Attitudes Toward God Scale – 9 (ATGS-9)

Abstract

The Attitudes Toward God Scale -9 (ATGS-9) is a brief, psychometrically sound instrument designed to measure individuals’ affective and relational stances toward the divine. Developed by Wood, Worthington, Exline, and Yali in 2008, this scale is a refinement of earlier, longer measures of attitudes toward God, focusing specifically on two orthogonal dimensions: Anger toward God and Comforted by God. The ATGS-9 provides researchers and clinicians with a concise tool to assess both positive and negative aspects of the God-relationship, which are crucial constructs in the psychology of religion and spirituality.

The instrument utilizes a concise set of nine items administered via a self-report format. It is particularly valuable in clinical and research settings where time constraints necessitate a brief but reliable measure of religious coping and spiritual struggle. The two-factor structure allows for nuanced analysis of how an individual perceives and experiences their relationship with a higher power, impacting overall mental health and well-being.

Keywords

Attitudes toward God, ATGS-9, religious coping, spiritual struggle, religious strain, anger toward God, comforted by God, psychological assessment, spirituality, psychological scale

Authors

Wood, B. T., Worthington, E. L., Jr., Exline, J. J., Yali, A. M.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ATGS-9 is to provide a reliable and efficient measure of the affective quality of an individual’s relationship with God. It aims to quantify the degree to which a person experiences feelings of support, nurture, and trust (Comfort) versus feelings of abandonment, anger, and disappointment (Anger) toward the divine.

This scale is highly useful for examining the role of spiritual resources and spiritual struggle in various psychological outcomes, including coping with trauma, distress, depression, and overall life satisfaction. By focusing on two distinct, yet potentially co-occurring, dimensions, the scale moves beyond unidimensional measures of religiosity to capture the complexity of the God-human relationship.

Construct

The ATGS-9 measures a two-dimensional construct representing polarized attitudes toward God. These dimensions are conceptualized as affective responses that arise from life experiences and theological interpretations. The two primary subscales are:

• Anger toward God (A): This subscale captures feelings associated with perceived divine injustice, abandonment, disappointment, and unkindness. This dimension is central to the concept of religious strain or spiritual struggle, which has been consistently linked to negative mental health outcomes.
• Comforted by God (C): This subscale measures feelings of trust, support, love, and nurture derived from the relationship with God. This dimension reflects positive religious coping and serves as a significant spiritual resource for individuals facing adversity.

The developers emphasized that these two dimensions are not simply opposite ends of a single continuum but are distinct psychological experiences that can vary independently. This orthogonal relationship allows for a more comprehensive understanding of an individual’s nuanced spiritual life than scales that focus solely on positive or negative attitudes.

Validity

The validity of the ATGS-9 is typically established through rigorous psychometric testing, including content, construct, and criterion validity. Content validity was ensured through the selection of items from broader, established scales related to divine relationships and religious coping, ensuring the items comprehensively cover the intended domains of comfort and anger.

Construct validity is supported by evidence derived from Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which confirms the hypothesized two-factor structure (Anger and Comfort). Studies generally show that the ATGS-9 factors demonstrate acceptable fit indices, indicating that the nine items load clearly onto their respective subscales. Criterion validity has been established through correlations with related measures, such as scales assessing general life satisfaction, anxiety, depression, and other measures of religious coping and spiritual well-being. The Anger subscale typically correlates positively with distress and negative life events, while the Comfort subscale correlates positively with positive affect and coping efficacy.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the ATGS-9 is reported to be strong across diverse samples, demonstrating that the items within each subscale consistently measure the same underlying construct. Internal consistency is typically measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.

Research using the ATGS-9 generally reports Cronbach’s alpha values well above the acceptable threshold of .70 for both the Anger toward God subscale and the Comforted by God subscale, often reaching the .80 to .90 range. This high level of internal consistency suggests that the brief nine-item scale is highly reliable for research and clinical assessment. Furthermore, test-retest reliability studies confirm the stability of the scores over short periods, indicating that the scale provides consistent measurement of these attitudes over time, assuming no major intervening spiritual or life events.

Factor Analysis

The development of the ATGS-9 involved empirical testing to confirm its dimensional structure. The scale is based on a robust, two-factor model distinguishing between positive and negative attitudes toward God. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) during the scale’s initial refinement revealed two clear, distinct factors.

Subsequent validation studies often employ Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test the fit of the two-factor model. The CFA results consistently support the model where the four Anger items load exclusively on the Anger factor and the five Comfort items load exclusively on the Comfort factor. Crucially, the factors are typically found to be correlated but distinct, supporting the notion that spiritual struggle and spiritual support are related but separable psychological phenomena.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: 11-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 = “not at all” to 10 = “extremely”.

Language Available: Primarily English (translations may exist in subsequent research applications).

Population Group: General adult and adolescent populations; frequently utilized in religious, clinical, and university settings.

Age Group: Typically 18 years and older (Adults).

Population Details: Originally validated on samples predominantly identifying as Christian, but applicable to individuals who conceptualize a personal relationship with a higher power or God figure.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the extent to which they currently or generally experience the stated attitude toward God, based on the 0-10 rating scale.

Keywords

Spiritual assessment, divine relationship, religious support, Anger toward God, Comforted by God, psychological measurement, Likert scale, religious coping, religious strain

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source material)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The ATGS-9 was initially developed and published in its current form around 2008, with subsequent detailed validation published in 2010. Regarding permissions and fees, the scale is generally considered available for academic research purposes, though specific usage rights should be confirmed with the primary authors or the publishing journal.

The instrument itself, along with scoring instructions, has been made publicly accessible by the researchers. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.acperesearch.net/Attitudes_toward_God_Scale.pdf

Reference’s

The ATGS-9 is primarily detailed and validated in the following academic publications:

Wood, Benjamin T.; Worthington Jr., Everett L.; Exline, Julie Juola; Yali, Ann Marie; Aten, Jamie D.; McMinn, Mark R. (2010). Development and Validation of the Attitudes Toward God Scale (ATGS). Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2(3), 148-167.

Exline, J. J., Yali, A. M., & Sanderson, W. C. (2000). Guilt, discord, and alienation: The role of religious strain in depression and suicidality. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 1481-1496.

Items of the Attitudes Toward God Scale -9 (ATGS-9)

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

C trust God to protect and care for you

A feel angry at God

A feel that God has let you down

A view God as unkind

C view God as all-powerful and all-knowing.

C feel loved by God

C feel supported by God.

C feel nurtured or cared for by God.

A feel abandoned by God.

A = anger toward God.

C = comforted by God

0= “not at all” to 10 = “extremely”.