Religious orientation

If faith or spirituality has a place in your life, what mainly draws you to it — living it for its own sake, leaning on the comfort and belonging it brings, or treating it as an open-ended search.

Allport and Ross's intrinsic–extrinsic religious orientation (1967) distinguishes living one's faith as an end in itself (intrinsic) from drawing on it as a means to other ends (extrinsic); Batson (1976) added a third, 'quest', faith as open-ended questioning. They are measured as separate dimensions rather than mutually exclusive types, and apply where religion or spirituality plays some role in your life. (Allport & Ross, Religious Orientation Scale; Batson, Quest scale)

Groups

• Intrinsic — Faith is the heart of how you live — held for its own sake, the lens for everything else.
• Extrinsic — Faith is valued for what it brings — comfort, belonging, security or support.
• Quest — Faith is an open-ended search — embracing doubt, big questions and complexity.

References

• Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
• Batson, C. D. (1976). Religion as prosocial: Agent or double agent?. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
• Gorsuch, R. L., & McPherson, S. E. (1989). Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E-Revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Related topics

• How religious you are
• Observances you keep
• How you express devotion
• What you turn to faith for
• Religious & spiritual struggles

All topics on ArtaQuest