RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES SCALES

Abstract

The Religious Attitudes Scales (RAS), primarily developed by G. M. Maranell, is a comprehensive psychological instrument designed to quantify eight specific, theoretically defined dimensions of religiosity or religious attitudes. The complete instrument consists of 96 items, with 12 items dedicated to measuring each of the eight subscales: Church Orientation, Ritualism, Altruism, Fundamentalism, Theism, Idealism, Superstition, and Mysticism. Subjects respond using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from "strongly disagree" (0) to "strongly agree" (4), with "undecided" as the midpoint. Twenty-three items are reverse-worded and scored accordingly. Individual scale scores range from 0 to 48, and a total religiosity score can be calculated by averaging the scores across the eight dimensions. Several items were adapted from previous instruments, including the Thurstone and Chave (1929) Attitude Toward the Church Scale and the Adorno et al. (1950) Fascism (F) Scale.

Keywords

Religious attitudes, Religiosity, Church Orientation, Ritualism, Altruism, Fundamentalism, Theism, Idealism, Superstition, Mysticism, G. M. Maranell, Likert scale, Psychological measurement

Authors

G. M. Maranell

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Religious Attitudes Scales is to provide a multidimensional measure of religious belief systems and behaviors for use in correlational and experimental research. It aims to differentiate between various facets of religiosity that are often conflated in single-score instruments.

By breaking down religiosity into eight distinct components—ranging from institutional involvement (Church Orientation) and adherence to dogma (Fundamentalism) to personal experience (Mysticism) and moral commitment (Idealism)—the scale allows researchers to examine how specific religious attitudes correlate with other psychological and sociological variables.

Construct

The Religious Attitudes Scales measure eight distinct psychological and behavioral dimensions of religious orientation, each represented by a 12-item subscale:

• Church Orientation: Measures positive attitudes toward, and active participation in, the local church institution.
• Ritualism: Focuses on the importance of formal worship services, emphasizing precision, orderliness, and ceremony.
• Altruism: Assesses concern for others and helpfulness, particularly viewing the church as a necessary vehicle for overcoming selfishness and promoting social reform.
• Fundamentalism: Defined primarily as adherence to biblical literalism and the conviction that the Bible serves as an infallible personal guide.
• Theism: Measures the affirmation of God’s existence as a personal, omniscient, and omnipotent caretaker and guide.
• Idealism: Reflects an unwavering dedication to abstract ideals and principles, irrespective of specific theistic assumptions.
• Superstition: Gauges belief in common superstitions, astrology, psychic phenomena, and ultimately mysterious spiritual forces.
• Mysticism: Involves the affirmation of achieving ineffable knowledge of, or union with, God or ultimate reality, typically attained through silent waiting, meditation, or prayer.

Validity

Maranell employed rigorous item analysis techniques, specifically those developed by Allen Edwards, to ensure the highest possible level of scale validity and reliability during construction. The process involved comparing item means between two criterion groups: students scoring in the top 25% and those in the bottom 25% of the total score distribution for each scale.

The statistic used for comparison was the t-statistic, which measures how differently the two criterion groups score on a given item. Edwards recommended a minimum t-value of 1.75 for inclusion; all 96 items in the RAS met or exceeded this requirement, with typical t-values ranging much higher. While Maranell asserted the scales possess "face validity," extensive research evidence was compiled to assess the scales’ construct validity.

Analysis of denominational differences among a stratified random sample of clergy provided significant validation data, particularly for the Ritualism Scale, which successfully distinguished Catholic and Episcopal clergy from others. However, the construct validity of certain scales raised questions. For example, the Altruism Scale correlated highly with the Fundamentalism Scale and correlated positively with measures of general maladjustment and authoritarian attitudes, suggesting it measures more than simple unselfish concern, reflecting instead a conviction regarding the church’s necessity for moral reform.

Reliability

The reliability of the Religious Attitudes Scales was assessed using the test-retest method (coefficient of stability) across two separate trials with distinct groups of subjects. The first trial used a one-week interval between administrations, and the second used an interval of one and a half weeks.

In both conditions, the mean reliability coefficient for the eight scales was calculated at .87. Individual scale reliabilities demonstrated a broad range, spanning from .68 to .99. Crucially, seven out of the eight individual scales consistently achieved reliability coefficients in the .80s or .90s, indicating high stability over short time periods.

Factor Analysis

While the provided text does not detail an explicit, formal factor analysis (e.g., Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis), the scale construction itself relied on item-analysis to confirm that each item significantly discriminated between high and low scorers on its respective theoretical dimension. This method implies that the eight dimensions were treated as distinct factors defined by the test author, G. M. Maranell. The subsequent findings on the inter-correlations between scales (e.g., Altruism correlating highly with Fundamentalism) suggest that while the scales measure distinct theoretical constructs, some shared variance or underlying factors may exist, warranting careful interpretation by users.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report attitude inventory / Multi-dimensional psychological scale

Format: 96 items administered via a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree). The items can be administered individually by scale or randomly mixed in a single test booklet.

Language Available: English (as presented in the source material)

Population Group: General population; utilized historically with students, denominational clergy, and various demographic groupings.

Age Group: Adults and potentially older adolescents (based on complexity of items and original testing population).

Population Details: Maranell studied eleven denominational groups, providing mean scores based on occupation, dwelling area, educational level, and region, although formal norms were not developed.

Test Methodology: The instrument can be administered with the response scale printed after each item, or using a separate standardized answer sheet with scoring templates for the eight subscales. Researchers are advised to design their own scoring templates and be cautious about the randomization order, avoiding starting with negative statements that could potentially compromise subject rapport.

Keywords

Psychometrics, Scale construction, Test-retest reliability, Item analysis, Allen Edwards, T-statistic, Church Orientation, Fundamentalism, Mysticism

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: The comprehensive work summarizing the development and use of the scales was published in 1974.

Permissions and Fee: Information on current permissions and fees is not available in the source material. The scales were used extensively in the author’s research undertakings, suggesting they were available for academic use at the time of publication. The scales have apparently not been used subsequently in published research.

Reference’s

Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Christie, R., & Geis, F. A. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic.

Erikson, E. H. (1977). Toys and reasons: Stages in ritualization of experience. New York: W. W. Norton.

Maranell, G. M. (1974). Responses to religion: Studies in the social psychology of religious belief Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Thurstone, L. L., & Chave, E. J. (1929). The measurement of attitude: A psychophysical method and some experiments with a scale for measuring attitude toward the church. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Items of the RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES SCALES

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Please use the following scale to indicate the extent to which you agree with each statement:

• 0 = strongly disagree
• 3 = somewhat agree
• 1 = somewhat disagree
• 4 = strongly agree
• 2 = undecided

Note: Scoring for the items followed by (R) should be reversed.

Church Orientation Scale

1. *I don’t believe churchgoing will do anyone any harm.
2. * I believe in the church and its teachings because I have been accustomed to them since I was a child.
3. The church is important as it helps in deciding one’s role in the community.
4. *I believe that membership in a good church increases one’s self-respect.
5. The history of the church qualifies it as a lasting institution of which one would want to be a part.
6. *I believe that membership in a good church increases one’s usefulness to society.
7. The church affords an atmosphere favorable to the furthering of the ideals of the good life.
8. Church members are especially good people to associate with.
9. Church attendance helps me to rid myself of any guilt feelings for not living up to the proposed ideals of the church.
10. Church is a good place for one to win social approval.
11. When one fails to live up to certain ideals of the good life, he finds a way to make restitution for these failures through the church.
12. Few important members of our society maintain any degree of religious affiliation. (R)

*From Thurstone and Chave (1929).

Ritualism Scale

1. The ritual of worship is a very important part of religion.
2. One of the most important aspects of religion is the religious service itself.
3. The precision and orderliness with which religious ceremonies are performed is important to me.
4. The more a religious service is ritualized the more it has meaning for me.
5. Religion is most real to me during my attendance at public church or religious services.
6. I think that the placement and treatment of the various articles of worship is very important in a worship service.
7. When I recall my experiences with religion I most readily remember the impressive formal rites and rituals.
8. I like to think that people all over are going through nearly the same ritual in their religious worship.
9. A religious service must be beautiful to be really meaningful to me.
10. It is important to me that a religious service be standardized.
11. I do not think that the sequence of prayers, songs, etc., is very important in religious services. (R)
12. Prayers in religious services are better if they are formalized-as litanies, that is, with responses.

Altruism Scale

1. *The paternal and benevolent attitude of the church is quite distasteful to me. (R)
2. The church is helping me to develop the social attitudes of understanding, sympathy, and cooperation.
3. * I believe the church is absolutely needed to overcome the tendency to individualism and selfishness, for it seeks to practice the golden rule.
4. We should be concerned with our own private welfare and stop trying to help others by butting into their private lives. (R)
5. *I am interested in the church because of its work for moral and social reform in which I desire to share.
6. Unselfish love is the prerequisite for any real knowledge of religion.
7. Tender concern for others is a means of finding joy in one’s religion.
8. Religion causes one to love his enemies.
9. Brotherly love was the heart of the teaching of Jesus.
10. "Do-gooders" usually do much more harm than good. (R)
11. * I believe that the church is attempting to correlate science and religion for the good of humanity.
12. Our world is in need of a more positive emphasis on life.

From Thurstone and Chave (1929).

Fundamentalism Scale

1. The Bible is completely and everlastingly true.
2. The Bible is the Word of God.
3. The Bible is His message to me as His son or daughter.
4. The Bible is the book upon which I should try to base my living.
5. The Bible is too illogical. (R)
6. The Bible is an instrument which brings me closer to God.
7. The Bible is only a group of myths. (R)
8. The Bible is one of the best history books ever written.
9. The Bible should not be taken seriously. (R)
10. The Bible contains the teaching given by God to His disciples and other peoples.
11. Any scholar can see that the Bible just isn’t true. (R)
12. The Bible is a book in which the moral values of the world in general can be found.

Theism Scale

1. God is always watching over us.
2. I do not feel that a belief in God is necessary. (R)
3. God is my Father.
4. God is a divine spirit guiding my life.
5. There is no proof for the existence of God. (R)
6. God is not a certainty. (R)
7. God is hard to visualize as really existing. (R)
8. God is all-powerful and all-knowing.
9. God is an all-pervading spirit.
10. God’s voice keeps me on the straight and narrow path.
11. I personally feel that the notion of God is inappropriate in this world of science. (R)
12. God is nothing. (R)

Idealism Scale

1. *I. In the end justice will prevail.
2. Great causes must be supported.
3. Brotherhood, freedom, and equality are workable concepts for man.
4. **4. The best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear. (R)
5. Men will never learn to live peacefully with one another. (R)
6. If individuals would act in accord with their consciences, the world would be a lot better off.
7. An individual without principles is an individual without honor.
8. We must behave as if men were completely honest.
9. Identification with a "cause" is an important part of life.
10. **10. It is better to compromise with existing evils than to go out on limb in attacking them. (R)
11. **11. When you come right down to it, it’s human nature never to do anything without an eye to one’s own advantage. (R)
12. 12. The people who get ahead in the world are individuals who are willing to compromise with their principles. (R)

*From Goldman-Eisler (1953)

**From Christie and Geis (1970)

Superstition Scale

1. One should never step on or walk across a grave.
2. To be perfectly honest, I am bothered by a black cat crossing my path.
3. It is silly to believe that people are born under certain stars or planets which influence their futures. (R)
4. Failure to live up to the laws of God will result in hard times for an individual.
5. One should never treat a Bible disrespectfully or tear it.
6. Every person should have a deep faith in some supernatural force higher than himself.
7. It is conceivable that there are spirits and spiritual beings in our world today.
8. Only fools and extremely gullible individuals believe in extrasensory perception, that is, such things as telepathy and clairvoyance. (R)
9. Sickness is a result of present or past sins on the part of an individual or some of his relatives.
10. It is entirely possible that this series of wars and conflicts will be ended once and for all by a world-destroying earthquake, flood, or other catastrophe.
11. *Although many people may scoff, it may yet be shown that astrology can explain a lot of things.
12. * Sciences like chemistry, physics, and medicine have carried men very far, but there are many important things that can never possibly be understood by the human mind.

*From Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford (1950).

Mysticism Scale

1. The true seeker will eventually reach his goal of union with God.
2. The final authority in religion is the inner light or the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
3. True religious experience occurs in periods of profound silence.
4. Communion with God is a result of the complete loss of one’s will (or the subjection of it), giving way to a superior power.
5. The visible manifestations of life are a partial manifestation of the spiritual.
6. Real worship involves a perfect union between man and God.
7. Religion finds its working expression in intellectual speculation and not in prayer. (R)
8. Man must endeavor with the human mind to grasp the divine essence or the ultimate reality of things, and to enjoy the blessedness of actual communion with the highest.
9. The mind has a higher state of existence beyond reason and in this superconscious state, knowledge beyond reasoning comes.
10. Meditation is the most important phase of one’s religious experience.
11. Purely intellectual life does not have a mystical state.
12. Our verbal language isn’t adequate to express or communicate real religious experience.