Dimensions of Religious Ideology Scale

Abstract

The Dimensions of Religious Ideology scale (DRI), developed by Putney and Middleton in 1961, is a psychometric instrument designed to assess four core components of Christian religious belief systems among college students. These four dimensions are orthodoxy, fanaticism, the perceived importance of religion to the self-concept, and the consciousness of ambivalence regarding these beliefs.

The instrument is composed of 19 items structured across four scales, employing a 7-point Likert-type response format. Initially administered to a large sample of 1200 Christian college students, the four ideological dimensions were found to correlate significantly with personality characteristics, such as authoritarianism and conservatism, as well as specific demographic and social characteristics like regional residency.

Keywords

Dimensions of Religious Ideology, Orthodoxy, Fanaticism, Religious Ambivalence, Importance to Self-Concept, Christian Beliefs, Test Development, Social Psychology of Religion.

Authors

Snell Putney, Russell Middleton

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Dimensions of Religious Ideology (DRI) scale is to empirically quantify the heterogeneity within Christian religious belief systems, thereby offering a more nuanced understanding of religiosity than single-score measures. The scale was specifically constructed to measure four distinct facets of religious ideology.

These four dimensions—orthodoxy (adherence to traditional doctrines), fanaticism (intensity and intolerance), perceived importance to the self-concept, and ambivalence (internal conflict)—allow researchers to differentiate between various psychological and social manifestations of religious commitment among individuals.

Construct

The core construct measured by the DRI scale is Christian Religious Ideology. This concept encompasses the structured set of beliefs, values, and attitudes held by an individual concerning the tenets of the Christian faith and how those tenets influence their worldview and self-perception.

The scale operationalizes this broad construct by dividing it into four measurable components, treating religious ideology not as a monolithic entity but as a complex structure influenced by personal certainty, commitment level, and potential internal conflict.

Validity

The initial validation efforts for the DRI scale focused primarily on establishing criterion validity. The authors investigated the relationships between the four measured dimensions and several established external criteria, including personality traits and sociological variables.

Findings indicated that all four dimensions (Orthodoxy, Fanaticism, Importance, and Ambivalence) were significantly related (all ps < .05) to measures of authoritarianism and conservatism. Furthermore, the dimensions showed significant correlations with social characteristics, such as the region of residence (specifically, residency in or outside of the Southern United States), confirming the scale’s ability to correlate with theoretically relevant external criteria.

Reliability

Information regarding the internal consistency (such as Cronbach’s alpha) or test-retest reliability of the Dimensions of Religious Ideology scale was not indicated in the foundational study by Putney and Middleton (1961). Subsequent researchers utilizing the scale are generally required to establish reliability metrics for their specific samples before drawing conclusions.

Factor Analysis

The original publication does not report the use of formal factor analysis techniques to empirically confirm the hypothesized four-factor structure of the scale. The dimensions were differentiated based on theoretical construction and item selection, resulting in three multi-item scales and one single-item scale.

Instrument

Test Type: Rating Scale

Format: The instrument consists of 19 items structured as Likert-type scales. It is composed of three primary sub-scales containing six questions each (Orthodoxy, Fanaticism, Importance) and one dimension measured by a single question (Ambivalence).

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: College Students (Young Adults)

Population Details: The original sample consisted of approximately 1200 Christian college students enrolled in Social Science courses across the United States.

Test Methodology: Each item is scored using a 7-point response continuum, ranging from 1 (representing strong disagreement) to 7 (representing strong agreement).

Keywords

Religious Ideology, College Students, Criterion Validity, Test Construction, Christian Conservatism, Social Forces, Authoritarianism.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence regarding the original publication should be directed via the publisher of the journal Social Forces.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Dimensions of Religious Ideology scale was first published in 1961. For reproduction or use of the scale items, researchers are advised to Contact Publisher (Social Forces) for necessary permissions and information regarding any associated fees.

Reference’s

Putney, S., & Middleton, R. (1961). Dimensions and correlates of religious ideologies. Social Forces, 39, 285–290. The original article is accessible via DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2573423.

Items of the Dimensions of Religious Ideology scale

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

The original source content provided the structure of the scale items but did not include the textual content of the 19 questions. The scale is composed of 19 items distributed across four dimensions:

• Orthodoxy: 6 items
• Fanaticism: 6 items
• Importance to the Self-Concept: 6 items
• Consciousness of Ambivalence Concerning the Belief: 1 item