Spirituality Perspective Scale (SPS)

Abstract

The Spirituality Perspective Scale (SPS) is a widely utilized psychological scale designed to measure the significance and manifestation of spirituality in an individual’s life. Originally conceptualized by King and Hunt in 1975 as part of broader work on religious variables, the instrument was significantly developed and revised by Pamela G. Reed (1986, 1987) to focus specifically on an individual’s perspective of spirituality, independent of specific religious affiliation. The SPS consists of 10 items assessing both behavioral aspects (e.g., prayer, discussion) and cognitive/affective aspects (e.g., seeking guidance, finding meaning). It has proven valuable in research settings, particularly those examining coping, adaptation, and well-being among various populations, including the elderly and those facing terminal illness.

Keywords

Spirituality Perspective Scale, SPS, Pamela G. Reed, King and Hunt, spirituality, psychological assessment, religiousness, coping, well-being, psychometrics

Authors

M. B. King, R. A. Hunt, Pamela G. Reed

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Spirituality Perspective Scale (SPS) is to quantify the extent to which spirituality serves as a salient resource or perspective within an individual’s daily existence. It aims to assess the personal importance, cognitive influence, and behavioral expression of spiritual beliefs. Unlike measures focused purely on religious doctrine or institutional attendance, the SPS captures the subjective and functional role of spirituality as a developmental resource.

The scale is frequently employed in health psychology and nursing research to explore the relationships between a spiritual perspective and outcomes such as depression, adaptation to illness, and overall quality of life. The items are structured to capture dimensions of spiritual involvement ranging from private practices (meditation, prayer) to the application of spiritual principles in daily decision-making and interpersonal sharing.

Construct

The SPS measures the construct of Spiritual Perspective, defined largely by Reed’s theoretical framework, which views spirituality as a fundamental human dimension that integrates and transcends the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of life. This perspective encompasses the search for meaning, purpose, and connectedness to a higher power or transcendent reality.

The 10 items of the SPS operationalize this construct across two general domains: Spiritual Activities/Practices (Items 1-4) and Spiritual Significance/Meaning (Items 5-10). The first domain focuses on the frequency of external and internal spiritual engagement, while the second domain addresses the core beliefs, influence, and importance of spiritual views in shaping the individual’s identity and decision processes, such as the importance of forgiveness and seeking spiritual guidance.

Validity

While specific detailed validity coefficients (such as factor loadings or criterion validity scores) are best sought in the primary research papers by Reed (1986, 1987), the SPS has demonstrated robust construct validity through its consistent use in differentiating groups based on levels of coping and psychological adjustment.

Content validity was established during Reed’s revision process, ensuring the items comprehensively cover the behavioral and cognitive dimensions of spiritual perspective, moving beyond traditional measures of religiousness. Furthermore, criterion validity is supported by findings that scores on the SPS correlate significantly and negatively with measures of distress, such as depression, and positively with indicators of psychological well-being, particularly in vulnerable populations like the elderly or terminally ill.

Reliability

The Spirituality Perspective Scale exhibits strong internal reliability, a key requirement for any robust psychological scale. Studies utilizing the SPS, including its application to diverse groups such as Korean elders, generally report high Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients, often exceeding the standard threshold of 0.80.

This high internal consistency indicates that the 10 items consistently measure the same underlying construct of spiritual perspective. The repeated successful application of the SPS across various cross-sectional and longitudinal studies further attests to its stability and reliability as a measurement tool in health and aging research.

Factor Analysis

Although originally derived from earlier work, Reed’s adaptation of the SPS typically functions as a unidimensional scale in scoring, yielding a single total score representing the overall spiritual perspective. However, research has sometimes explored sub-dimensions.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results often suggest that the scale, while highly correlated internally, might contain factors reflecting the distinction between behavioral spiritual engagement (frequency of prayer, reading) and cognitive/affective spiritual meaning (importance, guidance, forgiveness). Researchers generally recommend calculating the total score for the most comprehensive measure of the construct, as the high inter-item correlations support its use as a measure of a single, overarching spiritual perspective.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire

Format: 10 items utilizing two distinct 6-point Likert-type scales.

Language Available: Primarily English, but translations (e.g., Korean) have been utilized in research contexts, such as the study referenced below.

Population Group: Adults, frequently used with elderly populations, terminally ill patients, and caregivers.

Age Group: 18+ (Adults and older adults)

Population Details: Originally validated in studies involving healthy and terminally hospitalized adults, and later applied to diverse clinical and community samples, including Korean elders.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or frequency of engagement regarding spiritual matters using the specified 6-point scales. Higher scores indicate a stronger spiritual perspective and greater spiritual involvement.

Keywords

Spiritual guidance, meaning of life, well-being, coping mechanism, scale items, Likert scale, nursing research, psychological assessment, Reed P. G.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not available in source content)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not available in source content)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not available in source content)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original conceptual work by King and Hunt dates to 1975. The specific 10-item Spirituality Perspective Scale (SPS) derived and revised by Pamela G. Reed was published in 1986 and 1987. The scale is generally considered to be available for non-commercial academic research use, though researchers should always seek explicit permission from Dr. Reed or her affiliated institution for formal use or commercial applications.

Reference’s

• King, M. B. & Hunt, R. A. (1975). Measuring the religious variable: National replication. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14, 13-22.
• Reed, P. G. (1986a). Developmental resources and depression in the elderly: A longitudinal study. Nursing Research, 35(2), 368-374.
• Reed, P. G. (1986b). – Religiousness among terminally ill and healthy adults. Research in Nursing and Health, 9(1), 35-41.
• Reed, P. G. (1987). Spirituality and well-being in terminally hospitalized adults. Research in Nursing & Health. 10(5), 335-344.
• Suk-Sun Kim. (2008). INTERDEPENDENCE OF SPIRITUALITY AND WELL-BEING AMONG KOREAN ELDERS AND FAMILY CAREGIVERS. THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA .Phd Thesis.

The full instrument is accessible within the PhD Thesis by Suk-Sun Kim (2008), cited above. The original PDF can be downloaded here: https://www.nursing.arizona.edu/Library/081_Kim_Suk-Sun.pdf

Items of the Spirituality Perspective Scale (SPS)

Response Set for Items 1 to 4: 1=Not at all, 2=Less than once a year, 3=About once a year, 4=About once a month, 5=About once a week, 6=About once a day

1. In talking with your family or friends, how often do you mention spiritual matters?
2. How often do you share with others the problems and joys of living according to your spiritual beliefs?
3. How often do you read spiritually-related material?
4. How often do you engage in private prayer or meditation?

Response Set for Items 5 to 10: 1=Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3=Disagree more than agree, 4=Agree more than disagree, 5=Agree, 6=Strongly Agree

5. Forgiveness is an important part of my spirituality.
6. I seek spiritual guidance in making decisions in my everyday life.
7. My spirituality is a significant part of my life.
8. I frequently feel very close to God or a “higher power” in prayer, during public worship or at important moments in my daily life.
9. My spiritual views have had an influence upon my life.
10. My spirituality is especially important to me because it answers many questions about the meaning of life.