The Christian Orthodoxy Scale: A Validity Study

Szrmmary.-This study investigated the validity of the Christian Orthodoxy Scale of Fullerton and Hunsberger for 125 male and 125 female college students, who identified their religious preference and rated the importance of their religion. They were administered the scale and Allport and Ross's Religious Orientation Scale. Subjects were grouped by gender, Christian or NonChristian and importance of religion. Data for Christian and NonChristian groups were separately subjected to a 3 x 2 analysis of variance. Scores on the Christian scale and on the Orientation scale were correlated for the total sample. The Christian scale discriminated between subjects reporting greater or less importance of religion in their lives. Also, positive relationships were found between the Christian scale and an Intrinsic religious orientation. Fullerton and Hunsberger (1982) developed the 24-item Christian Orthodoxy Scale to measure acceptance of well-defined, central tenets of the Christian religion. Fullerton and Hunsberger reported the scale discriminated between apostate Christians and Christians still associated with a Christian denomination. In addition, scores were positively related to several religious behaviors and trust in the religious guidance of the Bible and the church. In related studies scores on the scale were positively related to the Intrinsic orientation of the Religious Orientation Scale (Allport & Ross, 1967) and negatively correlated with the Extrinsic orientation. The latter correlation was quite small, however (Hunsbcrgcr & Platonow, 1986). Also, Winger and Hunsberger (1988) showed a positive relationship be~ujeen scale scores and the likelihood that clergy would use spiritual counseling techniques in counseling. Cronbach coefficients alpha were .97, .97, and .98 for students from Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant backgrounds, respectively (Fullerton & Hunsberger, 1982). As part of a larger project, it was decided that further study of the validity of the scale would enhance the project. In addition, the information on validity would contribute to the growing literature on the scale. Christian subjects (n = 174) were administered a demographic data sheet, the scale, and the Religious Orientation Scale (Allport & Ross, 1967), among other instruments. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 25 years and were predominately Caucasian (82%). Most subjects listed their religious preference as Protestant or Catholic. The remainder identified themselves as Jehovah's Witness, Pentecostal, Bible, etc. Subjects were divided into three groups based on how they marked a question on the importance (very important, important, minimally important) of their religion to them. Group 1 (28 men, 42 women) checked that their religion was very important in their lives. Group 2 (35 men, 37 women) checked that religion was important. Group 3 (16 men, 16 women) checked that their religion was minimally important. The scores for the three groups were subjected to a 3(Group) x 2(Gender) analysis of variance. There were significant main effects for group (F,,,,, = 34.04, p< .001) and gender (F,,,,, = 4.98, p< .02). Means and standard deviations are presented in Table 1. Also shown are means from an analysis of variance on NonChristian (atheist, agnostic, Jewish, etc.) respondents (46 men, 30 women). Interestingly, the pattern of scores for the total group paralleled those for Christian subjects (F,,,, = 9.73, p< ,001) for group and for gender (F,,,, = 7.06, p< .01). However, there was an interaction of group x gender (F,,,, = 3.11, p< .05). As may be seen in Table