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Identity characteristics of groups with high and low spiritual self-identity

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Pedersen, Darhl M

This study contributed to the construct validation of a four-factor model of self identity consisting of Spiritual, Personal/Social, Family, and Identification factors (Pedersen, 1994). Identity characteristics used in other research (Sampson,1978) were related to the centrality of Spiritual Self-identity, the factor to which they were particularly relevant. Spiritual Self-identity is a measure of the extent to which self identity is described by a relationship to deity and other religious constructs. 103 participants rated the identity characteristics on a 5-point scale according to their importance to their self identity. Mean ratings of those characteristics were compared for groups scoring high and low on Spiritual Self-identity. It was found that, although the profiles of the rated importance of the identity characteristics were similar for both groups, there were some salient differences. Generally, the identity characteristics that received the highest ratings of importance to identity by both groups were rated to be significantly even more important for the high Spiritual Self identity group.

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Some recent conceptualizations of the self have emphasized that it is composed of multiple components or facets. This notion has historical antecedents in the theories and writings of such people as Sigmund Freud (1953), William James ( 1890), and Gordon Allport ( 1961). Emphasizing types of mental processes, Freud (1953) described three systems of personality, called the id, ego, and superego, which might be regarded as aspects of the self. James ( 1890) posited three components of the self-material self, social self, and spiritual self. Allport (1961) conceptualized seven developmental selves, called propria which described various functions of the self.

More recently, other theorists and researchers have advanced personality models which include a number of facets or factors of the self (for example, Cheek, 1989; Cheek & Briggs,1982; Epstein,1973; Fitts,1968; Miller,1973; Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton,1976). However, there is no consensus as to what the factors of the self are, and there is virtually no evidence as to how such factors of the self might be interrelated.

In addressing these issues, Pedersen (1994) has developed a centrality model of self-identity. The model identifies four factors constituting the self which vary in their centrality or importance to self-definition. The four centrality factors were identified using an approach designated as participant-generated factor analysis (Pedersen, 1993, 1994). Using this procedure, free descriptions of the self were elicited so as not to bias the obtained self-descriptions by imposing ad hoc response categories devised by the experimenter. These descriptions were collated and subsequently used to solicit responses of participants as to the centrality of the items relative to self identity. A principal components analysis of their responses yielded four orthogonal factors-Spiritual, Personal/Social, Family, and Identifications. An instrument arising from the analysis, the Who Am I? Scale, measures the four factors of self identity and their relative centrality in a particular person's self identity.

A number of studies have established the psychometric integrity of the measure and have supported the construct validity of the centrality model of self-identity (Pedersen, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999). The relative centrality of the various self identity factors has been found to be related to numerous theoretically relevant variables. For example, the centrality of the Spiritual Self identity factor has been shown to be significantly related to religious preference (Pedersen, 1996), as well as to perceived physical health, self esteem, and emotional stability (Pedersen, 1998). For married people, Family Self-identity was found to be more central, and Personal/Social and Identifications self-identities less central when compared to the centralities of the corresponding identity factors for single people. Also, reported church attendance has been shown to be related to the centrality of Spiritual Self identity (Pedersen, 1999).

A study focusing on Spiritual Self identity has shown that its degree of centrality is related to both religious orientations and religious attitudes (Pedersen, Williams, & Kristensen, 1999). Using the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade, & Ventis, 1993) to measure religious orientations, it was found that participants across four institutions who had high scores on Spiritual Self identity also tended to score significantly higher on the Ends orientation (tendency to live out religious beliefs) and significantly lower on the Means orientation (tendency to use religion for other purposes) and the Quest orientation (tendency to be involved in intellectual religious questing) as compared to those with low scores on Spiritual Self identity.

Religious attitudes were investigated using the three-component attitude model of affect, cognition, and conation. High Spiritual Self identity was found to be significantly related to high scores on affective and conative components of religious attitudes, That is, those who scored high on Spiritual Self identity indicated that they had stronger feelings about religious matters (affect) and were more motivated to act upon their religious convictions (conation). Differences in thinking about religious matters (cognition) were not significant across the groups differing in scores on Spiritual Self identity.

Identity characteristics of groups with high and low spiritual self-identity

Social Behavior and Personality, 2000 by Pedersen, Darhl M

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