Measuring Religious Attitudes Using the Semantic Differential Technique: An Application of Three-Mode Factor Analysis

Muthén, Bengt; Olsson, Ulf; Pettersson, Torsten; Ståhlberg, Gustaf

doi:10.2307/1385698

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…However, the semantic differential has been widely used within research about religious topics; e.g., religious experiences (Brody, 1965), identities (Hofman, 1970), symbols (Craddick, Thumin, & Barclay, 1971), buildings (Daiber, 2001), or public figures (Hood, Morris, Hickman, & Watson, 1995). Further topics from the religious sphere which have been assessed using semantic differentials are God images (Benson & Spilka, 1973;Broughton, 1975;Francis, Robbins, & Gibson, 2006), dogmatism (Hood, 1973;1974), or other religious attitudes (Muthen, Olsson, Pettersson, & Stahlberg, 1977). Thus, semantic differentials are well established as measurement method within the psychology of religion.…”

Section: Semantics Of Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Semantics of ‘Spirituality’ and Related Self-Identifications: A Comparative Study in Germany and the USA

Keller

Klein

Swhajor-Biesemann

et al. 2013

Archive for the Psychology of Religion

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SummaryCulturally different connotations of basic concepts challenge the comparative study of religion. Do persons in Germany or in the United States refer to the same concepts when talking about 'spirituality' and 'religion'? Does it make a difference how they identify themselves? The Bielefeld-Chattanooga Cross-Cultural Study on 'Spirituality' includes a semantic differential approach for the comparison of self-identified "neither religious nor spiritual", "religious", and "spiritual" persons regarding semantic attributes attached to the concepts 'religion' and 'spirituality' in each research context. Results show that 'spirituality' is used as a broader concept than 'religion'. Regarding religion, semantics attributed by self-identified religious persons differ significantly from those of the spiritual persons. The 'spiritual' and the 'religious' groups agree on semantics attributed to spirituality but differ from the 'neither spiritual nor religious' group. Qualifications of differences and agreements become visible from the comparison between the United States and Germany. It is argued for the semantically sensitive study of culturally situated 'spiritualities'.

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Section: Semantics Of Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Semantics of ‘Spirituality’ and Related Self-Identifications: A Comparative Study in Germany and the USA

Keller

Klein

Swhajor-Biesemann

et al. 2013

Archive for the Psychology of Religion

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show abstract

“…CFA = confirmatory factor analysis; EGA = exploratory graph analysis; BPNSFS-A = Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale; ECV = explained common variance; PUC = percentage of uncontaminated correlations; M&MF-I = Me and My Feelings scale; DWLS = diagonally weighted least squares; DCFA = dynamic confirmatory factor anlaysis; CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; SRMR = standardized root mean square residual; TEIQue-ASF-ER = Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Adolescent Short Form; EPOCH-O = Engagement Perseverance Optimism Connectedness Happiness; PANAS-C-PA = PANAS-C positive affect subscale; SWEMWBS = Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale; RSS = Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; PSS-4 = Perceived Stress Scale; L0 = no misspecification; L1 = Level-one misspecification; L2 = Level-two misspecification; L3 = Level-three misspecification. a A six-item bifactor model with three items per specific factor is not identified, so one lambda estimate from an unidentified run was used to identify the model as recommended ( Muthén & Muthén, 2021 ). b For both the unidimensional and bifactor PSS-4 models, a Heywood case (negative residual variance) was found for the second item.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… a A six-item bifactor model with three items per specific factor is not identified, so one lambda estimate from an unidentified run was used to identify the model as recommended ( Muthén & Muthén, 2021 ). b For both the unidimensional and bifactor PSS-4 models, a Heywood case (negative residual variance) was found for the second item.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health and Well-being Measures for Mean Comparison and Screening in Adolescents: An Assessment of Unidimensionality and Sex and Age Measurement Invariance

et al. 2023

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Adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability for low well-being and mental health problems, particularly for girls and older adolescents. Accurate measurement via brief self-report is therefore vital to understanding prevalence, group trends, screening efforts, and response to intervention. We drew on data from the #BeeWell study ( N = 37,149, aged 12–15) to consider whether sum-scoring, mean comparisons, and deployment for screening were likely to show bias for eight such measures. Evidence for unidimensionality, considering dynamic fit confirmatory factor models, exploratory graph analysis, and bifactor modeling, was found for five measures. Of these five, most showed a degree of non-invariance across sex and age likely incompatible with mean comparison. Effects on selection were minimal, except sensitivity was substantially lower in boys for the internalizing symptoms measure. Measure-specific insights are discussed, as are general issues highlighted by our analysis, such as item reversals and measurement invariance.

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“…Following the guidelines outlined in Jung and Wickrama (2008), we utilized Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) in Mplus 8 (Muthen and Muthen 1998–2017) in order to determine if distinct profiles of changes in spiritual connectedness over our study period could be identified in our sample of low-income, largely African American adolescents. Because a second purpose of our study was to determine if profiles differed by developmental stage, we conducted these analyses separately by grade cohort.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Spiritual Connectedness during Adolescence: Links to Coping and Adjustment in Low-Income Urban Youth

Wright

Yendork

Kliewer

2018

J Youth Adolescence

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Religiosity and spirituality are influential experiences that buffer adverse effects of stressors. Spirituality typically declines during adolescence, although not universally. Using Latent Class Growth Analysis, we examined changes in spiritual connectedness among 188 early (52% female; M age = 10.77, SD = 0.65 years) and 167 middle (56% female; M age = 13.68, SD = 0.82 years) predominantly African American adolescents participating in a 4-year longitudinal study. Three distinct profiles of spiritual connectedness emerged: low and steady, moderate with declines over the study period, and high and steady. Profile distributions varied across developmental level: there were more early adolescents in the high and steady profile and more middle adolescents in the decliner profile. Youth in the high and steady profile evidenced more goal-directedness and life satisfaction and more effective emotion management and coping strategies than youth in other profiles. Contributions to the positive development literature are discussed.

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Measuring Religious Attitudes Using the Semantic Differential Technique: An Application of Three-Mode Factor Analysis

Cited by 9 publications

References 6 publications

The Semantics of ‘Spirituality’ and Related Self-Identifications: A Comparative Study in Germany and the USA

The Semantics of ‘Spirituality’ and Related Self-Identifications: A Comparative Study in Germany and the USA

Mental Health and Well-being Measures for Mean Comparison and Screening in Adolescents: An Assessment of Unidimensionality and Sex and Age Measurement Invariance

Patterns of Spiritual Connectedness during Adolescence: Links to Coping and Adjustment in Low-Income Urban Youth

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