Religious Worldview Scale

Abstract

The Religious World View Scale is a psychological instrument developed primarily to stimulate interest in religious thought among students and aid them in clarifying their personal religious worldview. It consists of twenty-five items utilizing a 6-point Likert scale format, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The scale is designed to produce a single total score, with several items being reverse-scored to mitigate response bias. The scale specifically evaluates the extent of agreement with key orthodox tenets of the Christian faith.

Keywords

Religious World View, Christianity, Orthodoxy, Belief, Worldview, Religiosity, Likert Scale, Psychological Measurement.

Authors

F. L. Jennings (1972); M. McLean (1952, initial conceptualization).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Religious World View Scale is to measure an individual’s level of adherence to orthodox tenets of the Christian faith. It was initially developed within an academic setting to promote introspection among students, helping them to understand and articulate their own religious beliefs and philosophical stances.

The instrument evaluates agreement across several fundamental aspects of Christianity, including the reality of miracles, the unquestionable validity of the Bible, the means of salvation through grace, and the divinity of Christ. The overall score reflects the respondent’s alignment with a traditional, conservative Christian worldview.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of Orthodox Christian Worldview Alignment or Theological Conservatism. The construct is conceptualized as unidimensional, reflecting the degree to which a respondent accepts supernatural and traditional doctrines central to Christianity.

The items are designed to cover a broad range of core Christian dogmas, and the resulting total score provides a quantified measure of the respondent’s orthodox belief system. The assessment implicitly assumes the respondent has some basic knowledge of Christian terminology and concepts.

Validity

Evidence for construct validity was provided by Jennings (1972) through analysis of group differences and correlation with related measures of belief.

• Group Differences: Findings supported the scale’s ability to differentiate between groups based on known patterns of religiosity. Females scored significantly higher than males, which aligns with typical findings that females generally demonstrate higher levels of religious belief than males.

• Age Differences: The study also demonstrated that older males (over 25 years of age) scored significantly higher on the instrument compared to younger males, suggesting the scale is sensitive to age-related increases in religious adherence.

• Convergent Validity: Strong evidence for convergent validity was established by a high pairwise correlation (r = 0.91) between the Religious World View Scale and the Scriptural Literalism Scale (Hogge & Friedman, 1967), confirming that the scale effectively measures orthodoxy of belief.

Reliability

Reliability data, such as internal consistency estimates (e.g., Cronbach’s Alpha) or test-retest reliability, were not provided in the primary validation study by Jennings (1972).

Factor Analysis

No formal factor analysis was reported in the provided source material. The scale is designed to produce a single total score, suggesting that it is intended to measure a single, overarching dimension of religious world view.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale assessing religious belief.

Format: 25 items using a 6-point Likert scale, scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Responses are summed to create a single total score; specific items are reverse scored.

Language Available: English (implied).

Population Group: Students/General Young Adult Population.

Age Group: Primarily 20 to 24 years, but also included subjects over 25.

Population Details: 364 students from a metropolitan junior college in Dallas, Texas (1972). The sample included 61% male and 48% married subjects, considered broadly representative of the various student types attending the school.

Test Methodology: Quick administration and simple scoring by totaling responses after accounting for reverse-scored items.

Normative Data (Jennings, 1972):

• Males under 25 (n=129): Mean = 79.7 (SD=20.1)

• Males 25+ (n=91): Mean = 86.9 (SD=21.2)

• Females under 25 (n=101): Mean = 89.3 (SD=19.3)

• Females 25+ (n=37): Mean = 84.1 (SD=22.5)

Keywords

Christian Orthodoxy, Biblical Literalism, Supernatural Belief, Theological Tenets, Worldview Assessment, F. L. Jennings.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source.

Correspondence Address: The scale was published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1972 (Validation study by Jennings, based on earlier concepts).

Permissions/Fee: Permissions must be secured through the copyright holder, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Fee information is not provided in the source material.

Reference’s

• Hogge, J., & Friedman, S. T. (1967). The Scriptural Literalism Scale: A preliminary report. Journal of Psychology, 66, 275-279.

• Jennings, F. L. (1972). A note on the reliability of several belief scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 11, 157-164. Copyright© 1972 Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

• McLean, M. (1952). Religious world views. Motive, 12, 22-26.

Items of the RELIGIOUS WORLD VIEW SCALE

For each of the following statements, circle the choice that best indicates the extent of your agreement or disagreement as it describes your personal experiences:

1. strongly disagree

2. moderately disagree

3. disagree

4. agree

5. moderately agree

6. strongly agree

(* indicates reversed-scored item)

1. * The work of the church could be just as effectively done by schools and social agencies.

2. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

3. * I believe that men working and thinking together can build a just society without supernatural help.

4. * The writings of Plato, Aristotle, Dante, and Shakespeare are as much inspired as are the writings of Moses and Paul.

5. All miracles in the Bible are true.

6. * In general, I consider church (or synagogue) attendance a waste of time.

7. * Belief that in the end God’s purposes will be achieved tends to destroy man’s sense of social responsibility.

8. God is the great companion who shares with us the travail and tragedy of the world.

9. Jesus was born of the Virgin in a manner different from human beings.

10. The revelation of God’s word in the Holy Scriptures is man’s ultimate authority.

11. * The attempt to believe in a supernatural being is a sign of a person’s failure to accept responsibility for his own life.

12. I believe in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

13. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

14. I believe Hell is a form of existence in a future life.

15. * The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, contain some legendary materials.

16. * We live in a universe indifferent to human values.

17. We were made for fellowship with God and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.

18. Man is saved by the free gift of God’s grace.

19. The biblical writers were endowed with a divine wisdom which enabled them to fore-tell specific events in the distant future.

20. * The fall of man in the story of the Garden of Eden is a myth symbolizing the problem of good and evil in the world.

21. Man is ultimately responsible to God.

22. * God is only a symbol of man’s ideal.

23. Jesus walked on water and raised the dead.

24. * The biblical story of creation is probably based on one of the early Babylonian myths.

25. * If I believed that any part of the Bible were unreliable I would no longer have confidence in its moral and spiritual teachings.