An Examination & Expansion of Religious Orientation Scales: The Allport-Ross Intrinsic-Extrinsic Scales

Gordon Allport\u27s scales of Intrinsic-Extrinsic religious orientation have been used extensively in empirical studies since their introduction in the 1960\u27s. Recent studies have also given us Batson and Ventis\u27 concept of quest (Batson & Ventis, 1982). Yet the exact meaning, the factorial structure, and content validity of these scales are still unsettled. In this study, attention was given to identifying possible sub-factors within both the intrinsic and extrinsic scales as well as expanding the current scales in order to enhance their content validity and internal consistency. The intrinsic scale was expanded, resulting in a higher alpha when including the additional items (.940) than without (.845). the intrinsic scale, extrinsic scale was were felt to define that make No sub-factors were found to exist in which yielded a single factor. The expanded by adding additional items that in more detail the current sub-factors up the extrinsic scale. Again, no sub-factors were found to exist, yet, with the inclusion of the additional items the alpha of the overall extrinsic scale increased from .783 to .877. Two scales originally designed for the extrinsic scale resulted in low correlations, and loaded out on separate factors. The study thus resulted in creating greater internal consistency for the scales