Christian Fundamentalist Belief Scale

Abstract

The Christian Fundamentalist Belief Scale (CFBS) is a concise, twelve-item psychometric instrument designed to provide a unidimensional measure of fundamentalism within the Protestant tradition. Respondents utilize a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly,” to indicate their level of agreement with core fundamentalist tenets. The scale is suitable for use with adolescent and adult Protestant populations and requires no specialized expertise for administration or scoring.

Keywords

Christian Fundamentalism, Religious Belief, Protestantism, Fundamentalism, Bible Inerrancy, Religious Psychology, CFBS, Adolescent Belief.

Authors

Gibson, H. M., Francis, L. J.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Christian Fundamentalist Belief Scale (CFBS) is to provide a standardized, unidimensional measure of fundamentalism. The scale was developed specifically to assess the intensity of adherence to traditional Christian beliefs, particularly those centered on the absolute authority of scripture.

The instrument is intended for use in research settings examining religious development, theological attitudes, and the relationship between fundamentalist belief and other psychological or social variables in both adolescent and adult populations.

Construct

The CFBS measures fundamentalism, explicitly defined within the context of the Protestant tradition. This construct focuses primarily on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, meaning the belief that the Bible is the word of God, entirely without error in all its claims.

The instrument operationalizes fundamentalism by assessing literal belief in key biblical events and doctrines, such as the Virgin Birth, the physical resurrection of Jesus, the six-day creation, and divine control over life. The scale assumes that these specific beliefs cohere into a single, measurable dimension.

Validity

Construct validity was explored by correlating CFBS scores with three established indices of Christian practice across the total study sample (N=866). Significant positive correlations were observed between CFBS scores and behavioral indicators of religious commitment, suggesting that the scale successfully measures the intended construct.

Specific correlations found were: frequency of church attendance (r = 0.44), frequency of personal prayer (r = 0.50), and frequency of personal Bible reading (r = 0.47). These significant correlations provide evidence that individuals who score highly on the belief scale are also those who are actively engaged in traditional Christian religious practices.

Reliability

Internal consistency reliability for the CFBS was determined using Cronbach’s alpha based on the total standardization sample of 866 students. The resultant alpha coefficient was 0.92.

This high coefficient indicates excellent internal consistency, confirming that the twelve items reliably measure a single underlying, unidimensional construct of Christian fundamentalist belief, which is consistent with the scale’s design objective.

Factor Analysis

The CFBS was explicitly designed as a unidimensional scale to measure a single construct of fundamentalism. While formal factor analysis results (Exploratory or Confirmatory) were not detailed in the primary source, the very high internal consistency demonstrated by the Cronbach’s alpha (0.92) strongly supports the scale’s intended structure as a measure of a unified construct rather than multiple factors.

Standardization and Norms

The initial standardization was conducted on a large sample of 866 adolescents (ages 11-15) attending two nondenominational, state-maintained schools in Scotland. Detailed means and standard deviations were reported separately for gender and grade level (years 7-8 and 9-10).

Normative data indicated that female participants generally exhibited higher mean scores than males across both age groups. For adolescents in grade years 9 and 10, the mean score for males (N = 171) was 29.4 (SD = 10.5), while for females (N = 209) it was 34.1 (SD = 10.0). It is important to note that, as of the original publication, no normative data has been established among samples in the United States, limiting direct comparison outside of the UK context.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Scale (Self-report)

Format: Twelve items utilizing a 5-point Likert-type scale.

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Protestant samples.

Age Group: Adolescents (11-15 years old) and Adults.

Population Details: Appropriate for use with Protestant samples. The administration requires no special expertise to administer, score, or interpret.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate each item on a scale ranging from 1 (disagree strongly) to 5 (agree strongly). The total score is derived by summing the responses across all twelve items.

Keywords

Psychometrics, Religious Education, Scotland Norms, Reliability, Unidimensional Scale, Bible Authority, Religious Practice.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Refer to the original publication for correspondence details of H. M. Gibson or L. J. Francis.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1996.

Permissions & Fee: The scale items are published openly in the academic literature. Users should consult the original authors or publisher (Fowler Wright) regarding specific copyright and usage fees, especially for commercial applications or large-scale reprints.

Reference’s

Gibson, H. M., & Francis, L. J. (1996). Measuring Christian fundamentalist belief among 11-15 year old adolescents in Scotland. In L. J. Francis & W. S. Campbell (Eds.), Research in religious education (pp. 249-255). Leominister, UK: Fowler Wright.

Items of the CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST BELIEF SCALE

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

Please Indicate your response to each item using the following scale:

1. disagree strongly
2. disagree
3. neutral
4. agree
5. agree strongly

1. I believe that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.
2. I believe that the Bible is the word of God.
3. I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin.
4. I believe that Jesus will return to earth some day.
5. I believe in hell.
6. I believe that God judges what I do and say.
7. I believe that Jesus died to save me.
8. I believe that Jesus changed real water into real wine.
9. I believe that Jesus walked on water.
10. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
11. I believe that God is controlling every bit of our lives.
12. I believe that Jesus really rose from the dead.