Measures of Spirituality/Religiosity
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2014) | Viewed by 430082
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mind-body medicine approaches; spirituality and health; quality of life; coping; questionnaire development; integrative medicine; clinical studies; health service research; spiritual dryness; awe
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: psychology of religion; religion and health; assessment of spirituality/religiosity; health services research; rehabilitation research
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There are various instruments from distinct scholar disciplines (i.e., religious studies, chaplaincy, psychology, sociology, medicine, nursing etc.) which were developed to measure spirituality/religiosity either as a generic instrument or in the context of disease (coping). One may differentiate instruments which measure distinct attitudes and convictions, or measure the frequency of peoples´ engagement in distinct forms of spiritual/religious practices (intensity), and instruments which address the spiritual needs of patients. Moreover, these instruments may also differ with respect to their underlying concepts of spirituality and religiosity. From a theoretical point of view, it is sound to distinguish individuals´ religious from spiritual attitudes. While this differentiation is important in countries with a more secular and liberal background, this distinction is meaningless in countries with vital theistic beliefs. In fact some questionnaires address religiosity within the Judeo-Christian God concept, while other address spirituality with reference to more secular concepts of the Devine, or in the context of a pluralistic `search for meaning´. But what about Eastern Spirituality, what about the spirituality of agnostics and atheist? - It might be difficult to decide which instrument can be used for the unique research topic.
The aim of this special issue thus is to pay attention to well established instruments (and to update the knowledge), but also to describe the unique features and intentions of newly developed instruments, which may have potential to be used in larger studies to develop knowledge relevant to spiritual care and practice. This issue should become a resource of relevant instruments in the wide range of organized religiosity, the individual experience of the divine, and the open approach in the search for meaning and purpose in life.
High quality manuscripts are welcomed which briefly describe the background of questionnaire development, its unique features and intentions, and a sound description of items, scales, and validity measures.
Prof. Dr. Arndt Büssing
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- questionnaires
- research
- spirituality
- religiosity
- well-being
- quality of life
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