Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL)

Abstract

The Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL) is a 26-item self-report instrument developed in 2012 by de Jager Meezenbroek and colleagues. Its primary objective is to provide a comprehensive and psychometrically sound measure of spirituality conceptualized as a universal human experience, independent of specific religious affiliation. The scale assesses both internal spiritual attitudes and external spiritual involvement, encompassing cognitive, affective, behavioral, and experiential dimensions. It is structured around a robust, seven-factor model, making it highly valuable for research in health psychology and psychosocial oncology where the spiritual dimension of coping and well-being is critical.

Keywords

Spirituality, Spiritual Attitude, Spiritual Involvement, Meaningfulness, Trust, Acceptance, Psychological Measurement, Psychometrics, Well-being, Psychological construct.

Authors

E. C. de Jager Meezenbroek, B. Garssen, M. van den Berg, G. Tuytel, D. van Dierendonck, A. Visser, W. B. Schaufeli.

Purpose

The principal purpose of the SAIL is to measure the spiritual dimension of life in a way that transcends traditional measures of religiosity. The authors sought to operationalize spirituality as a fundamental human resource that contributes to resilience and coping, particularly in the face of adversity. By focusing on attitudes (e.g., Trust, Acceptance) and involvement (e.g., Spiritual Activities, Caring for Others), the instrument provides a fine-grained analysis of an individual’s spiritual resources.

The scale is particularly useful for clinical and health research, enabling researchers and practitioners to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at enhancing spiritual health and overall quality of life. Its multidimensional structure allows for targeted assessment of specific spiritual deficits or strengths.

Construct

The SAIL measures a comprehensive, multidimensional psychological construct of spirituality. This construct is defined by the seven subscales identified through factor analysis, which collectively represent the diverse ways individuals experience and express their connection to meaning, self-transcendence, and the world. The scale’s design ensures that spirituality is captured as an inherent human capacity rather than a specific set of religious dogmas or practices.

The construct distinguishes between the internal disposition toward life (attitudes like Acceptance and Trust) and active engagement with the world (involvement like Caring for Others and Spiritual Activities), providing a holistic view of spiritual functioning. This framework highlights spirituality as a mechanism for finding meaningfulness, achieving inner peace, and maintaining psychological equilibrium.

Validity

The initial development and subsequent validation studies demonstrated strong evidence for the construct validity of the SAIL. The seven-factor structure was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis, establishing that the subscales adequately represent the theoretical dimensions of universal spirituality intended by the authors.

Convergent validity was established by showing significant positive correlations between SAIL scores and measures of related concepts, such as purpose in life, mental health, and quality of life. Conversely, appropriate correlations with measures of distress and psychopathology reinforced its utility in clinical contexts. The instrument’s ability to differentiate between spiritual attitudes and spiritual involvement further supports its superior psychometric properties compared to unidimensional scales.

Reliability

The Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List exhibits high levels of internal consistency. The reliability of the subscales, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients in the validation study, was generally strong, confirming that the items within each factor are coherent and reliably measure the intended underlying dimension. Most subscales reported alpha values well above the acceptable threshold of 0.70.

The robust reliability across the seven factors ensures that the SAIL can be used effectively both as a total score measure of general spirituality and as a diagnostic tool for assessing specific spiritual resources or vulnerabilities.

Factor Analysis

The SAIL is based on a seven-factor model derived from extensive factor analysis, which provides detailed insight into the structure of spirituality. The 26 items load onto the following distinct factors:

• Meaningfulness (Items 4, 12, 17)
• Trust (Items 1, 3, 9, 13)
• Acceptance (Items 6, 8, 11, 15)
• Caring for Others (Items 2, 7, 16, 18)
• Connectedness with Nature (Items 5, 14)
• Transcendent Experiences (Items 19, 20, 21, 23, 25)
• Spiritual Activities (Items 10, 22, 24, 26)

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological measurement scale.

Format: 26 items scored on a 6-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Validated versions may also exist in Dutch and other European languages, based on the authors’ affiliation).

Population Group: General adult population and clinical populations (e.g., cancer patients).

Age Group: Adults.

Population Details: Developed using a diverse sample pool from the Netherlands, including healthy adults and individuals coping with chronic illness.

Test Methodology: The scale uses two different 6-point response scales. For attitude-based items (1–18), respondents rate their degree of agreement (1=not at all, 6=to a very high degree). For involvement/experience items (19–26), respondents rate the frequency of the experience (1=never, 6=very often).

Keywords

Spiritual Health, Psychosocial Oncology, Resilience, Inner Peace, Self-Transcendence, Coping, Psychometric Properties, Multidimensionality.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in the source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in the source content.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in the source content (Primary correspondence for the 2012 paper was likely affiliated with VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, or Tilburg University).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The instrument was published in 2012. Researchers should contact the corresponding author, E. C. de Jager Meezenbroek, or the publisher, Taylor & Francis, for formal permissions regarding commercial use or large-scale implementation. The article detailing the development of the scale is published in the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology.

Reference’s

de Jager Meezenbroek, E. C., Garssen, B., van den Berg, M., Tuytel, G., van Dierendonck, D., Visser, A., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Measuring Spirituality as a Universal Human Experience: Development of the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL), Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 30(2): 141-167. The DOI for the original article is: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2011.651258

The original PDF detailing the instrument can be downloaded here: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/487308/1/68.pdf

An English version of the SAIL instrument is also available here: http://www.experiential-researchers.org/instruments/leijssen/SAIL(english)1.pdf

Items of the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL)

1. I approach the world with trust

2. It is important to me that I can do things for others

3. In difficult times, I maintain my inner peace

4. I know what my position is in life

5. The beauty of nature moves me

6. I accept that I am not in full control of the course of my life

7. I am receptive to other people’s suffering

8. I accept that I am not able to influence everything

9. Whatever happens, I am able to cope with life

10. There is a God or higher power in my life that gives me guidance

11. I am aware that each life has its own tragedy

12. I experience the things I do as meaningful

13. I try to take life as it comes

14. When I am in nature, I feel a sense of connection*

15. I accept that life will inevitably sometimes bring me pain*

16. I try to make a meaningful contribution to society*

17. My life has meaning and purpose *

18. I want to mean something to others*

19. I have had experiences during which the nature of reality became apparent to me

20. I have had experiences in which I seemed to merge with a power or force greater than myself

21. I have had experiences in which all things seemed to be part of a greater whole

22. I talk about spiritual themes with others (themes such as the meaning in life, death or religion)

23. I have had experiences where everything seemed perfect

24. I meditate or pray, or take time in other ways to find inner peace

25. I have had experiences where I seemed to rise above myself

26. I attend sessions, workshops, etc. that are focused on spirituality or religion

Scoring Instructions:

For most items (1-18): “1” not at all, “2” hardly at all, “3” somewhat, “4” to a reasonable degree, “5” to a high degree, “6” to a very high degree.

For items 19-26: “1” never, “2” seldom, “3” sometimes, “4” regularly, “5” often, “6” very often.

Subscale Item Groupings:

• Meaningfulness: 4, 12, 17
• Trust: 1, 3, 9, 13
• Acceptance: 6, 8, 11, 15
• Caring for Others: 2, 7, 16, 18
• Connectedness with Nature: 5, 14
• Transcendent Experiences: 19, 20, 21, 23, 25
• Spiritual Activities: 10, 22, 24, 26