Making Sense of Quest's Multidimensionality: The Search for a Higher Order Structure:

The multidimensionality of the Quest construct has been suggested by a number of authors, although there is a paucity of multidimensional Quest scales in the extant literature. Further, the vast majority of researchers continue to utilize unidimensional measures of Quest. In a sample of 436 university students, the Multidimensional Quest Orientation Scale (MQOS; Beck & Jessup, 2004) was subjected to a principal axis factor analysis. The results suggested a nine-factor structure, although the Exploration scale was removed, due to its suspected measurement of apologetics. The remaining eight factors were subjected to a secondary factor analysis, suggesting a higher-order factor structure consistent with Edwards et al.'s (2002) concepts of "hard" and "soft" Quest. Correlational analyses between the MQOS subscales and other measures of religiosity (e.g., extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, religious commitment, and defensive theology) support the usage of multidimensional measures of Quest, due to the unique information provided by each of the dimensions and their respective higher order factors. However, the higher order structure helps to elucidate the broader themes suggested within the multiple dimensions of Quest. A recent report from the Pew Research Center (American Values Survey, 2012) indicated that Millennial (i.e., those born after 1980) are less religious than previous generations. Further, according to the report, data from 2007 indicated that 15% of Millennials reported uncertainty with God's existence. By 2012, this number had doubled (to 31%). This increase in doubt is exceptional, not only in the history of the Millennial generation, but also across generations (e.g., among Baby Boomers and those from Generation X) who have remained generally stable in previous assessments of their uncertainty of Gods existence. While today's young adults are reporting more theistic uncertainty than any generation since the Pew Research Center began collecting data on this question in 1987, it is unclear whether this increase in doubt is part of a larger, "less religious" movement in Millennial, or if a different dimension of religiosity is emerging among Millennial in an unprecedented fashion. Some prominent authors in the study of religion have even indicated a need to embrace uncertainty. For example, Armstrong (2009) stated that "a modern theology must look unflinchingly into the heart of a great darkness and be prepared, perhaps, to enter into the cloud of unknowing" (p. 278). Regardless of one's perspective, the psychology of religious doubt seems more relevant than ever. Quest Motivation: History and Conceptualization Nearly 40 years ago, Batson and colleagues (e.g., Batson, 1976; Batson, Naifeh, & Pate, 1978; Batson & Ventis, 1982) suggested that Allport's (Allport & Ross, 1967) two dimensions of religiosity, intrinsic (religion as end) and extrinsic (religion as means), did not comprehensively measure religiosity. Therefore, they suggested a third dimension: religion as quest, which "concerned the degree to which the individual sought to face religious issues in all their complexity, while resisting clear-cut, pat answers" (Batson, Flink, Schoenrade, Fultz, & Pych, 1986; p. 175). These three dimensions, according to Batson and Schoenrade (1991a) should be treated as independent and orthogonal. As conceptualized and written by Batson and Schoenrade (1991a; 1991b), the Interactional Scale (often referred to as the Quest Scale) was designed to assess three aspects: 1) readiness to face existential questions without reducing their complexity, 2) self-criticism and perception of religious doubts as positive, and 3) openness to change. Despite the conceptualization of Quest as being comprised of these three aspects, Batson and Schoenrade (1991b) recommended that the Interactional Scale be scored unidimensionally. The authors reported that several of the items loaded on more than one factor. …