Dimensions of Religious Commitment (1986-1988)

The Computer Administered Panel Study (CAPS) collected demographic, personality, attitudinal, and other social psychological data from annual samples of University of North Carolina undergraduates from 1983 through 1988. Respondents spent 60 to 90 minutes per week for 20 weeks during the academic year answering questions via computer terminals. In their comparison of demographic and academic variables, researchers found few significant differences between respondents and the general undergraduate population. The Dimensions of Religious Commitment is a questionnaire designed to measure four dimensions of religiosity (Glock and Stark, 1965): Belief, Ritual, Experience, and Knowledge. Originally, Glock and Stark proposed 5 dimensions, which include "Consequences" as the 5th dimension. However, the authors did not generate measures for this last dimension. Their analysis of the first 4 dimensions showed that these dimensions are essentially uncorrelated, and that other attitudes and behavior can be predicted from positions on these dimensions. Furthermore, the authors had constructed indices of the four dimensions, mainly by summing points assigned to each item that was answered in a certain direction. Among these indices, the orthodoxy index was found to be the best predictor of all other aspects of religiosity, implying that belief is the most significant component of religiosity. The entire Glock and Stark questionnaire contained more than 500 items. The interested reader may consult the published analysis.