Description

Religious Support Scale [RSPS]

Description

The Religious Support Scale [RSPS] is an assessment instrument designed to measure the level of social, emotional, and spiritual support individuals receive from their religious communities and personal religious beliefs.

Purpose

The scale assesses:

  • social and practical support from the religious community,
  • spiritual support derived from religious beliefs,
  • the contribution of religious support to psychological resilience and coping,
  • its relationship with psychological well-being and quality of life.

Scoring

Participants typically respond using a Likert-type scale, indicating their level of agreement or disagreement with statements about religious support. Responses are converted into numerical values that can be used to calculate religious support indicators.

Applications

The RSPS can be used in psychological, social, and religion-related research to examine associations between religious support, psychological well-being, coping with stress, and social functioning.

References

Krause, N. (2002). Church-based social support and health in old age: Exploring variations by race. Journal of Gerontology.

Pargament, K. I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press.

Ellison, C. G., & Levin, J. S. (1998). The religion-health connection: Evidence, theory, and future directions. Health Education & Behavior.