Inventory of Religious Belief

Abstract

The Inventory of Religious Belief, developed by D. Brown and W. Lowe in 1951, is a psychological instrument designed to assess an individual’s adherence to specific, fundamental theological propositions, primarily rooted in traditional Christian doctrine. Comprising 15 items, the scale specifically targets beliefs concerning the existence and nature of God, the divinity of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Bible, and concepts of the afterlife. It was initially employed in social psychology research to study the relationship between deeply held religious beliefs and various personality characteristics among college students, serving as a measure of traditional religious orthodoxy.

Keywords

Religious Belief, Christian Orthodoxy, Theological Beliefs, College Students, Social Psychology, Bible, Fundamentalism, Spirituality.

Authors

D. Brown, W. Lowe.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Inventory of Religious Belief (IRB) is to quantify the degree to which an individual accepts or rejects core tenets of traditional Christianity. It was created in the early 1950s during a period of increased academic interest in quantifying religious attitudes and their impact on behavior and social interaction. The scale is designed to effectively differentiate between highly orthodox believers and those holding more liberal, secular, or non-traditional viewpoints regarding foundational religious dogma.

The initial application of the scale, as documented by Brown and Lowe (1953), was to investigate how varying levels of religious conviction correlated with other psychological traits, such as rigidity, dogmatism, or adjustment, particularly within a university setting. This instrument remains a historically significant benchmark for measuring fundamental religious adherence in psychological research.

Construct

The scale measures the construct of Traditional Religious Orthodoxy, specifically within the context of Western, Christian theology. This construct is defined not merely by general spirituality or affiliation, but by the acceptance of specific, literal interpretations of biblical events and core dogmas concerning salvation and divine nature.

The 15 items cluster around several key thematic areas, including the Triune nature of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), the miraculous birth and personal return of Christ, the exclusive path to salvation through Jesus, and the literal inspiration and infallible authority of the Bible. Items are carefully balanced to capture both acceptance of these foundational beliefs (direct scoring) and rejection of these beliefs (reverse scoring).

Validity

Specific detailed validity studies common in modern psychometrics are limited for the original 1951 scale. However, the IRB exhibits strong face validity, as the items directly address universally recognized orthodox Christian tenets (e.g., the Virgin Birth, the existence of heaven and hell).

Furthermore, the 1953 study by Brown and Lowe demonstrated criterion-related validity by showing significant correlations between high scores on the IRB and specific personality characteristics hypothesized to be associated with fundamentalism, such as authoritarianism or intolerance for ambiguity. Subsequent researchers, including those compiling measures for the Institute for Social Research, recognized the IRB as a useful, albeit narrow, measure of theological adherence.

Reliability

While the original documentation does not typically provide a standard internal consistency coefficient (such as Cronbach’s Alpha), subsequent utilization of the scale in decades of social psychological research suggests adequate reliability for a short, single-factor measure. The items cover a consistent domain (orthodox Christian tenets), which contributes to internal consistency.

Due to the fundamental nature and specificity of the beliefs assessed (e.g., belief in the personal, visible return of Christ), the scale is expected to possess high test-retest reliability among stable adult populations, as these deeply rooted theological beliefs are generally resistant to short-term psychological change.

Factor Analysis

The original structure of the scale strongly suggests a unidimensional construct. The items are designed to load onto a single factor representing Traditional Religious Orthodoxy versus secularism or religious liberalism. Researchers typically score the IRB as a single, composite score, indicating the overall level of traditional belief accepted by the respondent, validating its conceptualization as a singular measure of fundamentalist adherence.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report attitude inventory.

Format: 15 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format, ranging from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree. Seven items are reverse-scored to mitigate potential acquiescence bias.

Language Available: English (Original).

Population Group: Individuals holding or rejecting traditional religious perspectives, primarily focused on Christian populations.

Age Group: Typically utilized with older adolescents and adults (e.g., college students).

Population Details: Originally normed on college students in the early 1950s.

Test Methodology: Pencil-and-paper administration; scoring involves summing item responses after reversing the seven appropriate items (marked with ‘*’).

Keywords

Religious Orthodoxy, Christian Beliefs, Attitude Measurement, Likert Scale, Theological Conservatism, Brown and Lowe, College Students.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available/Applicable for 1951 authors.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available/Applicable for 1951 authors.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 1951 and formally published in academic literature in 1953. Given its age and inclusion in public domain resource compilations, such as the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research measures, it is generally considered an academic instrument available for research use without an explicit fee or formal permission, provided the original authors are properly cited.

The original PDF containing the instrument can be downloaded here: Measures of social psychological attitudes.

Reference’s

1. Brown, D. and Lowe, W. (1953). Religious Beliefs and Personality Characteristics of College Students. The Journal of Social Psychology 53(1):103-129.
2. Robinson, John P., Shaver, Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Items of the Inventory of Religious Belief

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

• 1. It makes no difference whether one is a Christian or not as long as one has good will for others.*
• 2. I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
• 3. God created man separate and distinct from animals.
• 4. The idea of God is unnecessary in our enlightened age.*
• 5. There is no life after death.*
• 6. I believe Jesus was born of a Virgin.
• 7. God exists as: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• 8. The Bible is full of errors, misconceptions and contradictions.*
• 9. The Gospel of Christ is the only way for mankind to be saved.
• 10. I think there have been many men in history just as great as Jesus.*
• 11. I believe there is a heaven and a hell.
• 12. Eternal life is the gift of God only to those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
• 13. I think a person can be happy and enjoy life without believing in God.*
• 14. In many ways the Bible has held back and retarded human progress.*
• 15. I believe in the personal, visible return of Christ to the earth.

* Reverse scored

Response Options: Strongly agree, Agree, Not sure, Disagree, Strongly disagree.