Title:TheSantaClaraStrengthofReligiousFaithQuestionnaire(SCSORF).

Author(s):PlanteandBoccaccini.

Variable:Strengthofreligiousfaith.

Description:TheSantaClaraStrengthofReligiousFaithQuestionnaire(SCSORF;
Plante&Boccaccini,1997a,b)isa10itemselfreportmeasure.Itwasdesignedto
measurestrengthofreligiousfaith,regardlessofreligiousdenominationor
affiliation,forusewithinbothresearchandclinicalcontexts.Moreover,itis
intendedtoprovideresearcherswithaquickandeasytoadministermeasureof
religiosity.SampleitemsincludeMyreligiousfaithisextremelyimportanttome
(item1)andMyrelationshipwithGodisextremelyimportanttome(item7).The
scaleusesa4pointLikertresponseformat,rangingfrom(1)Stronglydisagreeto(4)
Stronglyagree.Scorescanrangebetween10and40,withhigheraggregatescores
reflectingstrongerlevelsofStrengthofReligiousFaith.

Sample
TheSCSORFwasdevelopedforuseamongbothclinicalandnonclinicalsamples.For
example,PlanteandBoccaccini,(1997a,b)administeredthescaletoUSACollege
students.Lewis,Shevlin,McGuckin,andNavrtil(2000)employedthescaleamonga
sampleofNorthernIrishUniversitystudents.

Reliability

InternalConsistency:Atpresentlittleresearchhasexaminedthereliabilityofthe
SCSORF.PlanteandBoccaccini(1997a,b)foundtheSCSORFtopossessahighlevelof
internalconsistency,withCronbachsalphasrangingbetween.94and.97andsplithalf
reliabilitycorrelationsbetween.90and.96.Despitethereportedhighlevelsofinternal
reliability,thefactorstructureoftheSCSORFwasnotreportedbyPlanteandBoccaccini
(1997a,b).Lewisetal.(2000)examinedtheunidimensionalityoftheSCSORF.Aone
factormodelwastestedusingconfirmatoryfactoranalyticmethodsusingdatafroma
sampleof106NorthernIrishUniversitystudents(Lewis,etal.,2000).Thefitindices
showedthatthesinglefactormodelwasanacceptableexplanationofthesampledata
(2=45,df=35,p=<0.11;RMSEA=0.054,SRMR=0.024).Thefactorexplained75%ofthe
observedvariation.Thefactorloadingswereallhigh,rangingfrom.72to.91,suggesting
thateachitemisagoodindicatorofthegeneralconstructofstrengthofreligiousfeeling.
Accordingly,thescalewasfoundtobeinternallyconsistentwithanalphacoefficientof.
93.

TestRetest:None
Validity

Covergent:Mostpreviousworkhassoughttoestablishtheconvergentvalidityof
theSCSORFwithothermeasuresofreligiosity.Forexample,PlanteandBoccaccini
(1997a)andPlante,Yancey,Sherman,Guertin,andPartdini(1999)foundthathigher
scoresontheSCSORFweresignificantlyassociatedwithhigherscoresonPlanteand
Boccaccinis(1997a)newlydevelopedmeasuresofstrengthoffaith,religiousness,
spirituality,faithaidingcoping,andoverallfeelingsofcomfort.Inaddition,Planteand
Boccaccini,(1997a,b)andPlanteetal.(1999)foundthathigherscoresontheSCSORF
weresignificantlyassociatedwithhigherscoresonestablishedmeasuresofreligiosity
includingtheIntrinsicMotivationScale(Hoge,1972),theintrinsicmeasureoftheAge
UniversalReligiousOrientationScale(Gorsuch&Venable,1983),boththeInternaland
ExternalsubscalesoftheReligiousLifeInventory(Batson&Ventis,1982),andtheGod
ControlsubscaleoftheBeliefinPersonalControlScale(Berrenberg,1987),aswellas
lowerscoresontheDukeReligiousIndex(Koenig,Pakerson,&Meador,1997).Other
workhasexaminedtherelationshipbetweentheSCSORFwithvariousmeasuresof
mentalhealth.Forexample,Planteetal.(1999)foundscoresontheSCSORFwerenot
significantlyassociatedwithscoresontheSocialProvisionScale(Cutrona&Russell,
1987),theMarloweCrowneSocialDesirabilityScale(Crowne&Marlowe,1960),the
TaylorManifestAnxietyScaleshortform(Bendig,1954),theCaurtoldEmotional
ControlScaleandtheSelfRighteousnessScale(Fabo&Belk,1985).WhilePlanteand
Boccaccini(1997a)foundscoresontheSCSORFweresignificantlyassociatedwith
lowerscoresontheHopeScale(Synder,1995),theSymptomCheckList90Revised
(Derogatis,1977)subscalesofDepressionandAnxiety,butnotwithDepressionscores,
andtheWeinbergerAdjustmentInventory(Weinberger,1991)subscaleofLowSelf
Esteem,norRepressiveDefensivenessandDenialofDistress.Theauthorsconcludethat
suchfindingssupportthevalidityoftheinstrument,andsuggestthatstrengthof
religiousfaithiscloselyrelatedto,butnotdirectlymeasuredby,otherestablished
measuresofreligiousnessandreligiosity(Planteetal.,1999,p.18).Moreoverthelack
ofcorrelationbetweentheSCSORFandinstrumentsmeasuringselfrighteousness,
depression,andallianceservestofurthervalidatethepurityoftheSCSORFasan
instrumentsolelymeasuringreligiousfaith(Planteetal.,1999,p.1819).

Location:Plante,T.G.&Boccaccini,M.T.(1997a).TheSantaClaraStrengthof
ReligiousFaithQuestionnaire.PastoralPsychology,45,375387.

Comments
Thereareanumberofveryobviousbenefitstotheuseofabriefselfreportmeasureof
religiousstrengththatisequallyapplicableforallreligiousdenominationsoraffiliations.
Despitethese,therehavebeenfewreportedstudiesusingthescaleandtheseare
presentlyconfinedprimarilytoworkbytheauthorsofthetest.ThefindingsofPlante
andBoccaccini(1997a,b)andLewisetal.(2000)provideincreasingevidencethatthe
SCSORFispsychometricallysound,althoughfurtherworkisclearlyrequired.For
example,theexaminationofthetemporalstabilityofthescalehasyettobeexamined.
Moreover,theSCSORFsrelationshipwithotherestablishedindicesofreligiosity(Hill&
Hood,1999)isalsoworthyoffurtherexamination.ThevalueoftheSCSORFin
researchamongvariousdiversereligiousbeliefshasalsoyettobeexamined.Thelatter
issomewhatsurprisinggiventhatthisisoneofthemajorbenefitsofthisscaleoverthe
moreestablishedscales.Notwithstandingthis,theSCSORFcanberecommendedfor
furtherusebyresearchersandcliniciansinterestedintheconstructofstrengthof
religiousfaith.

Publications

Batson,C.D.&Ventis,W.L.(1982).Thereligiousexperience:Asocialpsychological
perspective.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.

Bendig,A.W.(1954).Age,sex,andtheManifestAnxietyScaletest.Journalof
ConsultingPsychology,18,16.

Berrenberg,J.L.(1987).TheBeliefinPersonalControlScale:AmeasureofGod
mediatedandexaggeratedcontrol.JournalofPersonalityAssessment,51,194206.

Crowne,D.P.&Marlowe,D.(1960).Anewscaleofsocialdesirabilityindependentof
psychopathology.JournalofConsultingPsychology,24,349354.

Cutrona,C.D.&Russell,D.W.(1987).Theprovisionsofsocialrelationshipsand
adaptationtostress.InW.H.Jones&D.Perlman(Eds.),AdvancesinPersonal
Relationships,Vol1.Greenwich,CT:JAIPress,pp.3767.

Fabo,T.&Belk,S.S.(1985).Ashortscaletomeasureselfrighteousness.Journalof
PersonalityAssessment,49,7277.

Derogatis,L.R.(1977).SCL90RManualI.Baltimore:ClinicalPsychometric
Research.

Gorsuch,R.I.&Venable,G.D.(1983).DevelopmentofanageuniversalIErevised
scale.JournalfortheScientificStudyofReligion,22,181187.

Hill,P.C.&Hood,R.W.Jr.(1999).Measuresofreligiosity.Birmingham,Al.:Religious
EducationPress.

Hoge,D.R.(1972).Avalidatedintrinsicreligiousmotivationscale.Journalforthe
ScientificStudyforReligion,11,369376.

Koenig,H.,Pakerson,G.R.,&Meador,K.G.(1997).Religiousindexforpsychiatric
research.AmericanJournalofPsychiatry,154,885886.
Lewis,C.A.,Shevlin,M.McGuckin,C.,&Navrtil,M.(2000,April).TheSantaClara
StrengthofReligiousFaithQuestionnaire:Confirmatoryfactoranalysis.TheBritish
PsychologicalSocietyAnnualConference,Winchester,England.

Plante,T.G.&Boccaccini,M.T.(1997a).TheSantaClaraStrengthofReligiousFaith
Questionnaire.PastoralPsychology,45,375387.

Plante,T.G.&Boccaccini,M.T.(1997b).ReliabilityandvalidityoftheSantaClara
StrengthofReligiousFaithQuestionnaire.PastoralPsychology,45,429437.

Plante,T.G.,Yancey,S.,Sherman,A.,Guertin,M.&Partdini,D.(1999).Further
validationfortheSantaClaraStrengthofReligiousFaithQuestionnaire.Pastoral
Psychology,48,1121.

Synder,C.R.(1995).Conceptualizing,measuring,andnurturinghope.Journalof
CounselingandDevelopment,73,355360.

Weinberger,D.A.(1991).TheWeinbergerAdjustmentInventory.Unpublished
manuscript.

Reviewer
ChristopherAlanLewis,MarkShevlin,ConorMcGuckin,SchoolofPsychologyand
Communication,UniversityofUlsteratMageeCollege,Londonderry,NorthernIreland,
BT487JL,U.K.CA.LEWIS@ULST.AC.UKandMarek Navrtil, Czech Academy of
Science, Department of Psychology, Veveri 97, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic.