Psychological Analysis of Religious Experience: The Construction of the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale (IRES)
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Psychological Analysis of Religious Experience: The Construction of the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale (IRES) Stanisław Głaz1 Accepted: 28 August 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The aim of this article is to present the issues of religious experience, and the associated experience of God’s presence and God’s absence, and then its operationalization, as well as to construct the Intensity of Religious Experience Scale, IRES (Skala Intensywności Doświadczenia Religijnego, SIDR). The value of psychometric tool, the reliability and validity, were assessed. The study was conducted in three steps. Study 1 concerned the generalization of statements related to conception of Catholic religious experience; i.e., the subjective feeling whether one experiences God’s presence and God’s absence, and how such beliefs affect certain aspects of a person’s life. Study 2 was carried out on the sample of 217 people and was designed to perform Exploratory Factor Analysis and to assess three-week test–retest reliability of the IRES. Study 3 was based on the sample of 368 people and was aimed to perform Confirmatory Factor Analysis and concurrent validation of the IRES. The analysis of the religious experience showed that this kind of human experience has its own structure. The explication of the subject has confirmed the existence of two positive factors of religious experience; i.e., a subjective sense of experience of God’s presence and God’s absence that can influence on life of people living in the Catholic religion environment. Keywords Religious experience · Experience of God’s presence · Experience of God’s absence · Intensity of Religious Experience Scale (IRES)
* Stanisław Głaz zjglaz@cyf‑kr.edu.pl 1
Department of Philosophy, Institute of Psychology in Kraków, Jesuit University Ignatianum, Krakow ul. Kopernika 26, 31‑501 Kraków, Poland
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Religion and Health
Introduction With regard to religion, the term “experience” means the process of directly obtaining information about religious reality and the entirety of religious experiences of man (Głaz 2003). It is connected with various Christian religions and in particular in Catholicism (Głaz 1998). James (1902) and Starbuck (1899) analyzing religious experience, they noticed that it is characterized by inexpressibility, impermanence and at the same time emphasizing its emotional element but it depends on the person, and other circumstances. For them the religious experience is the unique experience of “something more”, “divinity”. According to Otto (1968), religious experience is associated with a sense of sanctity and dependence. Religious experience has a responsive and dialogical character, and not only cognitive. It is a personal encounter with God, Absolut (Argyle 2000). Religious experience—according to Jung (1982, 2010)—cannot be identified with what is psychological. Psychological factors could be only carriers of religious content. The analysis of religious experience, shows that there are different kinds of it (Maslow
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