Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS)

Abstract

The Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS), developed by C. W. Ellison and Raymond F. Paloutzian in 1982, is a widely utilized 20-item psychological scale designed to measure an individual’s perception of their spiritual health and overall quality of life. The SWBS is specifically structured around a two-factor model: the vertical dimension, known as Religious Wellbeing (RWB), which assesses the respondent’s relationship with God or a higher power, and the horizontal dimension, known as Existential Wellbeing (EWB), which assesses secular components of life purpose, meaning, and satisfaction. The scale has demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and temporal stability, making it a cornerstone instrument in the psychology of religion and health research.

Keywords

Spiritual Wellbeing Scale, SWBS, Religious Wellbeing, Existential Wellbeing, RWB, EWB, psychological assessment, 1982, Ellison, Paloutzian.

Authors

C. W. Ellison, Raymond F. Paloutzian.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the SWBS is to provide a standardized, psychometrically sound instrument for assessing the state of an individual’s spiritual health. It was initially developed in the context of research exploring the relationship between spiritual factors, loneliness, and overall quality of life. The scale is frequently utilized in clinical, counseling, and theological settings to understand how an individual’s sense of meaning and relationship with the divine (or lack thereof) impacts their psychological well-being.

The instrument is designed to differentiate between two distinct, yet related, components of spirituality, allowing researchers and practitioners to pinpoint specific areas of strength or distress. This dual focus provides a more nuanced measurement than scales that only address general religiosity or general life satisfaction, offering insights into both theistic connection and personal meaning.

Construct

The SWBS measures the higher-order construct of Spiritual Wellbeing (SWB), which is broadly defined as the affirmation of life in a relationship with God, self, community, and environment that nurtures and celebrates wholeness. The scale operationalizes this construct through two lower-order, orthogonal dimensions, each composed of ten items:

• Religious Wellbeing (RWB): This subscale captures the vertical component of spiritual health. It focuses on the respondent’s perceived relationship with God (or a transcendent being), including feelings of love, care, support, and satisfaction derived from prayer or communion. Items pertaining to RWB are often scored positively by individuals who report a strong, personal connection to the divine.

• Existential Wellbeing (EWB): This subscale captures the horizontal component, focusing on secular meaning and purpose. It assesses the individual’s sense of life purpose, satisfaction with life direction, feelings of fulfillment, and the absence of existential conflict. EWB is designed to be applicable to both religious and non-religious individuals, reflecting a fundamental need for meaning.

Validity

Although the original source content does not provide specific coefficients for concurrent or discriminant validity, the extensive use and acceptance of the SWBS in academic literature attest to its recognized construct validity. The foundational research established a clear theoretical basis for the two-factor structure (RWB and EWB), which has been consistently confirmed by numerous subsequent studies and factor analyses. This confirmation supports the claim that the scale effectively measures the separate dimensions it intends to measure.

For instance, studies like the exploratory factor analysis conducted by Childs (2014) reinforce the dimensional separation, demonstrating that the items align strongly with either the religious or the existential factor, thereby validating the scale’s fundamental structure and its utility in distinguishing between these two critical aspects of spiritual wellbeing.

Reliability

The SWBS demonstrates strong internal consistency and impressive stability over time, supporting its reliability for both clinical and research applications. Internal consistency, measured using Cronbach’s alpha, is consistently high across the total scale and its subscales, as summarized by Gold (2010):

• Total Spiritual Wellbeing (SWB): Cronbach’s alpha = .89

• Religious Wellbeing (RWB): Cronbach’s alpha = .87

• Existential Wellbeing (EWB): Cronbach’s alpha = .78

The scale also exhibits excellent temporal stability, confirmed by high test-retest reliability coefficients reported by Stanard et al. (2000). These coefficients, measured across a specified time interval, were: SWB (.93), RWB (.96), and EWB (.86). These consistently high correlations confirm that the scale provides reliable and consistent measurements of spiritual wellbeing across repeated administrations.

Factor Analysis

The Spiritual Wellbeing Scale is fundamentally defined by its robust two-factor structure. The original authors conceptualized spirituality as encompassing both vertical (religious) and horizontal (existential) dimensions, and factor analyses consistently confirm this division. The 20 items are distributed evenly, with 10 items loading onto the RWB factor and 10 items loading onto the EWB factor.

For example, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) studies, such as the doctoral dissertation by Childs (2014), reinforce that items related to personal relationship with God (e.g., items 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19) cluster distinctly from items related to life purpose and meaning (e.g., items 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20). This consistent confirmation of orthogonality is crucial, as it allows researchers to measure the influence of religious faith separately from the influence of general life meaning and fulfillment.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale.

Format: 20 items, scored on a 6-point Likert scale.

Language Available: Primarily English; widely translated into various languages globally.

Population Group: General adult population (used across clinical, counseling, and non-clinical samples).

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults.

Population Details: The scale is highly adaptable and has been administered to individuals across diverse religious denominations (Christian, Jewish, etc.) as well as those identifying as non-religious, given the inclusion of the Existential Wellbeing subscale.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their agreement with each statement using a 6-point scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 6 (Strongly Disagree). Scoring requires reverse-coding negatively phrased items before summing scores to obtain separate RWB and EWB subscale scores, as well as a total SWB score.

Keywords

Likert scale, psychological assessment, religious belief, life satisfaction, purpose in life, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, psychometrics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1982.

Permissions & Fee: The SWBS is often used freely in academic research, but formal permission may be required for large-scale commercial, clinical, or institutional applications. Users should consult the original authors or publisher (Wiley, 1982) for current usage and licensing guidelines.

The original PDF dissertation detailing the factor analysis (Childs, 2014) can be downloaded here: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=csu1409218531&disposition=inline

Reference’s

The following references were foundational to the scale’s development and validation:

• Paloutzian, R.F., & Ellison, C.W. (1982). Loneliness, spiritual well-being, and quality of life. In L.A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy. New York: Wiley.

• Childs, Chivonna Y. (2014). EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE SPIRITUAL WELLNESS INVENTORY. Doctoral dissertation. Cleveland State University. The original PDF can be accessed here: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=csu1409218531&disposition=inline

• Gold, J.M. (2010). Counseling and spirituality: Integrating spiritual and Clinical Orientations. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.

• Stanard, R. P., Sandhu, D. S., & Painter, L.C. (2000). Assessment of spirituality in counseling. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 204-210.

Items of the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS)

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

1. I don’t find much satisfaction in private prayer with God.

2. I don’t know who I am, where I came from, or where I’m going.

3. I believe that God loves me and cares about me.

4. I feel that life is a positive experience.

5. I believe that God is impersonal and not interested in my daily situations.

6. I feel unsettled about my future.

7. I have a personally meaningful relationship with God.

8. I feel very fulfilled and satisfied with life.

9. I don’t get much personal strength and support from my God.

10. I feel a sense of well-being about the direction my life is headed in.

11. I believe that God is concerned about my problems.

12. I don’t enjoy much about life.

13. I don’t have a personally satisfying relationship with God.

14. I feel good about my future.

15. My relationship with God helps me not to feel lonely.

16. I feel that life is full of conflict and unhappiness.

17. I feel most fulfilled when I’m in close communion with God.

18. Life doesn’t have much meaning.

19. My relation with God contributes to my sense of well-being.

20. I believe there is some real purpose for my life.