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A stairway to heaven? Structure of the religious involvement inventory and spiritual well-being scale

Gow, Alan J.; Watson, Roger; Whiteman, Martha; Deary, Ian J.

Authors

Alan J. Gow

Martha Whiteman

Ian J. Deary



Abstract

Being religious or having spiritual beliefs has been linked to improved health and well-being in several empirical studies. Potential underlying mechanisms can be suggested by psychometrically reliable and valid indices. Two self-report measures of religiosity/spirituality were completed by a cohort of older adults: the Religious Involvement Inventory and the Spiritual Well-being Scale. Both were analyzed using principal components analysis and the Mokken scaling procedure. The latter technique examines whether items can be described as having a hierarchical structure. The results across techniques were comparable and hierarchical structures were discovered in the scales. Analysis of the hierarchy in the RII items suggested the latent trait assesses the extent to which an individual's belief in God influences their life. Examining scales with a range of psychometric techniques may give a better indication of the latent construct being assessed, particularly the hierarchies within these which may be of interest to those investigating religiosity-health associations. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Citation

Gow, A. J., Watson, R., Whiteman, M., & Deary, I. J. (2011). A stairway to heaven? Structure of the religious involvement inventory and spiritual well-being scale. Journal of religion and health, 50(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9375-2

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Jul 8, 2010
Publication Date 2011-03
Journal JOURNAL OF RELIGION & HEALTH
Print ISSN 0022-4197
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 50
Issue 1
Pages 5-19
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9375-2
Keywords Principal components analysis; Mokken scaling procedure; Religiosity; Spirituality; Hierarchical structure
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/423706



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