Construction and validation of the Peck-Terry-Layton Scale of Religious Values
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Abstract
The purpose of the present research was to empirically investigate the hypothesis that religiosity is a multidimensional phenomenon. Six dimensions or constructs were defined and the 72-item Peck-Terry-Layton Scale of Religious Values (PTL) was developed. A 14-item brief authoritarian scale was randomly interspersed among the PTL items to serve as a marker variable. Other instruments employed in this study were a biographical data sheet, designed to assess Ss' participation in religious activities and preferences for counselors, plus the Ways to Live Scale, measuring preferred lifestyles;These measures were administered to two samples at Iowa State University: volunteers taking psychology undergraduate classes and a Christian fellowship group on campus. Alpha coefficients and item-total correlations for each dimension of the PTL were calculated, separately for each sample. A factor analytic analysis was also performed on the PTL data, employing a principal components method with both varimax and oblique solutions. A correlational analysis of the PTL, the biographical data sheet, and the Ways to Live Scale was also conducted;The results indicated that the samples differed on all of the measures administered. Analysis of the psychology undergraduate sample, responding to the PTL, produced two factors entitled Religiosity and Rigid self-centeredness, while the fellowship sample produced three factors: Sympathetic authoritarianism, Spiritual reflection, and Egoism. The six proposed dimensions of the PTL were found to be low in internal consistency and to be significantly intercorrelated, making conclusions regarding the factor structure of religiosity (religious values) only tentative. The fellowship sample reported more frequent participation in worship services and church-related activities while also preferring to bring personal problems to a church elder for counseling. Over one-half of the psychology undergraduate sample expressed a preference for a university counselor with whom they could discuss personal problems. It was concluded that the PTL was a potentially useful scale for measuring religiosity but more effort and factor analytic studies are required in the development of reliable, internally consistent constructs.