RELIGIOUS PRESSURES SCALE

Abstract

The Religious Pressures Scale (RPS) is a concise, self-report psychometric instrument developed by Bruce Altemeyer (1988) to quantify the degree of perceived social and internal pressure an individual experiences to maintain their religious identity and beliefs, particularly when facing internal doubts about religious teachings. The scale is comprised of 10 items, focusing on the potential psychological and social costs of apostasy or atheism.

Respondents utilize a 6-point Likert-type scale to indicate the extent of pressure felt, with response alternatives ranging from 0 (none at all) to 5 (a great deal). The total scale score is determined by the summation of the 10 item scores. Developed in the context of research on Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), the RPS is a straightforward, paper-and-pencil measure suitable for use with adolescent through adult populations in similar cultural settings, such as Canada, where it was initially standardized.

Keywords

Religious Pressures Scale, RPS, Religious Commitment, Religious Doubts, Social Pressure, Bruce Altemeyer, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Religious Orientation, Psychometric Measurement.

Authors

Bruce Altemeyer

Purpose

The primary purpose of the RPS is to assess the psychological costs and external pressures associated with considering abandonment or doubting one’s religious faith. It was explicitly created as a companion instrument to Altemeyer’s (1988) Religious Doubts scale, facilitating research into the motivational and inhibitory factors underlying religious commitment and potential apostasy.

The scale’s development was situated within the broader context of Altemeyer’s seminal work concerning Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and its intricate relationship with religious adherence. By quantifying the perceived pressures, the RPS helps researchers understand why individuals might suppress or ignore religious skepticism, thereby maintaining conformity to religious group norms despite internal conflict.

Construct

The RPS measures the construct of Perceived Religious Pressure. This is defined as the intensity of inhibitory forces—both external (social) and internal (existential/psychological)—that compel an individual to remain religious, even when experiencing cognitive dissonance or disbelief. External pressures measured include fear of disappointing family, friends, or religious authorities (e.g., ministers or priests).

Internal pressures measured relate to fears of personal loss or spiritual consequences, such as feeling “lost” or “adrift,” experiencing shame for lack of faith, fearing divine punishment, or feeling that one has betrayed the ultimate purpose of their life. The scale operationalizes the strength of these inhibitory factors against religious change or doubt, providing a quantitative index of the perceived stakes involved in abandoning faith.

Validity

Altemeyer (1988) provided extensive documentation supporting the scale’s validity through correlational analyses, demonstrating robust and highly significant relationships with established measures of religion and authoritarianism, consistently confirming expected directions. For instance, RPS scores showed strong positive correlations with Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) (.47 for students, .50 for parents) and Religious Emphasis in the childhood home (.59 for students, .43 for parents).

Convergent validity was further supported by high correlations with traditional measures of religious adherence, including the Fullerton and Hunsberger’s (1982) Christian Orthodoxy scale (.69, .58) and Allport and Ross’s (1967) Intrinsic Religious Orientation scale (.69, .64). Crucially, the RPS demonstrated the expected negative correlations with the Religious Doubts scale (-.36, -.25) and Extrinsic Religious Orientation (-.23, -.30). Item analyses confirmed that highly religious individuals reported the strongest pressures related to parental and ministerial disapproval, lending further credence to the scale’s ability to capture the specific sources of pressure experienced by believers.

Reliability

The Religious Pressures Scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency across both initial standardization samples. For the university student sample (N=423), the average inter-item correlation for the 10 items was calculated at .47, resulting in a high Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .90.

The parent sample (N=506) exhibited slightly stronger reliability. The mean inter-item correlation for this group was .54, yielding a robust reliability score of .92. These consistently high alpha values confirm that the RPS items are highly homogenous and measure a unified construct of perceived religious pressure with strong internal consistency.

Factor Analysis

While the original source documentation does not explicitly detail a formal factor analysis (such as PCA or EFA), the statistical evidence strongly suggests that the Religious Pressures Scale functions as a highly unidimensional measure. The consistently high average inter-item correlations (.47 and .54) combined with the exceptional internal reliability scores (.90 and .92) support the practice of using a single, summed total score to represent the overall construct of perceived religious pressure.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Self-Report Scale

Format: Paper-and-pencil measure; 10 items utilizing a 6-point Likert-type response scale.

Language Available: English (developed and standardized in Canada).

Population Group: General population samples with religious backgrounds or affiliations.

Age Group: Adolescent through Adult samples.

Population Details: Initial standardization utilized two primary samples: 423 introductory psychology students and 506 of their parents residing in Canada. Average scores were 18.1 for students and 21.1 for parents (on a scale with a maximum possible score of 50).

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to indicate how much of a particular feeling of pressure or fear they would experience if they were to abandon their religion and become agnostic or atheist. The total score is the simple summation of the 10 item scores.

Keywords

Perceived Religious Pressure, Social Conformity, Psychology of Religion, Altemeyer, Religious Adherence, Intrinsic Orientation, Extrinsic Orientation, Scale Development.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was formally introduced and published in 1988 by Bruce Altemeyer in his book, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Specific licensing, permission requirements, and fee structures for academic or clinical use are not detailed in the original source material and should be sought directly from the author or original publisher (Jossey-Bass).

Test Year: 1988.

Reference’s

Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432-443.

Altemeyer, B. (1988). Enemies of Freedom: Understanding right-wing authoritarianism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fullerton, J. T., & Hunsberger, B. E. (1982). A unidimensional measure of Christian Orthodoxy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 21, 317-326.

Items of the RELIGIOUS PRESSURES SCALE

What do you suppose it would cost you if you dropped your religion and became an agnostic or atheistHow much of the below do you think you would experience? (If you have dropped your religion and would now say you have “none,” answer according to how you felt right at the time you decided to stop believing in that religion.)

• 0 = none at all
• 1 = only a little bit
• 2 = a mild amount
• 3 = a moderate amount
• 4 = quite a bit
• 5 = a great deal

1. Disappointment, disapproval of parents.
2. Disappointment, disapproval of close friends.
3. Disappointment, disapproval of ministers, priests, et cetera.
4. It would threaten a romantic love relationship.
5. I would feel lost, adrift; I’d have lost my “anchor” in life.
6. I would fear punishment from God.
7. I would fear that without my religious beliefs I would become an evil person.
8. I would be ashamed that I had not been strong enough to keep my faith.
9. I would feel I had betrayed the ultimate purpose of my life.
10. I would fear being damned and condemned to everlasting fire in hell.

Note. Item l is used with student samples. On the parent sample this item was changed to “Disappointment, disapproval of your children. (How much would your children disapprove of such a change?)”