Validation of the Short Forms of the Centrality of Religiosity Scale in Georgia

Michael Ackert,Irina Badurashvili,Stefan Huber,Erekle Maglakelidze

doi:10.3390/rel11020057

Michael Ackert, Irina Badurashvili + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11020057

Copy DOI

Abstract

This study presents the validation of the short forms of Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) in Georgia. This country offers a unique Christian orthodox context with a long-lasting religious tradition and strong affiliation to churches. Translated short forms were administered in the years 2012 (CRS-5) and 2018 (CRSi-7). Participants reported on ideological, intellectual, and experiential aspects of their faith and their private and public religious practice in face-to-face interviews. The collected data was subject to reliability analyses. Scale invariance over time was tested with the CRS-5, whereas the CRSi-7 was examined for model goodness, with one factor—Centrality of Religiosity—with a confirmatory factor analysis. Derived statistical coefficients from large stratified random populational samples (2012: N = 2238 and 2018: N = 1906) show good to acceptable Cronbach’s α s ( α = 0.73 and α = 0.67). The composite scores’ means and standard deviations contour norm values for further investigations in social sciences related to religiosity in Georgia. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses show that the Centrality of Religiosity manifests a stable factor, adequately explaining different dimensions of faith life. The high reliability of the CRS-5 over time leads to the conclusion of consistent measurement characteristics and thus, its suitability for longitudinal analysis. The CRSi-7 has a comparable model fit to the CRS-5 providing an alternative for interreligious contexts if needed. Aspects of assessment and analysis are discussed and reasons for the application of the longer version of the CRS are provided in the end.

Highlights

Throughout its entire existence, the study of religion and religiosity has been searching for a universal instrument to measure the psychological constructs behind the various religious ideologies, rituals, experiences and other expressions of faith life
We report findings related to scale invariance testing of the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS)-5 between 2012 and 2018, and the results of model testing of the CRSi-7
The interpretability of the solution is only limited in the behavioral part of the model, i.e., private practice and public practice indicator, we review this point in the discussion

Summary

Introduction

Throughout its entire existence, the study of religion and religiosity has been searching for a universal instrument to measure the psychological constructs behind the various religious ideologies, rituals, experiences and other expressions of faith life. Over time, the broadness of the field led to a variety of results. Various research interests brought up a plethora of sociological and psychological assessment scales. The interest in a robust and versatile instrument remains unbroken, especially when looking at the changes in the religious landscape worldwide (Hackett and Stonawski 2017) as well as the wish to have a comparable scale for the different dimensions of human religiosity in distinctive. Endorsing the idea of multifaceted religious expression, Murken and Namini (2006)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion