Worldview psychology and the representation of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism: conceptualisation and psychometric measurement

IF 3.6 4区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Australian Journal of Psychology Pub Date : 2021-05-05 DOI:10.1080/00049530.2021.1918534

O. Holmes, B. Findlay, R. Cook

{"title":"Worldview psychology and the representation of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism: conceptualisation and psychometric measurement","authors":"O. Holmes, B. Findlay, R. Cook","doi":"10.1080/00049530.2021.1918534","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Objective: The study of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism has been hindered by assumptions about their organisation, where naturalism has been treated as a lack of spirituality, and agnosticism as a construct “in-between” spirituality and naturalism. The psychology of worldviews encourages conceptualisations of these belief systems as distinct constructs. The aim of this study was to develop conceptual definition and psychometric measurement for spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. Method: The current project used exploratory factor analysis (N = 412) to develop a measure for spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. Confirmatory factor analyses were then used in two further samples (N = 1056; 873) to refine and validate the measure. Results: The final inventory measured spirituality (and mysticism), naturalism, and agnosticism with 35-items across 8-factors. The measure showed good model fit and evidence of construct validity. Conclusions: Findings provide insight into the structural relationships between mysticism, spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. This study also provides a new tool for investigating these worldview constructs comprehensively. Rather than considered as mutually exclusive categories or linear positions on a unidimensional spectrum, they can be treated as distinct individual difference variables with both overlapping and diverse impacts. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Worldviews are systems of belief about fundamental aspects of reality. (2) Spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism are three distinct worldviews. (3) Naturalism and agnosticism have been overlooked in psychological research due to assumptions about their structure. What this topic adds: (1) Conceptual differentiation of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism as distinct worldviews in psychology. (2) Psychometric scale development to measure spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism.","PeriodicalId":8871,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Psychology","volume":"73 1","pages":"535 - 547"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00049530.2021.1918534","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1918534","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: The study of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism has been hindered by assumptions about their organisation, where naturalism has been treated as a lack of spirituality, and agnosticism as a construct “in-between” spirituality and naturalism. The psychology of worldviews encourages conceptualisations of these belief systems as distinct constructs. The aim of this study was to develop conceptual definition and psychometric measurement for spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. Method: The current project used exploratory factor analysis (N = 412) to develop a measure for spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. Confirmatory factor analyses were then used in two further samples (N = 1056; 873) to refine and validate the measure. Results: The final inventory measured spirituality (and mysticism), naturalism, and agnosticism with 35-items across 8-factors. The measure showed good model fit and evidence of construct validity. Conclusions: Findings provide insight into the structural relationships between mysticism, spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism. This study also provides a new tool for investigating these worldview constructs comprehensively. Rather than considered as mutually exclusive categories or linear positions on a unidimensional spectrum, they can be treated as distinct individual difference variables with both overlapping and diverse impacts. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Worldviews are systems of belief about fundamental aspects of reality. (2) Spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism are three distinct worldviews. (3) Naturalism and agnosticism have been overlooked in psychological research due to assumptions about their structure. What this topic adds: (1) Conceptual differentiation of spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism as distinct worldviews in psychology. (2) Psychometric scale development to measure spirituality, naturalism, and agnosticism.

查看原文本刊更多论文

世界观心理学与精神、自然主义和不可知论的表征：概念化和心理测量

摘要目的：对灵性、自然主义和不可知论的研究一直受到对其组织的假设的阻碍，自然主义被视为缺乏灵性，而不可知论则被视为“介于”灵性和自然主义之间的结构。世界观心理学鼓励将这些信仰体系概念化为不同的结构。本研究的目的是为灵性、自然主义和不可知论制定概念定义和心理测量。方法：目前的项目使用探索性因素分析（N=412）来制定精神、自然主义和不可知论的衡量标准。然后在另外两个样本（N=1056；873）中使用验证性因素分析来完善和验证测量。结果：最终的清单测量了精神（和神秘主义）、自然主义和不可知论，共有35个项目，涉及8个因素。该测度具有良好的模型拟合性和结构有效性。结论：研究结果提供了对神秘主义、精神主义、自然主义和不可知论之间结构关系的见解。这项研究也为全面研究这些世界观结构提供了一个新的工具。它们可以被视为具有重叠和不同影响的不同个体差异变量，而不是被视为一维谱上相互排斥的类别或线性位置。关键点关于这个话题已经知道的：（1）世界观是关于现实基本方面的信仰体系。（2）灵性、自然主义和不可知论是三种截然不同的世界观。（3）自然主义和不可知论在心理学研究中由于对其结构的假设而被忽视。本主题补充道：（1）心理学中精神、自然主义和不可知论作为不同世界观的概念差异。（2）心理量表的发展，以衡量精神，自然主义和不可知论。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Australian Journal of Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

5.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Australian Journal of Psychology is the premier scientific journal of the Australian Psychological Society. It covers the entire spectrum of psychological research and receives articles on all topics within the broad scope of the discipline. The journal publishes high quality peer-reviewed articles with reviewers and associate editors providing detailed assistance to authors to reach publication. The journal publishes reports of experimental and survey studies, including reports of qualitative investigations, on pure and applied topics in the field of psychology. Articles on clinical psychology or on the professional concerns of applied psychology should be submitted to our sister journals, Australian Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist. The journal publishes occasional reviews of specific topics, theoretical pieces and commentaries on methodological issues. There are also solicited book reviews and comments Annual special issues devoted to a single topic, and guest edited by a specialist editor, are published. The journal regards itself as international in vision and will accept submissions from psychologists in all countries.