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Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale

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Synonyms 9 Assessment of spirituality and religiousness; Spir-10 itual Transcendence Scale 11 Definition 12 The Assessment of Spirituality and Religious 13 Sentiments (ASPIRES) scale is an empirically 14 derived, nondenominational, and multiculturally 15 valid measure for assessing the psychological 16 aspects of spirituality and religiosity in a manner 17 appropriate for use in clinical, research, and aca-18 demic contexts. 19 Introduction 20 Spirituality and religion have emerged as impor-21 tant psychological constructs over the last 22 20 years. A plethora of measures and large 23 research base acknowledge the value of spiritual-24 ity for understanding people and predicting their 25 behavior. However, a number of important issues 26 have emerged which preempt the field from max-27 imizing its impact. First, there is no consensual 28 definition of what spirituality is and is not. With-29 out such agreement it becomes difficult to create a 30 cumulative body of knowledge in the area. There 31 are also a number of technical issues that are in 32 need of attention, including controlling for acqui-33 escent responding and the lack of normative infor-34 mation for many instruments. Additionally, items 35 on many spirituality scales tend to reflect a main-36 line Protestant orientation, which severely limits 37 the generalizability of these measures. Finally, 38 there are no observer reports for spirituality scales. 39 This reliance on self-report data makes question-40 able the relevance and importance of spirituality. 41 Is spirituality something that is entirely personal 42 and unique to each person or is there some com-43 mon understanding of the construct that can be 44 identified by others in a person's behavior? The 45 ASPIRES was developed to tackle these problems 46 head on. The underlying assumption was to con-47 ceptualize spirituality as a psychological variable, 48 an intrinsic source of motivation universal to the 49 human experience. Using the five-factor model of 50 personality (FFM) as an organizing empirical 51 scaffold, the aim was to identify spirituality as 52 an objective personality-type construct with 53 clearly defined conceptual boundaries. It was 54 55 persuasive in promoting greater definitional con-56 sensus in the field. 57 History and Structure 58 The origins of the ASPIRES are found in the 59 Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) (Piedmont 60 1999, AU2 2001). The purpose of the STS was empir-61 ically to define and measure the fundamental 62 aspects of spirituality that are universal among 63 all humans across cultures, languages, and 64 denominations. In order to accomplish this, reli-65 gious and spiritual leaders from a variety of faith 66 traditions (including Catholicism, Judaism, Bud-67 dhism, Hinduism, Quakerism, Baptist, and 68 Lutheranism) were assembled with the goal of 69 identifying those qualities of spirituality that 70 were common across all their faith groups. They 71 were asked to write specific survey questions that 72 captured these universal qualities. These items, 73 combined with others formulated by Piedmont, 74 were tested in order to determine if they were 75 (1) independent of personality as represented by 76 the FFM, (2) comparable to the FFM in structure 77 and predictive breadth, and (3) predictive of rele-78 vant outcomes over the FFM domains and 79 (4) could be recovered across information sources 80 such as self-report and observer-rating forms. 81 The results of these analyses resulted in a 82 23-item scale that was comprised of three corre-83 lated facets: prayer fulfillment, the ability to create 84 a personal space that enables one to feel a positive 85 connection to a larger transcendent reality; uni-86 versality, the belief in a larger meaning and pur-87 pose to life, including the understanding of an 88 inherent connection among all living creatures; 89 and connectedness, feelings of belonging and 90 responsibility to a larger reality that spans gener-91 ations and groups. Taken together, overall spiri-92 tual transcendence (ST) represented an innate 93 motivation to create a broad sense of ultimate
Metadata of the chapter that will be visualized online
Chapter Title Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale
Copyright Year 2016
Copyright Holder Springer International Publishing AG
Corresponding Author Family Name Piedmont
Particle
Given Name Ralph
Given Name L.
SufxAU1
Division/Department Department of Pastoral Counseling
Organization/University Loyola University Maryland
Street 8890 McGaw Road, Suite 380
City Columbia
State MD
Postcode 21045
Country USA
Phone 410-716-7625
Email rpiedmont@loyola.edu
Author Family Name Toscano
Particle
Given Name Marion
Given Name E.
Sufx
Division/Department Department of Pastoral Counseling
Organization/University Loyola University Maryland
Street 8890 McGaw Road, Suite 380
City Columbia
State MD
Postcode 21045
Country USA
Phone 305-610-5046
Email metoscano@loyola.edu
1A
2Assessment of Spirituality
3and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES)
4Scale
5AU1 Ralph L. Piedmont and Marion E. Toscano
6Department of Pastoral Counseling, Loyola
7University Maryland, Columbia, MD, USA
8Synonyms
9Assessment of spirituality and religiousness;Spir-
10 itual Transcendence Scale
11 Definition
12 The Assessment of Spirituality and Religious
13 Sentiments (ASPIRES) scale is an empirically
14 derived, nondenominational, and multiculturally
15 valid measure for assessing the psychological
16 aspects of spirituality and religiosity in a manner
17 appropriate for use in clinical, research, and aca-
18 demic contexts.
19 Introduction
20 Spirituality and religion have emerged as impor-
21 tant psychological constructs over the last
22 20 years. A plethora of measures and large
23research base acknowledge the value of spiritual-
24ity for understanding people and predicting their
25behavior. However, a number of important issues
26have emerged which preempt the eld from max-
27imizing its impact. First, there is no consensual
28denition of what spirituality is and is not. With-
29out such agreement it becomes difcult to create a
30cumulative body of knowledge in the area. There
31are also a number of technical issues that are in
32need of attention, including controlling for acqui-
33escent responding and the lack of normative infor-
34mation for many instruments. Additionally, items
35on many spirituality scales tend to reect a main-
36line Protestant orientation, which severely limits
37the generalizability of these measures. Finally,
38there are no observer reports for spirituality scales.
39This reliance on self-report data makes question-
40able the relevance and importance of spirituality.
41Is spirituality something that is entirely personal
42and unique to each person or is there some com-
43mon understanding of the construct that can be
44identied by others in a persons behavior? The
45ASPIRES was developed to tackle these problems
46head on. The underlying assumption was to con-
47ceptualize spirituality as a psychological variable,
48an intrinsic source of motivation universal to the
49human experience. Using the ve-factor model of
50personality (FFM) as an organizing empirical
51scaffold, the aim was to identify spirituality as
52an objective personality-type construct with
53clearly dened conceptual boundaries. It was
54hoped that such a data-driven approach would be
#Springer International Publishing AG 2016
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_87-1
55 persuasive in promoting greater denitional con-
56 sensus in the eld.
57 History and Structure
58 The origins of the ASPIRES are found in the
59 Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) (Piedmont
60 1999,AU2 2001). The purpose of the STS was empir-
61 ically to dene and measure the fundamental
62 aspects of spirituality that are universal among
63 all humans across cultures, languages, and
64 denominations. In order to accomplish this, reli-
65 gious and spiritual leaders from a variety of faith
66 traditions (including Catholicism, Judaism, Bud-
67 dhism, Hinduism, Quakerism, Baptist, and
68 Lutheranism) were assembled with the goal of
69 identifying those qualities of spirituality that
70 were common across all their faith groups. They
71 were asked to write specic survey questions that
72 captured these universal qualities. These items,
73 combined with others formulated by Piedmont,
74 were tested in order to determine if they were
75 (1) independent of personality as represented by
76 the FFM, (2) comparable to the FFM in structure
77 and predictive breadth, and (3) predictive of rele-
78 vant outcomes over the FFM domains and
79 (4) could be recovered across information sources
80 such as self-report and observer-rating forms.
81 The results of these analyses resulted in a
82 23-item scale that was comprised of three corre-
83 lated facets: prayer fulllment, the ability to create
84 a personal space that enables one to feel a positive
85 connection to a larger transcendent reality; uni-
86 versality, the belief in a larger meaning and pur-
87 pose to life, including the understanding of an
88 inherent connection among all living creatures;
89 and connectedness, feelings of belonging and
90 responsibility to a larger reality that spans gener-
91 ations and groups. Taken together, overall spiri-
92 tual transcendence (ST) represented an innate
93 motivation to create a broad sense of ultimate
94 meaning within an eschatological context. In
95 other words, knowing that we will die, how do
96 we build meaning, depth, and coherence to the life
97 we are leading? Those high on ST are able to
98 understand their lives in a manner in which time
99 is not a factor. Those low on ST are more
100materialistically oriented and understand their
101lives in a more time-delimited manner. As for
102length, 13-item short forms for both the self-report
103and observer-rating versions were created.
104While the STS captured the spiritual motiva-
105tions of the individual, it was recognized that
106involvement in religious activities represented
107another aspect of numinous functioning not
108contained in the STS. As such, the religious sen-
109timents (RS) scales were developed to assess
110these qualities. Two scales were developed. The
111rst was an 8-item religious involvement
112(RI) scale which assessed the extent individuals
113outwardly expresses their connection and com-
114mitment to their faith community and/or the god
115of their understanding. The second scale was a 4-
116item religious crisis (RC) scale which examined
117the extent to which individuals struggle with or
118have difculties attributed to connection with
119their faith community and/or the god of their
120understanding. Items in this section gauge a per-
121sons feelings of isolation, abandonment, and/or
122punishment.
123The current version of the ASPIRES is a
12435-item measure (not including demographics
125questions) and is comprised of two main dimen-
126sions: RS and ST, each consisting of multiple
127scales. Items on the STS are balanced to control
128for acquiescence. There are four forms: self-
129report, observer-rating, short self-report, and
130observer-rating forms. The self and observer ver-
131sions are both individually normed, controlling
132for age and gender, and validated. Scores are
133presented as T-scores having a mean of 50 and
134standard deviation of 10. This enables direct com-
135parison of T-scores between the two different ver-
136sions as well as being an obvious way to assess the
137representativeness of any samples levels of spir-
138ituality against United States (US) normative data.
139Scores on the ASPIRES scales are reliable
140 AU3(alphas range from 0.60 for connectedness to
1410.95 for prayer fulllment; alphas for RI and RC
142are 0.89 and. 0.78, respectively. For the observer
143form, alphas range from 0.54 for connectedness to
1440.93 for prayer fulllment; alphas for RI and RC
145are 0.86 and 0.81, respectively.
146Piedmont and colleagues (Piedmont 2010;
147Piedmont et al. 2009) have also demonstrated
2 Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale
148 signicant cross-observer validity between the
149 self and observer ratings on all ASPIRES scales;
150 the magnitude of association being comparable
151 with those found with the FFM domains and in
152 both US and Philippine samples (cross-observer
153 correlations in US data range from 0.25 for con-
154 nectedness to 0.64 on prayer fulllment; values
155 for RI and RC are 0.75 and 0.34, respectively).
156 The ASPIRES scales capture aspects of function-
157 ing that are not solipsistic in nature but instead
158 represent qualities of the individual that are
159 expressed in behavior and are consensually rec-
160 ognized as representing spiritual and religious
161 dynamics.
162 The ASPIRES Conceptual Model:
163 Sentiments Versus Motives
164 An important assumption of the ASPIRES is that
165 while spirituality and religiousness are both moti-
166 vational constructs, they represent distinct psy-
167 chological qualities: the former is an operant
168 motive and the latter is a sentiment. It is important
169 to note the differences between these two types of
170 constructs. The RI and RC scales represent
171 sentiment-based motivations. A sentiment reects
172 the emotional tendencies that develop out of
173 social traditions and educational experiences
174 (Woodworth 1940). Sentiments reect what we
175 believe to be important and what we value.
176 Because of this, sentiments can and do vary in
177 both content and expression between and even
178 within groups. What may be important for one
179 cultural group or person may not be so valued by
180 others. Sentiments may also be more amenable to
181 change.
182 Conversely, scores on the STS reect a univer-
183 sal, genotypic quality that drives, directs, and
184 selects behavior. As an intrinsic source of motiva-
185 tion, spirituality inuences the basic adaptive ori-
186 entation of individuals to their environments.
187 While the expression of motives may be
188 inuenced by cultural norms, its underlying
189 strength remains stable in adulthood. Further, the
190 psychological nature of this motive is common
191 across peoples, cultures, and religions. ST is
192 hypothesized to be a genetically endowed quality
193that can be understood as a basic building block
194to personality, motives are the source for many
195acquired sentiments(Piedmont 2012, p. 108).
196Religiousness is hypothesized to be an outcome
197of ones underlying spirituality drive. Thus, the
198ASPIRES model presents an empirically based
199framework for understanding spiritual and reli-
200gious functioning in very clear, testable terms
201and provides a more detailed conceptual under-
202standing of the psychological processes associ-
203ated with these two constructs (Piedmont and
204Wilkins 2013).
205There is a large, and growing, research litera-
206ture that supports the assumptions behind the
207ASPIRES scales. This empirical foundation sup-
208ports both theory development and interpretive
209insight. Piedmont et al. (2009) demonstrated that
210while spirituality and religiousness were substan-
211tially interrelated, each scale contained sufcient
212uniquely reliable variance to warrant their sepa-
213rate interpretation. Piedmont et al. (2009) showed
214that these scales appear to be mediated by differ-
215ent psychological processes. For example, spiri-
216tuality was associated with positive affect, but
217independent of negative affect. Thus, spirituality
218provides joy in life, but does not protect from
219distress. Religiousness related negatively to neg-
220ative affect but was independent of positive affect.
221Engagement in rituals and practice helps to reduce
222emotional discomfort, but does not give happi-
223ness. Future research may wish to identify the
224different psychological pathways, and their impli-
225cations for functioning, that control these
226constructs.
227Perhaps the most important empirical ndings
228concern how spirituality relates to psychological
229functioning: Is it a causal input into our mental
230world or is it simply a consequence of other psy-
231chological dynamics? Piedmont et al. (2009)
232tested three competing causal models: (1) spiritu-
233ality and religiousness as correlated causal inputs
234into psychological growth/maturity, (2) psycho-
235logical growth/maturity as the causal input into
236spirituality and religiousness, and (3) spirituality
237as a causal input into both religiousness and psy-
238chological growth/maturity. The data indicated
239that model 3 best explained the data. This nding
240explains why spirituality is an important
Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale 3
241 psychological quality that needs to be addressed:
242 our capacity to create ultimate meaning directly
243 inuences the quality and tenor of our mental life.
244 Recognizing the numinous as a causal input into
245 psychological functioning raises the possible
246 existence of an entirely new domain of potential
247 interventions awaiting discovery. Changing how
248 individuals make ultimate meaning may provide
249 an avenue for transforming lives.
250 Given the extensive empirical support for
251 scores on the ASPIRES as well as its well-
252 developed psychometrics, it is one of only a hand-
253 ful of spiritually oriented measures that have been
254 abstracted in Buros Mental Measurements Year-
255 book. Independent reviews of the instrument are
256 uniformly supportive of the empirical integrity of
257 the scale and recognize the psychological value of
258 scores for use with a wide array of populations
259 (Brent 2014; Schoenrade 2014).
260 Applications for Use
261 The ASPIRES represents a useful instrument for
262 clinicians and researchers in the social sciences.
263 The empirically based development of the scale to
264 capture a universal individual-difference con-
265 struct means that the items do not reect any
266 specic theology or denominational perspective.
267 Thus, the scale is appropriate for all individuals
268 regardless of the religious status (scores on the
269 scale have been shown to be reliable and predic-
270 tively valid for atheists and agnostics). Research
271 has also demonstrated that scores on the
272 ASPIRES predict an array of relevant outcomes
273 and that these effects are nonredundant with other
274 personality scales.
275 There are seven important features of the
276 ASPIRES that make it an essential measure for
277 research and clinical work. First, the ASPIRES
278 provides an empirically sustainable denition of
279 religiousness and spirituality that has meaningful
280 predictive value for understanding an array of
281 salient psychological outcomes (e.g., well-being,
282 interpersonal style, psychological maturity, and
283 vocational interest). It also provides a conceptual
284 model for how to understand the psychological
285 qualities of these two constructs. Second, the
286ASPIRES captures spirituality as a universal psy-
287chological quality; scores on its dimensions are
288relevant for all individuals, regardless of their
289religious afliation or belief systems. Thus, it is
290an inclusive measure appropriate for everyone.
291Third the ASPIRES has a large and expanding
292research base that supports its universal applica-
293tion as well as providing support for the underly-
294ing assumptions behind spirituality and
295religiousness. The ASPIRES has been tested and
296shown to be valid across cultures, languages (e.g.,
297Spanish, Tagalog, Czech, Polish, Chinese, Malay,
298and Korean), and faith groups (e.g., Catholics,
299Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, and Agnostics;
300Piedmont 2010). The evidence supports ST as an
301essential universal motivation (e.g., Rican and
302Janosova 2010). Fourth, research has shown that
303interpretations gained from the ASPIRES were
304non-redundant with information obtained from
305other major psychological variables (e.g., FFM).
306Thus, any model of psychological functioning
307that wishes to be comprehensive will need to
308include information about spirituality. Fifth, the
309ASPIRES has normative data which assists
310researchers both to control for age and gender
311effects and to estimate the representativeness of
312their samples. Normative data allows scores to be
313more inferential than descriptive in nature. Sixth,
314the availability of a validated, normed observer-
315rating version is unique in this eld. Observer
316ratings can be compared to self-report scores to
317determine directly convergence between self and
318other ratings. This is useful in couple work as each
319participant can take the assessment for themselves
320and then rate their partner. Looking at where the
321two reports converge and deviate can provide
322valuable insight into how each partner sees the
323other, with resulting implications for relationship
324satisfaction. Also, observer ratings can provide
325evidence of spiritual levels in others when a self-
326report may not be available. Finally, scores on the
327ASPIRES have been shown to be linked with
328success in therapy (especially in the areas of sub-
329stance abuse), which is useful in setting realistic
330treatment goals and outcome expectations
331(Piedmont 2012).
4 Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale
332 Conclusion
333 The ASPIRES provides an empirically robust
334 framework for understanding and evaluating spir-
335 itual and religious phenomena. By conceptualiz-
336 ing spirituality as a trait-based construct, ST ts
337 well with established psychological models, and
338 its nondenominational nature makes it appropriate
339 for assessing all types of individuals. The
340 ASPIRES is the only scale with a validated rater
341 version. Kapuscinski and Masters (2010) identi-
342 ed a number of technical strengths for the instru-
343 ment and endorsed the value of the methodologies
344 used in its construction. The ASPIRES is one of a
345 very small number of spiritual instruments that
346 have been reviewed by Buros Mental Measure-
347 ment Yearbook. The ASPIRES is an essential
348 instrument for researchers and clinicians inter-
349 ested in addressing spiritual issues in an inclusive
350 and psychologically relevant manner.
351 Cross-References
352 Existential Approach to Personality
353 NEO Inventories
354 Personality and Mortality
355 Personality Structure
356 Personal Strivings
357 Positive Psychology
358 Religion
359 Self-Transcendence
360 Trust Versus Mistrust
361 References
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... from his or her theory. These include the Self-Transcendence Scale (STS) developed by Reed (1986), the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory (ASTI) based on Tornstam's conceptualization (Levenson et al., 2005), the Temperament and Character Inventory Self-Transcendence subscale (TCI-ST; Cloninger et al., 1993), and the Spirituality and Religious Sentiments Scale (ASPIRES; Piedmont, 2010). Ego-transcendence, meaning the degree to which a person is attached to his or her ego, is a facet of self-transcendence implied by some of the definitions and is addressed directly in the measure offered by Levenson et al., referring to a "decreasing reliance on externals for definition of self … and dissolving rigid boundaries between self and other" (Levenson et al., 2005, pp. ...
... Spiritual Transcendence Scale. The ASPIRES is the 23-item revised form of the ASPIRES (Piedmont, 2010). Spiritual transcendence is defined as the motivational capacity to create a broad sense of personal meaning for one's life. ...
... First, a systematic literature survey to locate scales commonly used to measure self-transcendence identified five prevalent scales: STS, ASTI, TCI-ST, ESPIRES-ST, and MS. Each of these represents a different conceptualization of the term (Cloninger, 2010;Hood, 1975;Levenson et al., 2005;Piedmont, 2010;Reed, 1986). Most scales were found highly reliable in the present study sampled according to Cronbach's α, except ASTI, which showed only acceptable internal consistency (but similar to literature reliability; Levenson et al., 2005). ...
Article
Full-text available
Self-transcendence has been used both to a process of movement beyond one’s immediate self-boundaries and to a quality that emerges as a result of this process, culminating in a broadened worldview. Due to the elusive character of the construct, there is difficulty in defining and measuring it. The present study attempts to introduce exploratory findings using an Israeli convenience sample (n = 366) in an effort to identify common core constructs in widely used measures of self-transcendence and make a preliminary unified cross-disciplinary self-transcendence assessment tool. Exploratory principal component analysis of the Self-Transcendence Scale, the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory, the Temperament and Character Inventory Self-Transcendence subscale, the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, and the Mysticism Scale was completed. A three-factor structure was revealed: Transpersonal Awareness, Broadening of Experience, and Centeredness. Correlations between the three factors revealed a possible new, integrated conceptualization of self-transcendence as a three-dimensional construct. Further theoretical analysis is required.
... As such, the expression of sentiments can and do vary across cultures and time periods; they may also be more amenable to change and modification. Piedmont (2010) reported alpha reliabilities for the RI and RC Scales to be .89 and .78, ...
... Connectedness = .57 and total ST = .89. Piedmont (2010) has argued that spirituality and religiousness, while overlapping, represent distinct psychological processes. Spirituality was seen to represent a personality trait that captured individuals' efforts at creating abroad sense of personal meaning within an eschatological context. ...
... Regression analyses in these samples also indicated that these two constructs are mediated by different psychological systems. Given these important empirical and psychological differences, Piedmont (2010) recommended that any structural analyses of the ASPIRES Scale consider these two domains separately. ...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of the study was to investigate the factor structure and reliability of the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale in an Iranian sample. Four hundred and nine Iranian subjects (213 females and 196 males) between the ages of 14 and 88 years (the Mean age was 34.37) were selected and divided into four groups: adolescents, young, middle-aged, and old. To investigate the factor structure of ASPIRES, a principal components analysis using an o blimin rotation was done. The resulting pattern loadings were then subjected to an orthogonal procrustean rotation that used US normative data as the target matrix. The resulting factor loadings were then compared to the US normative loadings and significant convergence was obtained for all three factors, suggesting that the Iranian sample understood the underlying spiritual dimension in a psychologically similar manner as the US samples. Acceptable alpha reliability values were observed for scores on all scales; values consistent with those obtained from US normative sample. The results suggest that the ASPIRES scale generalizes well to this sample and is an potentially useful instrument for use in an Iranian context.
... ASPIRES. ASPIRES is a 35-item self-report instrument designed to measure personal religiosity and spirituality (Piedmont, 2004). It consists of two dimensions: Spiritual Transcendence (ST) containing 23 items and Religious Sentiments (RS) containing 12 items. ...
... This would suggest that the differences in spirituality result from differences in whether participants tend to pray, which could stem from differences in whether they believe they have someone (or something) to pray to. Relative to the norms established for the ASPIRES, both counselors and psychologists had quite low averages in religious involvement compared to the general population, reflecting below-average participation in, and importance accorded to, religious activities (Piedmont, 2004(Piedmont, , 2012. These findings suggest that mental health professionals in BC may be no less spiritual than other people in the terms used by ASPIRES, but both tend to be decidedly less religious than the general public. ...
Article
This article investigates whether there are differences in religious and spiritual (R/S) beliefs, attitudes, practices, training, and self-assessed competence between counselors and psychologists in Canada. Researchers surveyed 307 mental health professionals in Canada with two standardized measures (the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments Scale and the Duke University Religion Index) and various other questions corresponding to variables investigated or alluded to in past research. We hypothesized that, compared with psychologists, counselors would (a) have stronger personal R/S beliefs, (b) demonstrate more positive attitudes about the appropriateness of using R/S techniques with clients, (c) utilize R/S techniques more in sessions, (d) possess more positive attitudes toward training in this area, and (e) have higher self-assessed competence for working with R/S clients. These hypotheses were generally supported except for the last one: there were no significant differences found between counselors and psychologists in self-assessed competence in working with R/S clients. We compare our findings to those of extant research, particularly the study by Plumb who examined counselors in Canada. On the basis of our findings, we advocate for more systematic cultivation of R/S competence in programs for both counselors and psychologists in Canada.
... From this standpoint, spirituality represents an innate quality and has been considered a constitutive factor of personality. Religiousness is defined as a sentiment, an emotional tendency that develops within social traditions and educational experiences, reflecting what one believes to be of value (Piedmont & Toscano, 2016). Religious expression, thus, can and does vary across cultures and involves the rituals and practices associated with a particular faith tradition (Piedmont, 2009) and is hypothesized to be an outcome of the underlying drive of spirituality. ...
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The aim of this study was to examine the relations between prosocial behavior, spirituality, religiousness, and purpose in life. Participants were Argentinians aged 18 years and over (N = 291; M Age = 38.45 years; SD = 12.09 years; range = 18 to 76). Prosocial behavior was understood and measured as a bi-dimensional construct comprised of helping and comforting. Findings showed that prosocial behavior in one of its dimensions – helping – was associated with religiousness, spirituality, and purpose in life, while its other dimension – comforting – was associated with spirituality and purpose in life. Additionally, two components of spirituality – universality and prayer fulfillment – were also associated with both dimensions of prosocial behavior. Results from regression analyses indicated that religiousness predicted helping, while spirituality and one of its components, universality, predicted both helping and comforting. In contrast to some of the posited limitations to prosociality among the religious population, such as religious in-group favoritism, this facet of spirituality could account for some of the differences with religiousness and appears to be key in promoting prosocial behaviors
... Emellett a különböző val lási és kulturális háttérrel rendelkezők körében (mint például hinduk, ke resztények és muszlimok) is megbízhatóan méri a spirituális transzcenden ciát (Piedmont & Leach, 2002). Piedmont (2004) később a tételek egy részé nek cseréjével és módosításával megalkotta a 23 tételes Spiritualitási és Vallási Érzület Skálát (Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments, ASPIRES), az eredeti három alskála megtartása mellett. A mérőeszköz 23 és 9 tételes változata is elérhető magyar nyelven, és az eddigi kutatások ered ményei szerint a kérdőív megbízhatóan és jól alkalmazható a spiritualitás mérésére (Kulcsár, 2007;Tomcsányi és mtsai, 2011). ...
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Elméleti háttér : A nemzetközi szakirodalomban több, a spiritualitás mérését célzó mérőeszköz is fellelhető. Ezek közül az egyik legszélesebb körben alkalmazott és megbízható önjellemző kérdőív a Spirituális Egészségés Életorientáció Kérdőív (Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure, SHALOM). A kérdőív a spirituális jóllétet holisztikusan ragadja meg, ezért mind a vallásos, mind pedig a nem vallásos személyek körében egyaránt jól alkalmazható. Célkitűzés: Vizsgálatunk elsődleges célja a SHALOM magyar nyelvre történő adaptálása és részletes pszichometriai vizsgálata, beleértve a faktorszerkezet, a megbízhatóság és az érvényesség tesztelését. Módszerek: A validáláshoz használt kérdőívcsomagot (SHALOM, WHO Jóllét Kérdőív, Élettel való Elégedettség Skála) összesen 437 egyetemi hallgató töltötte ki (férfi: 24,2%, nő: 75,8%, átlagéletkor = 21,6 év; SD = 1,8 év). Eredmények: A SHALOM kérdőív tételein végzett feltáró és megerősítő faktorelemzések a bifaktoros (4 elsődleges és 1 általános faktor) szerkezetet erősítették meg, alátámasztva a mérőeszköz elméleti faktorstruktúráját. Az elsődleges faktorok a következők: Személyes, Társas, Környezeti és Transzcendens skálák, mindkét értékelési aspektus esetében (fontosság és megvalósultság). Akadt azonban 6 tétel, amely nem illeszkedett tökéletesen a négy elsődleges faktorhoz: a fontosság értékelés esetében 4, a megvalósultság nézőpontjából pedig 2 tétel. A fontosság értékelés során a kérdőív dimenziói a teljes variancia 66,6%-át, a megvalósultság esetében pedig a 64,9%-át magyarázzák. A faktorszerkezetek mindkét értékelési aspektus esetében elfogadható illeszkedési mutatókat adtak (CFI fontosság = 0,99 és CFI megvalósultság = 0,97; valamint RMSEA fontosság = 0,057 és RMSEA megvalósultság = 0,068). A Cronbach- α értéke 0,69–0,97 között változik, ami összességében elfogadható belső konzisztenciát jelez, a kérdőív időbeli stabilitása is megfelelő. Az érvényességi vizsgálatunk szerint a SHALOM két értékelésének skálái szignifikáns, pozitív irányú kapcsolatban vannak a WHO Jóllét Kérdőívvel és az Élettel való Elégedettség Skálával (kivételt képez a fontosság értékelésének Személyes skálája), a korrelációk értékei gyenge és közepes mértékek között változnak. Következtetések: Az eredményeink alátámasztják a SHALOM kérdőív magyar változatának bifaktoros struktúráját, igazolják a skálák belső konzisztenciáját, valamint támogatják a mérőeszköz hazai változatának érvényességét. A konstruktum validitás tesztelésének területén azonban a jövőben további vizsgálatok indokoltak.
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This study aims to explore whether spirituality and religiosity affect psychological well-being in individuals facing terminal illness. The sample comprised 115 patients receiving palliative care in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, aged between 28 and 83 years (M= 56.93; SD = 13.20), encompassing both genders (men= 37.39%; women = 62.61%). The results indicate that, upon analyzing the effects on psychological well-being, universality emerges as the most relevant explanatory variable within the model. These findings affirm a positively significant relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being in individuals at the final stages of life, aligning with results reported in other populations studied by various authors.
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Whether in research or clinical setting, the use of standardized measures allows for more accurate comparisons and interpretations. To this end and to better understand the Factors of Self-Acceptance - Sexual and Gender Identities (FSA-SGI) Scale, data from 1237 individuals who identify as LGBQ+, regardless of gender identity, was analyzed in order to create a norms group whose descriptives will be utilized to create standardized scores for future research and clinical work. Additionally, the FSA-SGI evidenced incremental validity over personality and internalized homophobia; thus, indicating that for LGBTQ+ individuals, psychological well-being is comprised of both internal and external factors.
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The aim of study is to explore the self-objectification of women and media exposure. It explores the relationship of media and self-objectification with reference to culture and religion as moderating variables. For this purpose, quantitative survey was chosen as research design and data from four universities of provincial capitals were collected through simple random sampling. It Includes the Punjab University Lahore, Karachi University Sindh, Baluchistan University, Baluchistan and Peshawar University, KPK. The total respondent was 400. Hundred from each university. STATA and SPSS were used to applied the test. Linear regression was run to know the relationship between variables. Our analysis shows a relationship between media exposure and self-objectification of women. More exposure to media objectified images leads to more self-objectification in female students. Association with religion and culture decline the self-objectification tendencies among female students. Our finding suggest that more media literacy can decrease the self-objectification phenomenon and more cultural association can omit the effects of media objectified images on female students of universities.
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Psychological studies on the spiritual experience of religiously committed individuals have typically focused on positive spiritual experiences and their impact on psychological flourishing. This study examined two structural equation models of the potential short-term impact of negative spiritual experiences on the psychological flourishing of religiously committed individuals. Modeling results were: a) negative and positive spiritual experiences together emerged as the underlying cause of psychological flourishing, rather than the reverse, and, b) when taken together with positive spiritual experiences, negative spiritual experiences had a significant immediate negative association with psychological flourishing whereas positive spiritual experiences did not have a statistically significant association. These modeling results were discussed in light of the "bad stronger than good" theory of the greater immediate impact of negative events on psychological outcomes. Negative spiritual experiences appear to have similar salience to non-spiritual negative events.
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Despite more than the 80-year history of the AA movement, there is a gap in academic knowledge about the essence of AA spiritual concepts. One particularly important lacuna about AA practice is weakness of theoretical frame for the often-used measuring tools of spiritual variables in quantitative studies. This article argues that theological analysis of AA practice can be a very useful part of empirical studies if the researcher’s theological commitments favor studying nonconfessional groups. A promising possible vein for future research is proposed.
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This study reports on the development of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, a measure designed to capture aspects of the individual that are independent of the qualities contained in the Five-Factor Model of Personality (FFM). Using 2 separate samples of undergraduate students including both self-report ( Ns = 379 and 356) and observer data ( N = 279), it was shown that Spiritual Transcendence: (a) was independent of measures of the FFM; (b) evidenced good cross-observer convergence; and (c) predicted a wide range of psychologically salient outcomes, even after controlling for the predictive effects of personality. Given the long theoretical pedigree of Transcendence in the psychological literature, it was argued that Spiritual Transcendence represents a broad-based motivational domain of comparable breadth to those constructs contained in the FFM and ought to be considered a potential sixth major dimension of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Postmaterial spiritual psychology posits that consciousness can contribute to the unfolding of material events and that the human brain can detect broad, non-material communications. In this regard, this emerging field of postmaterial psychology marks a stark departure from psychology's traditional quantum measurements and tenets. The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality codifies the leading empirical evidence in the support and application of postmaterial psychological science. Sections in this volume include: personality and social psychology factors and implications; spiritual development and culture; spiritual dialogue, prayer, and intention in Western mental health; Eastern traditions and psychology; physical health and spirituality; positive psychology; and scientific advances and applications related to spiritual psychology. With articles from leading scholars in psychology, medicine, physics, and biology, this text is an interdisciplinary reference for a rapidly emerging approach to contemporary science.
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This study over-viewed the basic scientific issues pertaining to the measurement of spirituality. An empirical framework, based on the five-factor model of personality (FFM), was presented for use in the development and validation of spiritual constructs. The utility of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) as a psychometrically sound measure was evaluated. Using a sample of undergraduate students that included both self-report (N = 322) and observer data (N = 188), it was shown that the STS: (a) demonstrated its putative second-order factor structure; (b) was independent of measures of the FFM; (c) evidenced good cross-observer convergence; and (d) predicted a wide range of psychologically salient outcomes, even after controlling for the predictive effects of personality. It was argued that spiritual constructs can be most efficacious when incorporated as part of a multidimensional assessment battery that includes other personality domains.
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Despite spirituality's growing popularity within psychology, measurement of the construct remains challenging. The difficulty largely arises from disagreement regarding the nature of spirituality per se and its relationship to religiousness. The present paper provides a critical review of scale development practices for 24 measures of spirituality including information pertaining to conceptualization, item generation and revision practices, format, sample characteristics, and psychometric properties. Findings raise theological and methodological concerns, which inform several recommendations for future development and validation of spirituality measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Despite their wide usage, the constructs of spirituality and religiosity have no universally accepted definitions, and very little research has examined how these numinous constructs relate both to one another and to established personality dimensions. Two studies are presented that examined the factor structure of a motivationally based measure of spirituality, the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) and a behaviorally based measure of religiosity, the Religious Involvement Scale (RIS). Three causal models examining their relationships to one another and to psychological measures of growth and maturity, as well as their incremental validity in predicting a wide array of psychosocial outcomes over the influence of the Five-Factor Model domains were examined. Employing self and observer ratings and American and Filipino samples, the results demonstrated that these robust, cross-culturally generalizable scales provided insights into people not contained by traditional personality variables. The conceptual implications of these results were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This study generally confirms Piedmont's concept of spirituality as a dimension, or set of dimensions of individual differences, traditionally neglected by factor analytic research. Piedmont's model was found to hold in a different culture and with a spirituality questionnaire constructed on the basis of a strategy largely different from that of Piedmont (1999)19. Piedmont , R. 1999 . Does spirituality represent the sixth factor of personality? Spiritual transcendence and the Five-Factor Model. . Journal of Personality , 67 ( 6 ) : 985 – 1014 . [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®]View all references. An original six-scale Prague Spirituality Questionnaire (PSQ; Rican & Janosova, 2005) was devised. It was constructed for the extremely secularized Czech youth who largely reject organized religion. It was subjected to a joint exploratory factor analysis together with 30 facet scales of the NEO PI–R. The results were similar to those of Piedmont: Six factors were found, unambiguously interpretable as the Big Five plus a sixth factor saturating all of the 6 PSQ scales. Data supporting criterion, as well as construct validity of the PSQ, are also given.
Test review of assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments Lincoln: Psychological Assessment Resources
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