Cognitive dimensions of religious experiences

Abstract

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and regression techniques were utilized to identify and interpret dimensions in the domain of religious experiences for members of major western religions. Descriptions of personal religious experiences were collected from college students and adult members of various religious groups. A multidimensional scaling analysis was conducted for similarity judgments provided by participants who sorted the experiences into piles according to perceived similarity. Twenty-seven students sorted 102 student experiences, while thirty students and twenty-three adults sorted 132 adult experiences. An additional set of similarity judgments was provided by twenty-nine students who rank ordered a subset of adult experiences according to similarity. The dimensions identified by the MDS were interpreted through a multiple regression analysis of ratings made for a subset of the experiences on a number of attribute scales. Twenty-two students rated the student experiences and thirty students rated the adult experiences on the attribute scales. Student experiences could be described by four dimensions: spiritual-temporal, aesthetic response, social-individual, and discrete-continual. Three dimensions defined the adult experiences: level of personal control, spiritual-temporal, and social-individual. These three dimensions were appropriate for each of the three sets of similarity judgments made for the adult experiences. Points of correspondence and noncorrespondence with previous taxonomies of religious experiences are discussed.