CHRISTIAN MORAL VALUES SCALE

Abstract

The Christian Moral Values Scale (CMVS) is a psychological scale composed of ten items designed to measure individual differences in the moral evaluation of specific behaviors associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition. The items, which are typically single words (e.g., stealing), were selected primarily based on the authors’ knowledge of these religious traditions and aimed for high face/content validity.

The scale employs a 5-point rating system that focuses on the degree to which a behavior is considered “wrong,” ranging from 1 (“never wrong”) to 5 (“always wrong”). A higher total score indicates a stronger, or higher, moral condemnation of the listed behaviors. The initial development involved an Exploratory factor analysis which resulted in a single underlying factor.

Keywords

Moral Values, Christian Ethics, Adolescent Religiosity, Northern Ireland, Judeo-Christian Tradition, Attitude Scale, Ethical Issues, Religious Differences.

Authors

Leslie J. Francis, John E. Greer.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Christian Moral Values Scale (CMVS) is to quantify individual variations in the assessment and evaluation of traditional moral issues historically emphasized by the Judeo-Christian tradition. The scale was specifically developed to analyze distinctions in moral outlook between actively religious and less active members within the Catholic and Protestant populations of Northern Ireland.

The authors, Francis and Greer, sought to address a gap in existing research, noting that studies on attitudes were more prevalent than those explicitly addressing ethical and moral issues. By utilizing a response scale that measures the perceived “wrongness” of a behavior, the CMVS aims to capture the moral “oughtness” inherent in ethical judgments, differentiating it from traditional attitude scales which often primarily measure affect.

Construct

The scale is designed to measure adherence to, and evaluation of, traditional Christian moral values, conceptualized as a single dimension (a single factor). This construct is operationalized through a “common-sense” approach, selecting behaviors that the investigators considered highly salient to the moral traditions of the target populations.

The CMVS focuses exclusively on behaviors typically judged negatively (e.g., stealing, divorce). Consequently, the score reflects a negativistic bias in moral judgment, where a higher score signifies a stricter moral evaluation or judgment against these behaviors. This approach aligns with research suggesting that moral evaluations contribute uniquely to predicting moral behaviors, beyond what is captured by standard affective attitude measures.

Validity

Validity for the CMVS is primarily established through face validity and content validity, based on the intuitive relevance of the selected behaviors to the Judeo-Christian moral code. However, the authors acknowledge limitations in this assumption, noting that several behaviors listed (such as stealing) are strongly condemned by secularists as well, suggesting the scale may not measure distinctly Christian morality across all items.

Evidence for Construct validity has been supported in initial research (Greer & Francis, 1990). It is suggested that greater validity might be achieved by subscoring the scale to account for specific differences in moral judgment between various Christian traditions, particularly the noted Protestant-Catholic differences observed in studies conducted in Northern Ireland.

Reliability

The scale demonstrates adequate internal consistency reliabilities for research applications. The reported reliability coefficients (likely Cronbach’s Alpha) range from 0.70 to 0.76 across the initial studies conducted in Northern Ireland.

Specifically, a reliability of 0.70 was reported for a sample size (N) of 571 (Francis & Greer, 1990), and a higher reliability of 0.76 was found in a larger sample (N = 1,177) reported by Greer & Francis (1990). All participants in these studies were pupils in forms 4 to 6 attending coeducational Protestant and Catholic schools in Northern Ireland.

Factor Analysis

The development of the CMVS included an Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the initial item pool. This analysis indicated that the scale measures a single underlying factor related to Christian moral values. The 10 items ultimately retained for the scale were selected as the best representatives of this single dimension.

It should be noted that the source material indicates that specific details regarding the methods used in the exploratory factor analysis were not explicitly provided. The approach to item selection was primarily content-driven and intuitive, focusing on behaviors that possessed high face validity to the researchers.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire / Moral evaluation scale

Format: 10 behavioral items rated on a 5-point scale. Two response formats have been used: 1) “Always wrong” to “Never wrong” (preferred), and 2) the traditional Likert format (“Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”).

Language Available: English (developed in Northern Ireland)

Population Group: Adolescents (high school pupils)

Age Group: Pupils in forms 4 to 6 (approximately 14-18 years old)

Population Details: Protestant and Catholic coeducational school pupils in Northern Ireland. Normative data is limited to these specific student populations.

Test Methodology: Easily administered and scored. Due to the brevity of the items, caution is advised during classroom administration to prevent students from observing or commenting on each other’s responses.

Keywords

Moral Judgment, Religious Education, Adolescent Psychology, Psychometrics, Scale Development, EFA, Internal Consistency, Catholic-Protestant Differences.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions and fees are not detailed in the source material. The scale was developed and first published in research papers around 1990 (Francis & Greer, 1990) and 1992 (Francis & Greer, 1992).

Reference’s

Francis, L. J., & Geer, J. E. (1990). Catholic schools and adolescent religiosity in Northern Ireland: Shaping moral values. Irish Journal of Education, 2, 40-47.

Francis, L. J., & Greer, J. E. (1992). Measuring Christian moral values among Catholic and Protestant adolescents in Northen Ireland. Journal Moral Education, 21, 59-65.

Greer, J. E., & Frances, L. J. (1990). The religious profile of pupils in Northern Ireland. Journal of Empirical Theology, 3, 35-50.

Gorsuch, R. L. (1986). Measuring attitudes, interests, sentiments, and values. In R. Johnson & R. B. Cattell (Eds), Functional psychological testing (pp. 314-333). New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Gorsuch, R. L. & Ortberg, J. (1983). Moral obligations and attitudes: their relations to behavioral intentions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1025-1078.

Items of the CHRISTIAN MORAL VALUES SCALE

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

The authors are flexible as to format and instructions. The 10 behaviors are given separately or included with other items using the same response format. The typical directions for such questionnaires are used. For example:

Below is a set of behaviors. Please print a number from 1 to 5 on the line in front of each item to tell us how wrong that behaviors is. The “right” response is what you think about that behavior.

Here is what each of the numbers from 1 to 5 mean:

• 1. = never wrong.
• 2. = usually excusable.
• 3. = undecided.
• 4. = usually wrong.
• 5. = always wrong.

Write the number in front of each behavior to tell us if you believe it is wrong or not.

• Gambling
• Drinking alcohol
• Drunkenness
• Stealing
• Drug taking
• Sexual intercourse before marriage
• Abortion
• Artificial birth control
• Suicide
• Divorce