Inward, Outward, Upward Prayer: Scale Reliability and Validation

Abstract

This study provides support for a model that conceptualizes prayers as the means to establish cognitive connections in three directions: inward (self-connection); outward (human-human connection); and upward (human-divine connections). A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates a single general prayer factor divisible into three subfactors that are in turn comprised of eight discrete scales. Measures of general religiosity, the need for structure, religious styles of coping, well-being, life-satisfaction, and belief in the paranormal provide evidence of convergent and divergent validity for the theory of prayer as a mechanism for inward, outward, and upward connections.Early in the history of modern psychology the study of prayer was a thriving concern (Pratt 1908;Strong 1909). In subsequent years, however, investigations of prayer dropped off quickly, following the general trend of declining interest in the relation between psychology and religious beliefs (Spilka and McIntosh 1999). During the last several years, researchers using newer methods have revisited the topic (Hood, Morris, and Harvey 1993;Ladd and Spilka 2002;Laird et al. 2001;Poloma and Gallup 1991). Ladd and Spilka (2002) summarized previous efforts to construct multidimensional prayer scales and noted several difficulties while attempting to reconcile the various studies. These problems included the presence of different participant instructions, nonstandard methods of response, and an indiscriminate mixture of items (affective, behavioral, and cognitive). Most damaging, however, was the lack of a theoretical paradigm for understanding the role of prayer in religion. Building on Foster's writings (1992), Ladd and Spilka (2002) sought to rectify this situation by proposing an explicit theoretical basis for understanding prayer as a means of forming cognitive connections. Following this pathway, they demonstrated that prayers contain inward, outward, and upward dimensions as postulated by Foster (1992; see Figure 1). Inward prayers emphasize self-examination. Outward prayers focus on strengthening human-human connections. Upward prayers center on the human-divine relationship. Eight first-order factors reflected this tripartite notion of the directions in which prayer can provide connectivity.In addition to the directionality of prayer inherent in the first-order factors, Ladd and Spilka (2002) also reported three second-order factors that appear to represent the intentionality of prayer. Higher order factor one consists of content emphasizing intercession (outward: prayer on behalf of someone's difficulties), suffering (outward: prayer to share another's pain), and examination (inward: prayer to evaluate one's spiritual status). In broad terms, this seems to represent a way of connecting that highlights internal conditions of others and one's self. Engaging in intercessory prayer necessitates recognition of another's inner struggle, even as examination prayer evaluates one's own private situation. Perhaps even more intense is the prayer of suffe...

Relational processes in prayer : a reflection of the effects of culture on religious experience.

“…The subscales loaded onto second order intentionality factors with loadings all over .65. Later, CFA replicated these findings (Ladd & Spilka, 2006). Each of the eight scales again demonstrated adequate reliability with all alpha coefficients over .70.…”

“…They found that there were indeed three distinct second-order factors of prayer (see Figure 1), but they reflected intentions of prayer, rather than direction of connection. Though initial model development supported a single overall prayer factor, it has not consistently been replicated (Ladd & Spilka, 2006, Breslin & Lewis, 2010. The first factor is named Collectivistic Prayer because the three prayer types loading onto this factor reflect characteristics of a collectivist culture.…”

Neuroimaging of prayer: Questions of validity.

“…The extent to which a perceived attempted prayer is equivalent to an actual prayer is a theologically complex issue beyond the scope of this paper. With regard to prayer, Ladd and Spilka (2006) noted that there was often a significant divergence between official theological positions and "lived" theology. For our purpose, we focus on the self-reported nature of the individual's experience.…”

“…Those individualized prayers are, in turn, divergent in their content and the extent to which that content is more affective, cognitive, or behaviorally oriented may well shift cortical activation patterns. Analyses that do not take into consideration these and other nuances associated with the multidimensional nature of prayer run the risk of suppressing interesting information by averaging across participants (Ladd & Spilka, 2006).…”

Psychological type and prayer preferences: A study among Anglican clergy in the United Kingdom

“…On this account, factor one comprised two outward and one inward scale (intercession, examination, and suffering); factor two comprised one inward and two upward scales (tears, rest, and sacrament); and factor three comprised two outward scales (radical and petition). This tradition of research has been developed further by Spilka (2006), andLadd, Ladd, Harner, Swanson, Metz, St Pierre andTrnka (2007).…”