Nearness to God Scale [NGS]

Description

The Nearness to God Scale (NGS) is an instrument designed to assess the degree of closeness or connection an individual feels with God or a divine presence. The scale focuses on the subjective experience of closeness to or distance from the divine, as perceived by the individual.

Its items or statements relate to the perceived presence of God in the participant’s life, spiritual experiences, and the individual’s personal relationship with the divine.

In this way, the scale can be used to provide a systematic assessment of a highly personal and subjective dimension of religious and spiritual experience.

Aim

The main aim of the NGS is to measure the perceived sense of closeness to God and to examine how participants understand and experience their connection with the divine.

The scale may also be used to investigate the relationship between closeness to God and other psychological or spiritual variables, such as emotional well-being, religious satisfaction, and different aspects of spiritual life.

In addition, the instrument may help identify differences in perceived closeness to God across different groups, for example according to religious identity, spiritual development, or personal experience.

Analysis

Analysis of the Nearness to God Scale may be conducted at different levels.

First, responses to individual items can be examined to understand how participants express their sense of closeness to God.

The emotional and spiritual aspects of participants’ responses may also be explored, including their perceived experience of God’s presence and the influence they attribute to this experience in their lives.

At the research level, quantitative methods such as factor analysis and correlation analysis may be used to investigate associations between perceived closeness to God and other variables, including emotional well-being and religious satisfaction.

Scoring and Psychometric Evaluation

According to the available source material, psychometric evaluation of the NGS may include procedures designed to assess the validity and reliability of the scale.

Content validity concerns whether the items adequately cover the construct of closeness to God as experienced by participants.

Internal consistency may be assessed using indices such as Cronbach’s alpha in order to determine the degree of consistency among the individual items.

Criterion validity may be examined by analyzing relationships between NGS scores and other relevant measures or criteria. In addition, test-retest reliability may be evaluated by administering the scale at different time points to examine the stability of the results.

Applications

The NGS may be used in research settings examining religiosity, spirituality, the personal relationship with the divine, and their associations with psychological variables.

It may also be applied to investigate differences between groups or to examine associations between perceived closeness to God and indicators of emotional well-being, religious satisfaction, and personal spiritual experience, as described in the original source material.

References

Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred. New York: Guilford Press.

Emmons, R. A., & Paloutzian, R. F. (2003). The role of religion and spirituality in psychological well-being. In Handbook of Psychology and Religion. New York: Guilford Press.

Koenig, H. G. (2012). Spirituality and Health Research: Methods and Reviews. New York: Routledge.

Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2003). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality. American Psychologist, 58(1), 64–74.