Religious Fundamentalism and Psychological Well-Being: An Italian Study

Abstract

This study's aims were two-fold: to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between religious fundamentalism and psychological well-being and to test the psychometric properties of the Italian adaptation of the revised Religious Fundamentalism Scale (RFS-12; Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2004), one of the most important instruments for assessing religious fundamentalism when it is conceptualized as a cognitive process. Confirmative factor analysis and reliability and correlational analyses were conducted on a sample of 319 Catholic undergraduate students. Findings indicate that the Italian adaptation of the Religious Fundamentalism Scale, as a one-dimensional construct, represents a valid and reliable measure of religious fundamentalism. Furthermore, results highlight the positive role that religious fundamentalism plays in promoting life satisfaction and psychological well-being.