Measuring Faith Across Cultures: Development and Validation of a Religiosity Scale for Indonesian Adolescents

Abstract

Indonesia is a country where nearly the entire population adheres to a particular religion, making religiosity a central aspect of daily life. Religiosity is a multidimensional construct that plays a crucial role in adolescent development, particularly in contexts where religious beliefs and practices are deeply embedded in cultural identity. Despite its significance, measurement tools for religiosity in Indonesia remain limited, especially those designed to capture the construct across diverse religious backgrounds. This study aimed to develop and validate a multidimensional religiosity scale for Indonesian adolescents. A total of 209 adolescents from various regions in Indonesia participated in the study. Psychometric evaluation involved Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability testing conducted using Jamovi. While the EFA initially suggested a four-factor structure, CFA confirmed a five-factor model consistent with Pearce, Hayward, and Pearlman’s (2017) theoretical framework. The five dimensions included religious belief, religious exclusivity, personal practice, external practice, and religious salience. The revised multidimensional model demonstrated satisfactory fit indices (CFI = 0.932; TLI = 0.919; RMSEA = 0.061; SRMR = 0.053). Reliability analysis further indicated strong internal consistency, with both Cronbach’s &alpha and McDonald’s &omega exceeding the recommended threshold of 0.70. These findings demonstrate that the developed scale is both valid and reliable for assessing adolescent religiosity in Indonesia. The study contributes theoretically by expanding cross-cultural research on religiosity and highlighting its multidimensional nature beyond Western contexts. Practically, it provides a robust tool for researchers, educators, and practitioners to assess the role of religiosity in adolescent development, including its implications for resilience, psychological well-being, and social engagement.