Multidimensional Prayer Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Clinical Applications

Abstract

Prayer is one of the most important aspects of religious/spiritual life. The psychological literature has identified various types of prayer and a few methods for measuring it. The Multidimensional Prayer Inventory (MPI) has received much attention from researchers since it allows for the capture of the most universal forms of prayer, characteristic of the Judeo-Christian tradition: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, and Reception. The aim of this article was to examine psychometric properties and clinical applications of the Polish MPI. In four studies, we established the internal structure of the MPI using Principal Component Analysis (PCA, study 1) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, study 2), examined its validity and reliability in relation to religiousness (study 3), and analysed its clinical application (study 4). The Polish MPI has been confirmed as a reliable and valid measure of five types of prayer for use in research settings.