The Religious Orientation Scale Revised among Spanish Catholic People: Structural Validity and Internal Consistency of a 21-item Model

Abstract

The personal religious orientation understood as the motivation behind religious behaviors must be considered as the process that manages and organizes the behavior of those who are religious. Thus, identifying the dimensionality of religiosity is important (Francis, 2007; Kirkpatrick & Hood, 1990). This paper analyzed the structural validity and internal consistency of the 31-item Batson and Ventis Religious Orientation Scale. Participants were 529 Spanish Catholic undergraduates aged between 18 and 55 years, M = 21.55, SD = 4.39. A Principal Component Analysis with Equamax rotation method was performed on the ROS-31 with the randomized 50% of the sample, obtaining a 21-item three-component model (intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations). Then, a CFA carried out with the other 50% of the sample showed an adequate fit of the obtained model, SBχ2(186) = 352.45, p < 0.01, CFI = 0.93, IFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.059 (CI 90% [0.049, 0.067]). The intrinsic scale showed an excellent internal consistency, the quest scale showed good internal consistency, and the extrinsic scale showed an acceptable internal consistency. Future lines of research are suggested in order to clarify the relationship between the religious orientation scales and some psychosocial variables.