What's missing from existing religious orientations scales?

Mary Ann Cejka, Purdue University

Abstract

Existing religious orientation scales are critiqued for the inadequacy of their conceptual range. Specifically, it is argued that existing scales do not adequately take into account the communal, concrete, democratic, and ascetical aspects of religious orientation. Scales were constructed to tap these dimensions. Validity of the new scales was assessed using tests for convergent and divergent validity and a criterion groups approach. Tests for convergent and divergent validity provided support for the validity of all the new scales; the criterion groups method supported the validity of the scale measuring hierarchical versus democratic aspects of religious orientation, and to some extent the scale measuring concrete and communal aspects of religious orientation. Predictive utility of the new scales was demonstrated by the significant amount of variance accounted for in regression models using racial prejudice, attitudes toward women, attitudes toward homosexuals, and images of the divine as criterion variables.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Langston, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Psychological tests|Religion

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