Evidence for the Brief Mysticism Scale: Psychometric Properties, and Moderation and Mediation Effects in Predicting Spiritual Self-Identification

ABSTRACT

How are mystical experiences related to self-rated spirituality? Is the recently developed short 8-item version of Hood’s Mysticism Scale an efficient measurement? The current study expands evidence for both questions using N = 1,582 American and N = 1,492 German samples measured in three waves, average 4 to 5 years apart. Results show that the 8-item brief M-Scale has good psychometric property evidenced by 1) measurement invariance across time, and 2) good test–retest reliability. Results further demonstrate that the 8-item brief M-Scale 3) moderates the effect of self-rated religiosity on self-rated spirituality, and 4) mediates the prediction of self-rated religiosity on self-rated spirituality over time. We conclude that the M-Scale can be used as a measure for self-attributed spirituality and that the 8-item brief version of the M-Scale can be used when questionnaire length is an issue.

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

Data used in this study were collected in research projects that have been funded by grants from the German Research Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation (JTF). Analyses are part of the current JTF Project [ID #60806].