Description

The Religious Experience Questionnaire (REQ) is a tool used to measure and assess the religious experiences individuals undergo. The questionnaire focuses on capturing different types of religious and spiritual experiences, as well as understanding their impact on personal growth and daily life.
The REQ includes questions that examine:
Types of Religious Experiences: Perceptual or emotional events, spiritual or metaphysical experiences an individual may encounter.
Frequency and Intensity: How often and how intensely these experiences are felt.
Impact on Faith and Daily Life: How these religious experiences influence an individual’s faith and everyday living.
Perceptions and Meaning: The personal significance attributed to these experiences and how individuals interpret them.

Objective

The main goals of the Religious Experience Questionnaire are:
To record and analyze religious experiences: To provide a detailed overview of the different types of religious experiences individuals report.
To evaluate the impact of experiences: To assess how such experiences affect a person’s faith, personal development, and daily life.
To contribute to research and understanding: To offer data supporting theoretical and clinical research in the fields of religion and psychology, helping to understand religiousness and spiritual experiences.

Analysis

Analysis of the REQ results includes:
Categorization of Experiences: Documenting and classifying the various types of reported religious experiences.
Descriptive Statistical Analysis: Using descriptive statistics to present results, such as the frequency and intensity of experiences and their impact on daily life.
Correlation with Other Variables: Exploring relationships between religious experiences and other psychological or social factors, such as well-being, social support, and mental health.

Scoring

Scoring the Religious Experience Questionnaire includes:
Content Validity: Ensuring the scale covers all relevant aspects of religious experiences.
Internal Consistency: Evaluating how reliably the items measure the same construct, using indicators like Cronbach’s alpha.
Criterion Validity: Examining the relationship between the scale’s results and other relevant measures or benchmarks.
Test-Retest Reliability: Assessing the consistency of results across different time points or samples.

References

James, W. (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Glock, C. Y. (1964). On the Study of Religious Commitment. Harvard University Press.
Pargament, K. I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press.
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Handbook of Religion and Health. Oxford University Press.
Wulff, D. M. (1997). Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views. Wiley-Blackwell.