The Connection of Soul (COS) scale: An Assessment Tool for Afterlife Perspectives in Different Worldviews
Abstract
Despite the evidence that belief in afterlife has positive implications for psychosocial functioning, there is a paucity of empirical research and measures reflecting diverse worldviews regarding literal immortality. We reported findings on a newly developed Connection of Soul (COS) scale reflecting 3 dominant worldviews conceptualizing a soul’s life after death, involving 2 perspectives of literal immortality and 1 secular perspective. Study 1 supported the scale’s tri-partite structure consisting of secular, God-centered, and cosmic-spiritual dimensions, using factor analysis. Study 2 assessed the scale’s construct validity with measures of death perspectives and religious orientation and tested the differential effects of mortality salience on the COS subscales. Study 3 replicated the structure and properties of the COS scale and extended previous studies involving measures of personality functioning, everyday life tasks, New Age beliefs, and self-transcendence. The implications of the findings for the conceptualization of beliefs in an afterlife are discussed.
Department
Sociology
Publication Date
9-1-2014
Journal Title
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Amy Ai, A. Kastenmuller, T. Tice, P. Wink, M. Dillon, & D. Frey. 2014. “The Connection of Soul (COS) scale: An Assessment Tool for Afterlife Perspectives in Different Worldviews.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 6: 316-329.