of scrupulosity relative to Protestants, Jews, and those with no religion — and scrupulosity predicted OCD severity above and beyond general religious affiliation, suggesting it is the specific sin/moral-thought framing, not religious participation itself, that matters. Scrupulosity, Religious Affiliation and Symptom Presentation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ↗