A Review and Application of Social Scientific Measures of Religiosity and Spirituality: Assessing a Missing Component in Health Communication Research

Abstract

Social and behavioral scientists in fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, nursing, and medicine have been investigating the relation between religious or spiritual variables and health outcomes for several decades. This article reviews a sample of the major empirical instruments used in this research, including extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity, spiritual well-being, and religious coping. The review encompasses suggestions for application of these scales to health communication theory and research associated with identity, self-efficacy, social support, and media use. Cautionary advice regarding ethical issues together with guidelines for use is advanced.

Theory of Monetary Intelligence: Money Attitudes—Religious Values, Making Money, Making Ethical Decisions, and Making the Grade

“…It reflects the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief and one's life style, a sense of self and personal identity (Vitell et al 2006). Among constructs of religiosity (Egbert et al 2004;Hill and Hood 1999), individuals with intrinsic religiosity are brought into harmony with the ''religious beliefs and prescriptions'' (Allport and Ross 1967, p. 434), embrace creed, internalize it, and follow it fully. They live their religious convictions, go to church, and pray.…”

Development and Application of a Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire Called SHALOM

“…' Many attempts at assessing spirituality and spiritual health/well-being (SH/WB) reported in the literature range from single item measures to one with 156 items [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. It is difficult to make sense of this wide diversity of research because the conceptual bases upon which the research is founded vary markedly between studies [12].…”

Reservations of the Spirit: The Development of a Culturally Sensitive Spiritual Beliefs Scale About Organ Donation

“…Previous studies have explored and documented the connection between religious and spiritual beliefs as predictors of physical health (e.g., spiritual well-being and hardiness for people with HIV [Carson & Green, 1992], hopefulness for breast and cervical cancer [Egbert, Mickley, & Coeling, 2004], coping with malignant melanoma [Holland et al, 1999]). Parrott (2004) offered an explanation that religiosity and spirituality described how people make sense of their lives and inevitable death.…”