Making Sense of Quest's Multidimensionality: The Search for a Higher Order Structure

Abstract

The multidimensionality of the Quest construct has been suggested by a number of authors, although there is a paucity of multidimensional Quest scales in the extant literature. Further, the vast majority of researchers continue to utilize unidimensional measures of Quest. In a sample of 436 university students, the Multidimensional Quest Orientation Scale (MQOS; Beck & Jessup, 2004) was subjected to a principal axis factor analysis. The results suggested a nine-factor structure, although the Exploration scale was removed, due to its suspected measurement of apologetics. The remaining eight factors were subjected to a secondary factor analysis, suggesting a higher-order factor structure consistent with Edwards et al.'s (2002) concepts of “hard” and “soft” Quest. Correlational analyses between the MQOS subscales and other measures of religiosity (e.g., extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, religious commitment, and defensive theology) support the usage of multidimensional measures of Quest, due to the unique information provided by each of the dimensions and their respective higher order factors. However, the higher order structure helps to elucidate the broader themes suggested within the multiple dimensions of Quest.