Measuring Religiosity/Spirituality: Theoretical Differentiations and Categorization of Instruments
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2011, Vol 2, Issue 3
Abstract
There is a multitude of instruments for measuring religiosity/spirituality. Many of these questionnaires are used or even were developed in the context of studies about the connection between religiosity/spirituality and health. Thus, it seems crucial to note that measures can focus on quite different components along a hypothetical path between stressors and health. We present an instructive model which helps to identify these different components and allows the categorization of instruments of religiosity/spirituality according to their primary measurement intention: intensity/centrality, resources, needs, coping, and quality of life/well-being. Furthermore, we point out possibilities as to how religiosity and spirituality can be differentiated. We argue that the distinction between religiosity and spirituality is important in countries with a more secular background where a growing number of people identify themselves as “spiritual, but not religious”.
Authors and Affiliations
Christian Zwingmann, Constantin Klein and Arndt Büssing
Keywords
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- EP ID EP25202
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2030345
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