Religious Fundamentalism Scale

Abstract

The Religious Fundamentalism Scale, developed by Martin and Westie in 1959, is a concise psychological scale designed to assess adherence to traditional and literal interpretations of Christian doctrine. Originating from sociological research on tolerance, the instrument measures the degree to which an individual accepts core theological concepts such as the divine nature of Christ, the literal inspiration of the Bible, and belief in supernatural events like Christ’s return and eternal life. It utilizes a short set of nine items with a four-point response format. This scale is highly focused on measuring doctrinal commitment rather than general religiosity.

Keywords

Religious Fundamentalism, Christian Beliefs, Traditionalism, Religious Attitudes, Martin and Westie, 1959, Psychological Measurement, Doctrinal Adherence.

Authors

James G. Martin, Frank R. Westie.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Religious Fundamentalism Scale was initially to serve as a predictor variable in studies examining social tolerance and prejudice, specifically within the context of American religious thought in the mid-20th century. It seeks to quantify an individual’s degree of commitment to orthodox, non-modernist Christian tenets, providing a simple, unidimensional measure of theological conservatism.

By measuring belief in specific, verifiable theological claims (e.g., the divinity of Christ, the literal truth of the Bible), the scale allows researchers to differentiate between nominal religious affiliation and deep doctrinal commitment, which is often correlated with social and political attitudes.

Construct

The construct measured is Religious Fundamentalism, specifically rooted in traditional Christian ideology. Unlike broader measures of religiosity, this scale focuses narrowly on the literal acceptance of supernatural doctrines and the divine authority of Christ and the Bible. High scores indicate a strong belief in the literal, inspired word of God and the non-mortal nature of Christ, reflecting a fundamentalist worldview.

The scale operationalizes this construct through nine items that probe acceptance of theological claims such as the belief that Christ is a divine being, the certainty of His eventual return, and the efficacy of faith in reducing societal issues, contrasting these with skeptical or liberal theological viewpoints.

Validity

While specific psychometric details are often detailed in the original 1959 publication, subsequent use, particularly in the 1969 compilation by Robinson and Shaver, confirms its content validity. The items were selected to represent core tenets historically associated with fundamentalism in American Protestantism.

Construct Validity has been supported by its consistent correlation with related measures, such as political conservatism, authoritarianism, and generalized prejudice, suggesting that the scale successfully measures a dimension of dogmatic religious thinking relevant to social attitudes.

Reliability

As a short, unidimensional instrument, internal consistency is the primary measure of Reliability. Although specific alpha coefficients are not provided in the summary content, the scale has been widely adopted due to its straightforward nature, suggesting acceptable internal consistency (often reported as Cronbach’s Alpha in later applications) when used within homogeneous religious populations.

Its brevity (nine items) aids in ease of administration but may slightly limit the maximal achievable reliability compared to longer, multi-dimensional scales measuring broader religiosity.

Factor Analysis

The Religious Fundamentalism Scale is generally treated as a unidimensional measure. It is designed to load onto a single factor representing adherence to theological orthodoxy. Its focus on literal interpretations of the Bible and the divinity of Christ suggests a strong underlying dimension of traditional belief structure.

Factor analysis performed in subsequent research using this and similar scales often confirms a strong primary factor, supporting its use as a single overall score for fundamentalist belief, rather than requiring separate subscales for different religious domains.

Instrument

Test Type: Attitude Scale/Self-Report Measure

Format: Four-point Likert Scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: General population samples studying social and political attitudes.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (Typically 18+)

Population Details: Originally validated on samples relevant to sociological studies in the United States, primarily focusing on white, Christian populations.

Test Methodology: Pen-and-paper or digital administration, requiring respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with nine statements concerning core Christian doctrines. Scoring involves assigning higher values to agreement with “positive” items (1, 4, 6, 8, 9) and reversing scores for “negative” items (2, 3, 5, 7).

Keywords

Orthodoxy, Dogmatism, Sociological Measures, Christian Theology, Prejudice, Psychological Attitudes.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available/Not applicable (Pre-dates ORCID system)

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available

Correspondence Address: Refer to the original publication (Martin & Westie, 1959).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 1959 by Martin and Westie. Given its age and widespread inclusion in subsequent public domain collections like the University of Michigan’s ISR measures, it is generally considered to be in the public domain for academic research purposes. Researchers should nonetheless cite the original authors (Martin & Westie, 1959) and the compilation source (Robinson & Shaver, 1969) when utilizing the instrument.

Reference’s

The original PDF compilation containing this instrument, “Measures of social psychological attitudes,” can be downloaded here: Measures of social psychological attitudes

• Martin, J. and Westie, F. (1959). The tolerant personality. American Sociological Review, 24, 521-528.
• Robinson, John P., Shaver, Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Items of the Religious Fundamentalism Scale

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

1. The Bible is the inspired word of God.
2. The religious idea of heaven is not much more than superstition.
3. Christ was a mortal, historical person, but not a super natural or divine being.
4. Christ is a divine being, the Son of God.
5. The stories in the Bible about Christ healing sick and lame persons by His touch are fictitious and mythical.
6. Someday Christ will return.
7. The idea of life after death is simply a myth.
8. If more of the people in this country would turn to Christ we would have a lot less crime and corruption.
9. Since Christ brought the dead to life, He gave eternal life to all who have faith.

Response Options: Strongly agree, Agree, disagree, Strongly disagree

Scoring Note: Items 1, 4, 6, 8 and 9 are “positive” for scoring purposes, whereas 2, 3, 5, and 7 are “negative” items.