Validation of the Portuguese Version of Hoge Intrinsic Motivation Religiosity Scale and Rohrbaugh and Jessor Religiosity Scale

Abstract

This study aims to validate, for the Portuguese population, the bidimensional structure of the Hoge Intrinsic Motivation Religiosity Scale (HIMRS) and the four-dimensional structure of the Rohrbaugh and Jessor Religiosity Scale (RJRS); it also aims to establish an association between the two religious scales and religious identity. To this end, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with polychoric matrix (for ordinal data) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) were carried out. Besides reliability, convergent and discriminant validity were assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), and AVE squared roots. The Portuguese versions of the HIMRS and RJRS presented good model fit. These instruments correlated with each other and with religious identity. Differences in religious motivation and in religious identity concerning sociodemographic variables were found: women, divorced, and older participants define themselves as being more spiritual or religious persons than men, single or married, and younger participants. Also, years of education were positively associated with religious intrinsic motivation and negatively associated with religious extrinsic motivation. This study provides two more instruments with adequate properties to assess intrinsic religious motivations, past-year frequency of religious service attendance, and personal religiosity for the Portuguese population.