Assessment, Statistics, and Research

T he Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) assesses six domains of potential struggles, which people may experience. The RSS is a 26-item measure with strong psychometric support. For a list of the items and more details, see the reference below (Exline, Pargament, Grubbs, & Yali, 2014). Based on Exline et al. (2014) and a general reading of the topic, I define religious/ spiritual (RS) struggles as experiences of personal concern linked to RS beliefs, practices, values, or experiences, which negatively affect thinking, feelings, or behavior, relationships, or health. The Six Domains of Spiritual Struggles Following is a quote from page 208 of the 2014 article, which describes the six domains. I have added bold text to help readers identify each domain. Note, r/s is a common abbreviation for religious/spiritual. The measure assesses six domains of r/s struggle: divine (negative emotion centered on beliefs about God or a perceived relationship with God), ...

The Brief RCOPE scale is a 14-item measure of religious coping developed and studied by Kenneth Pargament (e.g., 1997) and his colleagues. The scale is based on coping theory applied to religion and aims to help researchers understand one relationship between people and their religion when they experience a stressful life experience. Research supports two dimensions of coping reflected in the RCOPE scale: positive and negative. These two dimensions are the basis for two subscales of the Brief RCOPE labelled accordingly as Positive Religious Coping Subscale (PRC ) and Negative Religious Subscale (NRC ). Positive coping means drawing upon spiritual resources in a way that helps people cope with stressful events. Such people may have a secure relationship with God or a higher power, hold a benevolent worldview, and have positive relationships with religious others. Negative religious coping indicates intrapersonal religious or spiritual struggles . The conflict may be exp...

Response set  is a tendency to respond similarly to all or many questions such as frequently choosing "somewhat agree" on scale options ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." Response bias occurs when respondents deliberately give false responses. There are many forms of response bias. Acquiescence bias occurs when respondents select only positive answers. This is also called "yea-saying." Demand characteristics influence answers to survey items when the respondent attempts to provide answers according to the way they think an ideal participant should respond. Extreme bias occurs when respondents frequently choose the extreme options on survey items such as the "Strongly Agree" and "Strongly Disagree" options. Hostility bias  occurs when respondents feel provoked by items in the survey. Researchers must take care in wording items that may be sensitive. Explanations and instructions might help reduc...

The Dispositional Greed Scale is a 7-item rating scale. Participants rate each item on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Permission : The test items may be reproduced and used for noncommercial research and educational purposes. The list of items is available from PsycTESTS. Sample 1. I always want more. 2. Actually, I’m kind of greedy. Read more about greed in the Psychology of Greed. Note : In psychology, a disposition is a relatively durable behavior pattern or trait in contrast to a state, which can vary with situations. Resource Link:  A – Z Test Index References For the test items in PsycTESTS, see: Seuntjens, T. G., Zeelenberg, M., van de Ven, N., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2015). Dispositional Greed Scale [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t41245-000 For the article about dispositional greed, see the following reference: Seuntjens, Terri G., Zeelenberg, Marcel, van de Ven, Niels, & B...

An 8-item version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale is available. The 30-item BIS is a commonly used measure of impulsiveness. The original scale has undergone a number of revisions. In 2013, Lynne Steinberg and her team evaluated an 11-item version.  Based on the evidence, an 8-item version was developed. The 8-item version is knows as BIS-Brief Each item is rated on a 4-point scale as follows. 1 = rarely/never 2 = occasionally 3 = often 4 = almost always/always Items The items ask the participants about thinking, planning, and self-control. The items  may be used for education and research. purposes. The PsycTESTS entry included the following permissions statement. Test content may be reproduced and used for non-commercial research and educational purposes without seeking written permission. Distribution must be controlled, meaning only to the participants engaged in the research or enrolled in the educational activity. Any other type of reproduction...

Two scales examine couples' perspectives on the role of God in their marriages. The Sacred Marriage scales are the work of Mahoney, Pargament, and DeMaris (2009). The first scale looks at the role of God in their marriage. There are 10-items. Couples are advised that they substitute another word for God as may be applicable to their spirituality. Examples and a reference are included below. Revised Manifestation of God in Marriage      Following are the instructions Directions: Some of the following questions use the word "God." Different people use different terms for God, such as "Higher Power," "Divine Spirit," "Spiritual Force," "Holy Spirit," "Yahweh," "Allah,", "Buddha”, or “Goddess.” Please feel free to substitute your own word for God when answering any of the questions that follow. Also, some people do not believe in God. If this is the case for you, please feel free to choose the "s...

Two 10-item scales assess the degree to which couples view marital sexuality from a spiritual perspective. Both scales published by Hernandez, Mahoney, and Pargament (2011) are rated on the same 7-point scale. The wording is clearly aimed at married couples. Although they use the word God , note that in a similar scale focused on children from some of the same authors, participants are instructed to think of their own deity. Revised Manifestation of God in Marital Sexuality Two sample items:      1) God played a role in my decision to have a sexual relationship with my spouse.      2) Our sexual relationship speaks to the presence of God. Revised Sacred Qualities of Marital Sexuality Two sample items:      1) Being sexually intimate with my spouse feels like a deeply spiritual experience.      2) Our sexual relationship seems like a miracle to me. Scoring There are 10-items in the scale. Participants...