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The Four Basic Dimensions of ReligiousnessScale (Saroglou, 2009) - Info as of July 2016
Introduction
This scale measuresfour basic dimensionsof religiousness:
believing, bonding, behaving,and belonging.
The four dimensions refer respectively to four components of religion:
beliefs, emotions/rituals, norms, and group/community
andfour respective functions: meaning, inner peace, self-control, and collective identity
Measurement issues
The 12 items, and the correspondence with the four dimensions, are presented below, in page 2.
Three items (see next page) measure each dimension, i.e. by order: meaning-beliefs (1-3), emotions-ritual (4-6), morality-norms (7-9), andcommunity/tradition (10-12).
For each individual, thus four scores (means) are computed (and if necessary, a global index of religious: mean of the 12 items)
The four dimensions are importantly inter-correlated, especially if administered in a sample of average religiosity including both believers and non-believers (thus, the 12 items can be used to form a global index of religiousness). The distinctiveness between the four dimensions appears more clearly among religious participants; and also, when predicting external outcomes (and, in particular when controlling for common variance, i.e. global religiousness).
Citation(s)
To citethe theoretical paperon which the scale is based:
Saroglou, V. (2011).Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The big four religious dimensions and cultural variation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42, 1320-1340.
See also: Saroglou, V. (2014). Conclusion: Understanding religion and irreligion. In V. Saroglou (Ed.), Religion, personality, and social behavior (pp. 361-391). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
To cite the scale:In collaboration with colleagues from various Universities, we have collected data from 14 nations and all major religions. Other colleagues have collected data in additional ethnic and national samples. A paper to present the scale, based on all these data, is in preparation.
In the meantime, you can cite the theoretical paper above and the scale as follows:
Saroglou, V. (2009).The Four Basic Dimensions of Religiousness Scale.Unpublished manuscript, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
Publications
For publications and papers having used the scale, see page 3
Translations
For existing translations of the scale in other languages, see page 4
Items and Instructions
You may be interested or not in religion for a variety of reasons. Please try to be as specific as possible in your answers to the following questions dealing with the reasons they eventually make you to be interested on religion.
Totally disagree / Totally agree1.I feel attached to religion because it helps me to have a purpose in my life / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
2.It is important to believe in a Transcendence that provides meaning to human existence / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
3.Religious beliefs have important implications for our understanding of human existence. / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
4.I like religious ceremonies / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
5.Religious rituals, activities or practices make me feel positive emotion / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
6.Religion has many artistic, expressions, and symbols that I enjoy / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
7.I am attached to the religion for the values and ethics it endorses / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
8.Religion helps me to try to live in a moral way / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
9.When I've got a moral dilemma, religion helps me to make a decision / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
10.In religion, I enjoy belonging to a group/community / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
11. Belonging to a religious tradition and identifying with it is important for me / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
12.Referring to a religious tradition is important for my cultural/ethnic identity / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Published work having used the scale
Clobert, M., Saroglou, V., Hwang, K.-K., & Soong, W.-L. (2014). East Asian religious tolerance: A myth or a reality? Empirical investigations of religious prejudice in East Asian societies.Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45, 1515-1533.
Clobert, M., Saroglou, V., & Hwang, K.-K. (in press). East Asian religious tolerance versus Western monotheist prejudice: The role of (in)tolerance of contradiction. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. Advance online publication (October 2015).
Deak, C., & Saroglou, V. (2015). Opposing abortion, gay adoption, euthanasia, and suicide: Compassionate openness or self-centered moral rigorism? Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 37, 267-294.
Dimitrova, R. (2014). The Big Four Dimensions of Religiousness and life satisfaction among Dutch and Italian young adults.In Mikucka, M., & F. Saraccino (Eds.) Life satisfaction: Perceptions, social influences and implications for long-term health. NY: Nova Publishers.
Dimitrova, R., & Dominguez, A. (in press). Factorial structure and measurement invariance of the Four Basic Dimensions of Religiousness Scale among Mexican males and females.Journal of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Tapia, J., Rojas, M., y Villalobos, M. (2013). Fundamentalismo religioso entre jóvenes universitarios de Costa Rica: Conservadurismo político y espiritualidad sin religión. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 139(I), 115-135.
Papers and dissertations having used the scale
Cohu, M. (2015, Juin). Construction de l’échelle de mesure des conceptions normatives de la laïcité. Communication présentée au 12ème Colloque Jeunes Chercheurs en Psychologie Sociale, Dijon, France.
Santos, L. C. de O.(2015). Aspectosreligiosos, educacionais e valorativos da intenção de voto. UnpublishedMaster’sthesis, UniversidadeFederal da Paraíba, Brazil.
Saroglou, V. and 14 co-authors from the International Project on the Psychology of Fundamentalism (2012, July). Religion and need for closure: A relation sensitive to the cultural context. In J. Rossier & A. Terraciano (Chairs), Personality and culture: Some new insights. Invited symposium conducted at the 16th European Conference on Personality, Trieste, Italy.
Saroglou, V., and 14 co-authors from the International Project on the Psychology of Fundamentalism (2012, July). Fundamentalism versus spirituality and readiness for existential quest: Do religions and cultures differ? In V. Saroglou & W. J. Lonner (Chairs), Religion, culture, and acculturation: From social minds to well-being. Symposium conducted at the 21st International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Congress, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Saroglou, V. (2016, March). Religious meaning: Cognitive understanding, emotional positivity, or moral orientation? In C. Park & V. Saroglou (chairs), The intersection of positive emotions, meaning and spirituality: Current status and future directions. Symposium conducted at the Mid-year Conference on Psychology, religion, and spirituality, Long Island, New York, USA.
Translations (from English)
BulgarianRadosveta Dimitrova Stockholm U
ChineseMagali Clobert UC Louvain
DutchRadosveta Dimitrova Stockholm U
FrenchVassilis Saroglou UC Louvain
GermanSebastian Murken U of Marburg
GreekFrossoMotti-Stefanidi U of Athens
HebrewSonia Roccas Open University of Israel
IndonesianYonathan Aditya U PelitaHarapan
ItalianAnna Miglietta University of Torino
PolishJoanna Blogowska
PortugueseLayrtthon Carlos de Oliveira Santos or
Valdiney Veloso Gouveia U of Paraiba
SlovakLucia Adamovova Slovak Academy of Sciences
SpanishAntonio Muñoz-García (U of Granada, Spain) or
Javier Tapia (U of Costa Rica)
TurkishCemSafakÇukur Muğla University
other collaborators: Adam Cohen, Kwang-Kuo Hwang, Kevin Ladd, Nicolas Roussiau, Matthieu Van Pachterbeke)