A Study of Religious Experiences as Related to Church

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Theses and Dissertations

1969

A Study of Religious Experiences as Related to Church Orthodoxy A Study of Religious Experiences as Related to Church Orthodoxy

Joel Lane Tapley Brigham Young University - Provo

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A STUDY OF RELIGIOUS experiences

AS RELATED TO CHURCH ORTHODOXY

A thesis

presented to the

department of sociology

brigham young university

in partial fulfillment

of the requirementsrequirementsfor forror the degree

mastereaster of science

by

joel lane tapley

may 1969196

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thetha research problemliterature reviewresearch hypothesessuniiarysumiSuni

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RESEARCH design 16

sajnple designdata collectioncollectiosearchrosearchroseaiclhresearchRo rnstranentvalidity and preliabilitypteliabilityleelreiee

analysis71

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datadatfurnarysurnary

tiiIII111illtit pressPRBSSpresipresl ITATIOIIITA OFT fiiaigstoli1011101.11011oiioli 32

introditctionthe sequential order of religious hbrperiences

religious srperiences andchurchclouxcluux orthodoxycn

background3 factorsactorsa latedpolatedpalated7

PoC toariousvariousarlous

L churchbackgroundeackrackraerac

E orthodoxyfactorsk

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theoreticaleoretical orientationoraleorlleapplicability

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toniontheoretical odel to the idlednmpledipledsaisasal

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acusaousnous experienceexperiencesexperiencoExper reportedlencoienco bys IIliebersebers ofthe church of jesus christ of latter day saints residingin provo utah

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LIST OF tarnesTABLESTAINESTAIN

table

ES

page1 guttenguttmnguttmangettman scale criteria index of religious experience

provo city sample 20

2 scale of religious experiences5periences11 21

3 guttrmngutttnan scale criteria index of church orthodoxy provocity 25

4 scale of church orthodoxy 27

5 scale types of religious

33

6 A parisoncorriparisonCorri of the church orthodoxy of those respondentswho reported a religious experience and the churchmurchmunchorthodoxy of those ijho did ot report a religiousexperience

35

8 gunnarysunnary of the findings of the relationship boa1toenbotnoonreligious

L

experiencesL andbencesiences churchmriurcl orthodoxy 37

9 the relationshipnfelationship between7 ageago490 and church orthodoxyorthodoryOrthodory 40

10 0 the relationship between sex and church orthodoxy 41

11 the relationship between type of churchcharch iienbership116mb and3

churchip

orthodoxya

L ersiers ndanuunu 42

12 theme relationship between missionaryfissionary7issionaryFission experienceaary and churchcharchorthodoxy 42

13 the relationship belibetipetbelv teenmween occupation and church orthodox 43

14 the relationship troeneetroenEe anconeincone and church orthodoxy U

15 sutpnary45

7 rpesapes

Z es ondentsindentscrlhojo R ple

yot re ortodtE permenceerience 3431

7

P

the relationship btbetweeniTeen the variety of religiousrelrei Lirillisiriolisperiencesexperiencesik encounteredencouiyt andceredtered church orthodoxy

fhe belatirelationshipdonship E variet r

02uhodo QT

su iw ary 1 onshipi crthodo rrelic io is ee

Cr uhoaho i0 7y

11 periemce

r

1 7 ti Toen inco

IE fack

o-i

or unodo7 y

co fa

I

between

ady

bet

ia ay

teena

missionaryihssionarytissionary experienceE occu-pation and incomeincoieInT 16coiecorrieh 9 1

aienalen

eoleeolo

aexhex

IV

16 A sumnarysunanarySuna ofnarynady the relationship between religious experiencesrelated to church orthodoxy rienwhen controlled by age sextrpetype of church 1 snbershipribership i

1

50

IV1 ID

101ex

e9 9 9 11 10

riber ship

summary1.1

0 lationsh4d

1.1

ackkaedgkents

the writer wishes to express sincere appreciation to those in-

dividuals who have given invaluable assistance to the presentation of

this thesis

special recognition is given to dr john F seggar committee

chairnanchairriianchairmanchair whosethoseinanman encouragement and constructive criticism has been greatly

appreciated by the writer appreciation is also given to dr james T

duke and dr G hugh allred committeecoimitteecammittee members for their constructive

help to the entire study special thanks and appreciation is also given

to dr vernon W larsen

thanks also goes to barrydarry L johnson and his researchsearchIe methods

class which rendered their cooperation in pretesting the questionnaire

and collecting the data for this study

gratitude and appreciation is given to the writertsxwiteswriterswrit friendserts

associates and most especially his parents for their help and concern

with this research study

finally the writer would like to give special thanks to his

wife frances for her patience love and support given throughout the

entire study

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CHAPTER I1

introduction

the research problem

virituallyrituallyVi no sociological theory or empirical investigation has

been conducted in the area of religious experience or dealt with the re1

lationshiplation betweenship religious experience and church orthodoxy the pur-

pose of this study is to 1 construct a religious experience typologytypo

which

loggy

will be used to discover whether or not a sequential order exists

of religious experience from the least to the most intimate type 22 3

examine the relationship between religious experience and church orthodoxy

and 3 investigate the influence of various background factors which mayyay

clarify

ILI

some of the social conditions under which the relationship between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy may vary

the basic assumption of this study is that religious experiences

and church orthodoxy are somewhatsortie situationalwhat fromiromfroniron denomination to deno-

mination nrf&rfar example if a denomination advocates that its membership will

robin williamswilliam american society newneit york alfred A knopf1951 p 304 charles glock the sociology of religion 11 in sociologytoday problems and prospects eds robert K lertonmerton leonard broom andleonard S cottrell jr anewfnew york harper & row 1959 p 175

2religious experiences refer to events or feelings defined by the

respondent as an encounter between himself and a supernatural being iegod the father jesus christ the holy ghost an angel a translated beingor a resurrected being

3church orthodoxy refers to the degree to which a church member

adheres to the beliefs and overtly participates in prescribed churchactivities church orthodoxy will be considered synonymous with religiosityreligious involvement and religious commitmentconmitment these terms will be usedinterchangeably throughout the study

1

s

ilnew

exp

assumfotionotion

soei

ormonormom church5janesjames E taljnagetarrtahrtarn articlesage of faith salt lake city utah the

church of jesus christ of latter day saints 1960 gospelixos doctrine01 saltlakeinke city utah deseret bookdook company 1961iggi thelinetine doctrine and covenantssalt lake city utah the church of jesus christ of latter day saints

1961iggi190igo

oytorthodo Worthodoxorthodo

expeelperiencesriences

denoraldenoril binationination

2

incur religious experiences as a sign of their church orthodoxy or that

church orthodoxy is requisite to incur religious experiences then itsmembers will probablyprolproi encounterably many such experiences and those who do

encounter religious experiences will most likely tend to be nore orthoodox

than those who do not encounterencounte religious experiences therefore there

maynay be a high relationship between religious experiences and church ortho-

doxy on the other hand if a denomination views religious experiences

as abnormal and advocates that religious experiences are not necessary as

a signsign11 of their church orthodoxy or that church orthodoxyoruorV isnodoV not a

requisite to encounter religious experiences then its membersmerjmert willibers pro-

bably encounter feefew religious experiences and a weak relationship betweenbetl

religious

raaenrnaen

experiencesexper andconcesionces church orthodoxy maymav exist since the particular4

religious denomination to be studiedst emphasizesmphasizeseadaeladaed religious experiences and5

good works church orthodoxy as essential parts of their religious lijelifelile

it may be speculated that manynany of its meribersrrieroersmerinersrriemer willibers encounter religious

experiences and that a relationship will exist between religious exper-

iences and church orthodoxy

literature reviewRevi

the

eiT

literature reviewed for this study is presented in threethroe sec-

tions namelynameiy the literature pertaining to 1 religious experiences

the religious denominationdenomadenomi studiedinationbination is the church of jesus christof latter day saints inliL thisi study it willvill be occasionally referred toas the L D S church or the mormon

religigusgigusg

man yr

C

fe vi

n YV

1

encounter

roers

elt

relirellreilgiousbious experiencefaerieprior

noence

to the twentieth century religious experiences were studied

by theologians and philosophers within the framework of theology however

at the beginning of the twentieth century the quest for understanding rel-

igious experiences was taken over by many scholars several of which had a

psychological ientationorientationdentation three notable psychologists of religion who6 7

contributed significantly to the subject were james leuba edwin starbuck8

and william jamesjanes

leubas research was limited primarlypripartyprimarilypri tomarlyparTymariy the analysis of religious9

ecstacy in the lives of saints his work was divided into three parts

the analysis of conversion a type of religious experience a comparison

between christian doctrines and psychological analysis of conversion and

an attemptatter totipt point to the possible psychological correlates of the psychic10

facts analyzed in the study

james leuba the psychologypsycholog of religious mysticism new yorkharcourt brace & corapanyconaCoracorn incpany 1929

7edwin starbuck the psychologyofPsychology religion new york charles

scribnersScrib sonsnes 18998william james varieties of religious experience new york

dolphin books doubleday & companycomcon incpany 19579leubatsleubasleibas study of religious experiencesexper wasLences rather narrow in scope

when the overall spectrum of religious experiences is taken into accounthis study of ecstacy experiences is only one of numerous facets of religiousexperiences that can be studied

10james leuba A study in the psychology of religious phenomena

ameAnelnericannican journal of psychology vol7 1897 P 309385309 the385 thirdpart of his work is his book entitled the psychology of religiousmysticism op cit

seversevenalofalor

volavoly

3

2 church orthodoxy and 3 selected background factors to be used as

control variables

religious

american

severalof

orienlentation

yr 0 L reliaioustysticismC

co

of relbelbei

pslycho

Psychologc

soosoc

411

starbucsstarbuckStar researchbuesbucs dealt primarily with protestant conversionscorrtersions

he empirically analyzed the relationship betweenbetueenbetheen various factors which12

contribute to religious conversion examples of starbuclsstarbuckt findings

can be summarized as followsol 11loiislovis the greatest frequency of conversions

occur among those persons of the ages 15 16 and 18 2 intense rel-

igious training in childhood and strong otionalemotionalmotional pressure hasten early

conversion 3 depression sadness and meditation mostnost frequently pro-

ceed conversion

william james well known psychologist of religion gave dis13

scriptivecriptivecrip accountstive of religious feelingsfenafera actslings and experiences james

explored the philosophical content of religious experiences and its role

in individual personality his essays delve into the psychological prag14

mafiemaficmaticmaflematie metaphysicalneta andphysical epistemological aspects of religious experience

with thetho advent of world wars I1 and II11 scholars lost interest in

the scientific pursuit of religious experience and as a consequence dur

ing that period virituallyt1virituallyrituallyvi nothing of merit kwasijwasiJw addedasi to our under15

standing of religious experienceexperilence within the last twentyfivetwenty yearsfive

again conversion is only one aspect of religious experiences12

edwin starbuck A study of conversion 11 american journal of psy-chology

psy-ch vol 8 dumbernumber 2 january 1897 p 268308268 somesone308 aspects ofreligious growth

on and society in tensionchicago rand mclallylallyMcmeyameyh &ilylly company 1965 P 40

s

s ff

em

thatperiod was

chology 1 soiqe

Z berleubats

orlly

1

Aboricanamericanmorican journal of psychologypsychol2z vol 9 number 1october 1897189 p 7012417012470 1241124 starbucksstarbuck research like leuba studies

is confined to the aspect of conversion only which is a narrow aspect ofthe total phenomenon of religious experiences

13james op cit

14an excellent book whichvenichhenichbenich delves into the thoughts and philosophy

of william james is edward C loore11 williamoore james new york washingtonsquare press inc 1966

15charles glocklglockglocll and rodney stark religareligireligion

wae

umber solben

liy

lonmalally

ae

ernearmerarmeannemennerenneableabie

UPup5unt1 versivorsver lys

gioglo610ck

nilriinti sachjach typetypestyte of religious expedienceexperience christian and chiUnohiohlostangnstangristIchicago

anthe

chimuniversity

cnof chicago press 195lt

17the formsfoyfox ofojms expressionexpress includef thothetiaotino1 intellectualignimn practical and

sociological aspectsaspeelaspeci klachvlachtlach1 op012oiets cit p 30473018

47

glock and stark opa ellcilelit

chieaChicachlea oo

I1

I1 Af rtinrt picPiPyipim uber I1 and thou llew ycrlkycrkyark charles scribner

sons inacinccincineyne 195195s 5 paul tillich riblica3dilpilbic religionaltiulti

andre

theal

searchchicagoclaicagoClai

orthecagoultarteultirte universityreality of chicago press 19555

Joachijoachirii

nelireli lious e

coneeconce

ionallonal

atteattell ii ptedapted

forfod

nerned anciandancl gordon dejong Preligiosityeligiosity in

ordeondedimrimeim theune forsforbf oforias expression17

of religious experiencesperiences cornmoncoinon to all religions

the renewedrene interesthed in religiousreligloas experiences has also been the

concern of two sociologists charles glockclockglocgloe and rodneyroclnc starkw who are

pioneerincpioneering the jorkworktorki in this area thoythey view religious experiences as onoone

dimensionclacl1 inb afiensionfienlienllen fivesaonsion dhiensional approach in understandingerstandingferstanding the religiousrelic18

Z iousloub

larlnanmanlariiari1

usingirl

this01

fiveivl111 di dliiensionalicnsional approach faulknerfauiknerfau and1 dejong discovered

that ariong 24 pennsylvania state universityuniversounivers studentscitylitycito religiousdeligrelig experienceselousious19

is alienable to cxiattrimngustrguttr scalingscscoseon howeverHa0 nowever one has yet atteiipted to

find out netherwhetherve or not a sequential order of religious experiencesqeriencas existseiselsts

fromfroba

ts

the least tolo mostroost interilntirmintir ue ty- epe

meliereligloas e

belizrelizfasimslas

asicvsic

damensdimens 1

aaionation Septsepterenberriberemberassocalsoc l

5

there has been a renewed interest in the vital role played by religious

experiences in the life of the religious mannan ilallaiialianyIV ofOT theesperieexperie presentL day

scholars of religion are of a philosophical and theological background

andaydard they deal mainly vithwithivtit the ontological metaphroetaphymetashroeta stealphy and epistonologepiptomiolog16

ical aspects of religious experience joachinjoachinlifachwach is an exampleampleampieex of a

religious philosopher who has given iapetusimpetusipetus to the growth of theory by

developing a classification scheneschenoschemoscIseisel fornemonemeneno orderimordering

cit p 18381819

38

joseph faulkner anrpiricalrripiricalR analysis unpublished paper for presentation at the gothoothannual meetingetingle of the americananericanaraericanlneAnelmo sociologicalrican association september 1965chicadochicagochicaoo illinois

0 L

1ln tl

e

p3r en- es

m

uncI1 erstanding

a id

ai iong

D

e

10 relationshli p betibetl en

deligreliggiousdiousniouslous experieiicosperfiencesex and church orthodoxyorl

16

llopillooi

somesone

0

present eaydaydaj philosophical anciandanclard theologicaltheolo scholarssciical ofcolarsiolars religiousrelphenolphenoi115no

ilgliousenaienalena include

r

so11e pre sei ruofrue aI ew1

195CD

joa OU 3 riemckeriemce unristis of rolrel 1 S non1951

5faull V i

5 7

til-ey v lew delinrelin lousious

o-f

ate type or examinedemyaemia theined relationship between

religious

perieneesces

r

5

do jon

ilee

nees

kne

long

zinc

lie

ser hibnersibnersIblical

ners

dejon

mcp

els

ofal

adiong

par

13ld

construconstrue actionction

6

glock and stark state that if theory construction and empirical20

investigation are to continue a religious experience typology is necessary21

they statestateystacey

while the taxonomy se eras appropriate any final judgmentof its worth can only bomeborne when its utility is demonstratedin empirical investigations of mas religious experiencesif it is to be useful the assumption that these types ofreligious experience represent a developingdevel2pin sequenceseS ofluence feltencounters between mennten and the supernatural must be verifiedby findings empirically that the data scale in this mannerrannernannerif this proves to be the case then the various theoreticalconsiderations we have presented will give us some clearerunderstanding of why the data do scale and ought to pointout some beginnings for predicting the occurrence of rel-igious experience

glock and stark developed a religious experience typology for use

among protestants and catholics which includes four types of religious

experiences namely confirming responsive ecstatic and revelational22

experiences the religious experience typology used in this study is5sas a

modification of glock and starktsstark1sstarets typology to be used among members of the

L D S church residing in provo utah explanations of the four types

of religious experiences used in this studystudyts typology are as follows

confirming experienceemerleneriemedi iseneeence an experience in which the respondent

feels or senses the presence of a supernatural being for example an

individual feels an outpouring of the spirit to the extent that he gains

a knowledge a feeling or an intuition that his beliefs are true

2 responsive experience is an experience in which the respondent not

only feels the presence of a supernatural being but also that the super-

natural being is taking specific notice of him such as a person knowing god

20glock and stark opo cit p 40

21ibid p 66

22ibid p 396639 66

seems

mants

us d

1 confirm

1

feelseis

op P

131.3

erienerlences

7

has answered his prayer

53 ecstatic experienceex isbenceience anis experience in which the respondent has

an itongoingongoing lasting relationship with the supernatural being this re-

lationship is an affective relationship similar to love or friendship the

individual alwaysaltaliait hasTays the ability to be in constant communicationcorrmanicati with the

supernatural being and be continually spiritually close to him

4 revelational experienceeneri isenceenee an experience in which the individualsindividual

physical senses are involved in receiving communications from a supernatural

being the physical senses include the ability to see hear and touch

the revelational experience may include visions or face to face communications

with a supernatural being

with the sparsity of research and theory in the area of religious

experience it is thought that a contribution can be made by discovering

whether or not a sequential order of religious experience types exists

this may have the theoretical importance of contributing towards further

explanation of the relationship between religious experiences and church

orthodoxy and predicting to what extent a person is orthodox when only his

religious experiences are known

church orthodoxy

since this study concerns itself with the L D S church the lit-erature reviewed will deal mainly with church orthodoxy studies relevant to

this denomination

the following review of literature presents some of the more import23

ant church orthodoxy studies pertinent to this research

23other studies of church orthodoxy include howard woolston rel-

igious consistancyconsistencyConsistancy american sociological revieireviewrevlowrevici volr 2 1937 380

on

eriences

ersonLI p

P

e-im

lationship

It

ehm

journalourmloural jpf personality and social psychologyvol 1 19651905 p 569578569

26578

glock and stark op cit p 183818 38

I1membershipsemberSenberfember andship church attendancein eadisonmadisondisoriliaIIa wisconsin

sociologysocioloey and social research vol 39 may june 1955 po 32432324327024324 32725

32

victor cline and james richards A factor analytic study of rel-igious belief and behavior

utarutan

762262 770

jbfdof

signiasignifleant

bocisoci

sociolcociol

cociolsociol al

824

vernonvernons study in 1955 suggests the usabilityplausabilityplausibilitypla of scaling rel-

igious belief and participation among cormonsmormons11iornionsmoyMoreoy ofmons 194 mormonslfformonscormons sampled

vernon was able to scale twelve items with a coefficient of reproducibility

of 91ogio910glo090011

using a factorafactorractorabactor analytic technique to measure religious belief and25

behavior of 155 respondents in salt lake city utah cline and richards

found 1 1 bellefbeliefbeliefitemsitems such as belief in god church church leaders and

scripture and 2 participation items such as prayer attendance at meetings

tithing health code observance and family religious activities were import-

ant factors related to their degree of involvement in the church similar

items were used in this study to measure church orthodoxy

it was noted that charles glock and rodney stark have madenodemode a

significant contribution to the study of the religious manpianplannian by proposing26

that the investigation should include ivefive dimensions they point out

388 read bain religious attitudes of college students 11 american journalof sociology vol 32 fall 1924 p 627076277026277062 W70 goldschmidtgoldschigoldschm classaidtrdnationalismdenoiriinationalismdenoidenol in rural california churches 1 american journal of soc-iology volovolvoi 49 january 1944 p 33553483550483553048348 G355 allport et al thereligion of the post war college student 11 journal of psychology vol 25

1948 p 3333 louis33 bultena churchamerican sociological review vol 14 january

1949 p 384389384 william389 droeneroen A factor analytic study of religiousattitudes journal of abnormal social psychology vol 54 1951957 p 16-19

16-179

176-179

17-619 Bp3 lazerwitzzerwitzIa somesopiesoplesonie factors associated with variations in church attend-ance social forces vol 39 maynay 1961 p 301309301 john309 photiadis overtconformity to church teaching as a function of religious beliefbellef and groupparticipation american journal of sociology vol 0 january 1965p 423428423 and428 fred thalheimer continuity and change in religiosity A

study of academiciansAcademic ians pacific sociological review vol 8 1965 p 101-108

24glenn YT vernon an inquiry1 into the scalability of church ortho-

doxy

J

0f0910

wa s noat ed

f

io

1 liefiierilef70

P

hof Ps choloeholoe y

Socio loEyinquiry

pa

orthodoorthodoxY

investinginvestigatedabed

9

that ostmost research focuses upon one or two dimensions usually attendance27

and belief as measureslileairlearilea ofsures the total commitment of the religious person

they found that each of the five dimensions mentioned influence the rel-

igious mannan

faulkner and dejong foundoundaund in their study of 24 pennsylvania state28 29

university students that glock and starkasstark1s church orthodoxy dimension

is amenable to guttman scaling

the literature reviewed has suggested various questionnaire items

that can be used in a study of this nature that both religious experience

and church orthodoxy have an influence on the religious man hence a rela-

tionship maymy exist between the two variables and that the dimensions of

religious experience and church orthodoxy maynay be scalable

the relationship between religious experiencenerience and church orthodoxy30

the study by faulkner and dejong has a bearing upon the relation-

ship between religious experience and church orthodoxy they found that

not all of the fiveive dimensionsdimdin glockclockensionsensigns and starkastark1stark s five dimensionaldilqensiol proposal31

investigated have equal weight in importance with the respondents 11 itwas found also that among this sample there was a tendency to emphasize the

intellectual aspects of religion and minimizemirmiinir theinize portanceimportancein of religious32

experiencesexperiencesoexperienc this finding provides further justification for analysis of

27charles glock cnon the study of religious commitment religious

education research supplement vol 42 july august 1962 p 9811098111098981

28110liollo

faulkner and dejong op cit29

the church orthodoxy dimension includes both ritualistic and de-votional criteria see glock and starkuarkbark op cit po 233023

3030

faulkner and dejong op cit31

ibid p 10

n

fnan

f

C

een re us neninerimeni enceenee

no L f

just lficati0n

lc162

S p

tionship

eso

votional

relationshi betibetl

alinvestig

glock

aclieliet

backbaek nd

studstue

oloanoloao

10

relationship between religious experience and church orthodoxy

background factors

due to the fact that several variables have been shown elsewhere32

to be related to church orthodoxyortho thedohdoV following literature is presented

age sex type of church membership missionary experience occupation and

income will be used as control variables

age sex type of church membership occupation and income have

been included as other studies dealing with religious commitment have33

indicated their importance it was thought that the control variable of

missionary experience needed to be included due to the emphasis placed on

it within the organization studied A brief discussion will indicate the

findings pertinent to each of the variables employed in this study

age34

most studies indicate that religiosity varies with age vernon35

found in his study of church orthodoxythodoxy among 194 sampled mormonscormons in idaho

that the youth display a high degree of orthodoxyorth decreasingodoy during their

twenties but then increasing in orthodoxy until approximately 60 years of

32the selected variables used inthis study found to be related to

church orthodoxy in previous studies include age sexrexE typeex of churchmembership occupation and income 0

33glenn II11 vernon sociologysociolooycociolsociolSocio of religion newmew york megraw hill8511

book co 1962 p 22622722622226 227 baerwitzlaerwitzLaerlaenlazer22 oropowitowitztitzeito citp joseph fichter theprofile of catholic religious lifelifo 11 american joua of sociology vol58 195219531952 p1953 145149145 woolston141oolsto149 op20 cit bultena opryo cit G

lenski social correlates of religious interest 11 american sociologicalreview volvolevolovoievoiT 18 1953 p 533544533 and544 goldschmidtgoldschnidtgoldsGold opschmidtcluilidtschnidt citociteitoeit

34the most important studies include fidhterfichter appp cit woolston

op22 cit and vernon sociology of religion op cit35

glenn vernon background factors related to church orthodoxy tl

social forces vol 34 number 3 hrchlrch 1956 p 252254252 254

corfu iiitilient

i1ort lorrons

C 0 CD

r

cl

1 1cgralegramcgra T

socio

sociolociclrevirevleae7

0L reli

1

looy

nSocio loC

new

sex nunch

soei

hach

ia

woiwol ien9

dorirqorir iitaittit iientsmients

11

age

sex

it is generallyrrenecrene foundfrallyraily aniongaziiongoundand protestant and catholic denominations36

CLI

that women are more religiouslybeligioreligio involvedasly than menienonenlenolens however vernonvennon

study

s

of

C

church orthodoxy anong ilormonsllormoniiIlorllodjonii indicatesonsmons thatthai nennonmonrilenrilon tend toward the

extremes of an orthodoxy continuum while womenwo tendnienlionllon to cluster toward the37

middiemiddleniddle vernon suggests that normonmormon men may be more orthodox than women

type of church membership38 39

both vernon and fichter found thatth convertsnatrat to the church are

more religiously orthodox thanihan life members

missionary experienceelpeexpe

the writer is not aware of any available research relating mis-

sionary experience to churchch orthodoxyunocloxjorurcinarcin it is assumed however that

within the L D S churchChurchud thosecitcli who iibarkembarkembankimbark upon missionarybassionrassion workaejaey are

orthodox in their comitaents to the church 0 each potential missionary is40 41

interviewedinte byL hisv bishopiexred and stake president as to his worthinessi

to serve a mission each potential missionary must successfully pass the

interviewindexintex invicitvieit order to be considered to serve a mission for the church

30allport et al op cit bultenabulteduite appp eitcitett lazerwitzlafexlazex ogoo00witzuitz cit

and lenski op it37

vernon backgroundbacko factorsround related to lurchchurch orthodoxorthodoxyorthodo 11 op0 cit38

1

ebidoibidoibid39

fichter op chtcatciteit40

A bishop is one who presidespresideepropre oversides a single congregationcongre inration theL D S churchchudenChurchud

41cn

A stake president is one who presides over several congregationsin the L D S church

r

su ests

e pefiencerience

ei

Staltattre

M ajyj 2tP C

CI PO

ye mbarship

o td c

Y

len

pience

oid

adiong

at

adiesudiesaddes

ol01 sociology vol 48llarchmarch 1943 p 574579574 and579 august B hollingshead elmtownsElmeim youthtownsnewyew york john eileywileytileyelleytlley & sons inc p 24925124192512492419

45251

demerathdenaDera appp0erath ciuciteitcluelu

12

occupation

some studies suggest that the higher the occupational level of42

an individual the moreinioreiniome he participatesheparticipates in church activities however43

demerath concludes that people holding lower prestigeousprestigeprestigious occupations

participate less in church activities but believe in fundamental religious

principles morenore than those who are of higher occupational prestige

income

previous research has suggested that there is a positive rela44

lionshiptionshiption betweenship inconincome level and religious commitment As a social45

class indicator demerath points out that people earning little income

will usually participate less in formal church activities but be more

personally devoted believe in fundamental religious principles and be

more emotionally involved

in summarysummsunn theiary background factors of age sex type of church

membership occupation and income affect church orthodoxyorth itodoW can only

be assumed that missionalmissionarymissionai experience maynay have an affect upon church

orthodoxy in order to more clearly understand the relationship betweenbet

religious

weonaeon

experience and church orthodoxy these background variables will

be used because mostnost studiessu indicatead1es that they are significantly related

to church orthodoxyorthodoorthodox

42

V

lenski opqpap cit and lazerwitz op cit43

no J demerathdemden III111itierasheravh social stratification and church involvementthe church seetsect distinction applied to individual participation reviewof religiousRelig researchwus vol 232 19611961iggi3 p 146154146 154

hadley cantril educationalandEducation economicaland composition of religiousgroups an analysis of poll data

holdin9

e

clearlyunderstand

R

dcAamerleanamerican journal of

au I1 ust ffollingshead eleritaelrritaarntsvrnts1

ous

he

y

andeconoo L

bacakbaclkground

councelcountelwedred

13

research hypotheses

selected literature has beenboen presented relevant to religious exper-

ience church orthodoxy the relationship between religious experience and

church orthodoxy and background factors to be used in this study in

addition religious experience types have been developed for testing at

this point hypotheses will be introduced in order to einpiricallyertirically test

the problemsprob oflernis this study eight hypotheses were constructed they are as

followsfollhypothesisITI

mrs

1yT religiousprothesispothesispo experiencesthesis develop in a sequence fron the leastto the mostnost intimateintinateinfitintit typemte that is an individual encountersa confirming experience before a responsiveresponsrespens experiencejive aresponsive experience is encountered before an ecstaticexperience an ecstatic experience is encountered before arevelational expedienceexperienceperiencee

hypothesis 2 there is a direct positive relationship betweenbotbet religiousireenexperiences and church orthodoxy

a an individual who encounters a religious experience willdisplay greater churchchurchudehud orthodoxyorthodoorthodoxeirlciri thany a person who doesnot encounter a religious experience

46b the greater the variety of religious experiences en-

countered the greater the degree of church orthodoxydisplayed

47c the greater the frequency of religious experiences en-

countered the greater the degree of church orthodoxydisplayed

the six regainingrenainingcemarenadena hypothesesining were constructed to test the relation-

ship between background variables and church orthodoxyortho

hypothesis

dowdoV

3 As a person becomesbeconesbecomes older liehelleile will display greater churchorthodoxy

hypothesis 4 lalessilesI will display greater church orthodoxy than females

the variety of religious experiences refers to the respondentsencountering one or more types of religious experiences

47the dequencyfrequencyi of religious experiencese refersperiences to the daily weekly

monthly moreriorenore than once a year less than once a year or never occurrencesof religious experiences

i

encouyyuersaers

thefrequency

re imininpC

courteredened

becones

lost

comes

examexaninationbination

lypoTypothesis

antiintiI1 matenate

14

hypothesis 5 converts to the church will display greater church orthodoxythan those who have been members of the church all of theirlives

hypothesis 6 those persons who have had missionary experience will displaygreater church orthodoxy than those persons who have not hadmissionary experience

hypothesis t the higherhifner a persons occupation level the greater the churchorthodoxy the person will display

typothesishypothesis 8 the higher a persontsperson1spersonteper annualsonts income is the greater the churchorthodoxy the person will display

the examination of the above hypotheses will be made from data obtained

from membersmennennem ofbersbens the church of jesus christ of latter day saints residing inprovo utah this religious denomination was selected because of its prox-

imity to the institution at which the writer is pursuing his degree

summary

rituallyvirituallyVi no sociological theory or empiricalipirical investigation has

been conducted in the area of religious experience or have dealt with the

relationship between religious experience and church orthodoxy therefore

this study attempts to investigate religious experiences as they relate to

church orthodoxyorthodoyorthodoxy religious experience types will be constructed which will

be used to discover whether or not religious experiences can be ordered frorfromfronaror

the

I1

least to the most intimate type

the literature reviewed reveals that religious experiences and church

orthodoxy are bothbounbo dimensionsun used to measure the total commitmentmitmentfitmentconcoreon of the

religious mannan and maynay influence one another the background variables of

age sex type of church membership missionary experienceqperience occupation and

income are to be used in this study since previous studies indicate that

they fluenceinfluence church orthodoxy

of

those

7

is

SUM

ei

0

e

in

YI

uhan

15

in this study religious experiences will be used as the inde-

pendent variable and church orthodoxy as the dependent variable this is

not to imply causation between religious experiences and church orthodoxy

it concerns itself only with correlation and significance of which infer-

ences maynay be drawn however this study may have the predictive value of

ascertaining the extent of an individualindividuals church orthodoxy when only his

religious experiences are known

s

t s

blocbiocbloe

llorIlormonsnons

llolio

CHAPTER II11

RESEARCH DESIGN adtAMDAIT methodology

sampiesamplesamele design1

A systematicasystematic cluster sampling technique was utilized consisting

of a combination of 11 simple random samplingsamsan 2pling cluster area sampling

and 3 systematic randonrandom sampling the samplesampie size consisted of 3602

adult mormonsilormonscormons residents of provo utah eighty four or 23 percent of the

possible 360 sampled residents were disqualified from the total sample

because of their incomplete responses or their refusal to participate in

the study this left a final total of 276 respondents whose questionnaires3

were analyzed for the purpose of testing the hypotheses of this study

data collection

thirty five undergraduate sociologysocio studentsioulou assisted in the dis4

tributiontrib andution collection of the questionnaire

A systematicsystenatic cluster sampling technique is defined as a group ofresidential housing blocks of which every nthnth11 house within the group ofresidential housing blocks are sampledosampledsampledo see claire selltizselitizSeli ettiz alresearch iiethodsethodsmethods in social relationspelationsfelationslationsPeFe newnevne yorkv holt rinehart andwinston 196 p 534 refer to appendix B for an area description ofprovo utah and the exact geographical location of the cluster units includedin the samplesamplecsampiesampled

2provo utah liaswasiras selected because of 1 1 its large mormon110 po-

pulationrinonribon

2 its heterogeneity with respect to background variables ieage sex type of church membership missionary experience occupationand income 3 its accessibility and the limited time and expense in-volved and 4 its proximity to the institution at which the writer ispursuing his degree

3the specific hypotheses of this study are found in chapter I1

4the questions used in this study will be found in appendix A

16

D

s111

1 7 53t e

1

0 L

ulation

1 11

responseresponsi

17

this study aided the students in their class work since a research

project was required conveniently this study became the object of their

research project and enhancedLanceder the rapidity of distribution and collection

of the questionnaires for the study

prior to the dissemination of the questionnaires all student data

gatherers were given detailed briefings as to their respective areas

procedures for questionnaire presentation answering respondentsrespondents1 questionscriest

and

ionslons

questionnaire collection above all else the student was informed to

assure the respondent that anonymityanonymityanonym wouldity be preserved

the entire distribution and collection of the questionnaires took

approximately ten days the data gatherers were urged to distribute and

collect each questionnaire the same day if possible it was hoped that

this procedure would avoid the possibility of the respondent misplacing

the questionnaire or procrastinating its completion

after all questionnaires had been collected the data gatherers

were given the responsibility of transferring the questionnairequestion informationinformtioninforiiationinformimire

onto

tion

I1 B 14 555 optical scanner code sheets each data1fdata gatherer was

responsible for the questionnaires he collected code sheets were provided

for each data gatherer as well as supervision to insure greater accuracy

of the transference approximately 90 percent of the optical scanner

sheets used to transfer the data information were checked for coding reli-ability by the writer

the I1 B 11 555fi555 opticalopt scanner code sheets were submitted to

the opticalCp scannerseamierseannertical mamachinechine in which I1 B II11litritrii computer cards were auto-

matically punched it was thought that this process provided greater

accuracy to the study and saved considerable time

intheir

projectand

P

sheets

cal

1

matically

responsi

cai

remetrellremeereleremeT ketrketienceenee yewyork harper & brothers publishers 1938 P 13

6albert ellis questionnaire versus interview methods in the study

of human love relationships icaiga

apppcit vernosVernon scale was modified due to the fact that the pretest resultsindicated that it was unreliable see the section in this chapter entitledchurch orthodoxy scale

18

research instrument

A self administered questionnaire was developed by the writer and

others for use in a larger project the validity of the questionnaire

technique may be justifiably questioned however it must be recognized

that this study infringes upon the moral and ethical values of the indi-

vidual to divulge sacredsacred11 information concerning encountered religious5 6

experiences ellis points out that respondents give morenoremoranora selfseif incriminatingC

information in a questionnaire than if they were in an interview situation

therefore it was thought that an anonymous questionnaire would provide more

valid results in this study than if an interview technique was employed

the questionnaire contained two scales a religious experience7

scale and a church orthodoxy scale as well as selected background infor-

mation pertinent to this study since there was a lack of previous research8

in the area of religious experience the writer had to develop a scale from

the suggestions found in the literature as well as those suggestions madenade

by several individuals with respect to church orthodoxy the writer used9

a modification of vernosVernon church orthodoxy scale the background inforanfor

5F E england states that in many cases a religious experience is

regainedregarded as intensely private and jealously guarded and protected bythe individual F E england the validity of religious experience

american sociologicalsociol2z3 review vol 12 number5 february lgb1941947 p 541553541 553

7therhe analysis of the two scales is found in tables 1 2 3 and 4

8refer to the section in chapter I1 entitled literature review

9vernon an inquiry into the scalability of church orthodoxy

ious ax&xperiperl8

1

Ls f

11

ts

ts

opeobe citeciteiteelte p 39663912

66

guttman scalogramscalogransealscal analysisogramogran is a method by which it can be determinedwhether or notriot the attribute in question involves one or several dimensionshence establishing a 90 level of reproducibility allows us to conclude thatthere are probably no other dimensions involved see S A stoufferstouff et almeasurement and prediction studies in social pszcholopsychology in world war II11vol IV princeton new jersey princeton press 1950 p 778077 80

whichischichis

feroufzrou dedoed

19

mationnationmatlon included questions on age sex type of church membership mis-

sionary experience occupation and incomeix

religious

leonefooneleome

experience scale

the formulation of the index of religious experiences comprisesconwconT ofrises

four items with each item dealing with one religious experience type namelyramelynameiy

the confirming responsive ecstatic and revelational type it was thought

that they sufficiently cover the full range of religious experiences encount10

ered by members of the L D S church glock and stark support this view-

point since their taxonomy of religious experiences includes only four cat11

edoriesegorieseg

the

ories

coefficient of reproducibility is 95 which is higher than the12

90 criterion arbitrarily established by guttman three of the four items

lay between a 25 percent and 75 percent margin of discriminationdiscrirr theinationbination

spread of the marginal frequencies on the four dichotomous items was suf-

ficient to provide an adequate distribution none of the items had more

error than non error all errors appeared to be gradient rather than random

or grouped this information leads to the conclusion that the calescales allows

us to consider religious experiences as a unidimensional attribute the

detailed results of this analysis are reported in tables 1 and 2

10the specific types are discussed in chapter I1 and in the religious

experience sectionctionaction of appendix A

11glock and stark op

four

fouroud

se

ern

20

TABLETABUB 1

GUTTMAN SCALESCAL CRITERIA INDEXRMEX OF RELIGIOUS experiencesPROVO CITY SAMPLESANPIE

1 coefficient of reproducibility 95

2 range of marginalmangimargi frequencieslaliallaia the extreme modal frequencies are

b three of the four items fall between 75 and 25

c the spread is sufficient to provide a full range of scores

3 minimum111in marginalumm reproducibility 68

4 difference betweenbeebet coefficientreen of reproducibility and the coefficient

of minimumminlimmislim marginalmarnAr reproducibilityganalginal is 27

5 numbernmberamber of items and response categories four dichotomous items

6 pattern of error gradient

7 error to non error ratio

a ratio for all items no item has more error than non error

b item by iteriaiterfiiterii error

QUESTION faf4

QUESTION jaf3j3

QUESTION faf2

QUESTION fl

13responsecategory

1213

2

121343

2

1

4

242

1

4

242

error

4

01

69

111

241

non error31

244

69192

131133

16389

13the response categories indicate the responses after they had been

dichotomized refereferrerer to table 2 for response category meaning

34

2

1

dichoton med re

m

4

mnicatingrminicating with him in par-ticular y yresponsive experience Y Y Y nn nn

4 the individual feelsthe presence of a super-natural being yconfirming experience Y Y Y

imparinparyay9 yay1

21

TABLE 214

SCALE OF RELIGIOUS experiences

scale type read downdoendoidolscale

mitems

1 2 3 4 5

this type of religiousexperience involves one ormore of the physical sensesin witnessing a super-natural beingrevelational experience yy nn nn nn nn

2 A lasting ongoingrelationship exists betweenan individual and a super-natural being the indivi-dual always has the abilityto be in constant commun-ication withulu the supernaturalbeingecstatic experience yy yy nn nn nn

3 thetho individual feels thata supernatural being is eoncornconeom

Y nnY yes I1 know I1 have y yes I1 think I1 have n no I1 do notthink I1 have and N no I1 know I1 have not

TABLE

E

1

n N rr N

cotmmni

n N n N

yl

11

14see religious experience typestype and questions in appendix A of the

section entitled religious experiences 11

typesand

ticular

sand

ay

ay ay

mani

opPP cit p 327 c

18most of the itemsitem which did not sufficiently discriminate were

the belief items

gigl

uselinusedin

22

As a result of the scaling analysis each respondent was assigned a

scale score according to thethotha various types of religious experiences he

encountered A respondent who had encountered all four types of religious

experiences was assigned the scale score of 1 a respondent who encountered

all but one type of religious experience vmswas assigned a scale score of 2

a respondent who encountered two types of religious experiences was assigned

a scale score of 3 a respondent who encountered only one type of religious

experience was assigned a scale score of 4 and a respondent who did not15

encounter a religious experience was assigned a scale score of 5 these

scale scores are used in the subsequent statistical analysis of the findings

church orthodoxy scale16

prior to a pretest of the questionnaire vernonsvernos church orthodoxy17

scale was to be used in this study to measure church orthodoxy As a

result of the pretest it was found that vernosVernonvennon 12 item church orthodoxy

scale comprising of both belief and participation items was not reliable

at the .9191 level of reproducibility that hohe reported amonganong the pretest

sample vernonsvernos church orthodoxy scale was reproducible at .6868 several18

items did not sufficiently discriminate when a 25 percent 75 percent

15further elaboration on the occurrence and frequency of religious

experiences encountered by the respondents is found in appendix C

16after the initial version of the questionnaire was prepared

the same thirty five undergraduate sociologysocio studentslowloU which helped withthe distribution and collection of the questionnaires also were thepretest sample these students were membersmennenmem ofbers a research methods classattending brighamBri youngghan university for the summersuu sessionsesvlenviervien 1961967saonsion

17vernon an inquiry into the scalability of church orthodoxy

bo th items

s

ts

68

alalllillii errors appeared to be gra-

dient rather than randorandom or grouped this intonation leads to the conclusion

that the scale will allow us to consider church orthodoxy as a unidimensional

attribute the detailed results of this analysisanalvsi are reported in table 3

and 4

since it was found that church orthodoxyorthoc3o was amenable to unidimensionalunidinensionalunidimensilonal

scaling theune respondents were assigned to one of five church orthodoxy cat21 22

edoriesegories according to the scale score received the five church orthodoxy

categories were established on the basis of scale scores the ultraorthodoxultra

category

orthodox

received a scale score of 1 the orthodox category received the

scale scores of 2 and 3 the semiseni orthodoxorthodol category received the scales scores

19A parisonconparisoncomparisoncon between VernonvernorjsvernontsVernorvednor church orthodoxyortho scaledoV and the scale

used in this study can be madenade byjt comparingeonconeom theparing belief and participationsection of appendix A with vernosVernon an inquiryihquii into the scalability ofchurch orthodoxy 11 op cit p 327

20see appendix A beliefeliefbellefEt and participation

I1

II11

I1

infixinfox

23

discriminating barginnarginriargin was iniii511 posedimposed consconsequentlyequen theuly present church ortho-

doxy scale used in this study is a modification of vernons original church19

orthodoxy scale therefore the formulation of the index of church ortho20

doxy used in this study comprises of eight belief and participation items

the coefficientcoef1 ofol01lelent reproducibility of these eight items was .8888 with

a minianminimn marginaliiiarg coefficientjnal of reproducibility of 66 seven of the eight

items lay betweenbetheen a 25 percent and 75 percent grginargin of discrimnationdiscrimination the

spread of the marginal frequencies on the eight dichotoousdichotomousdienoto itemsmousnous was suf-

ficient to provide a fullullfuliuil range of scores

21according to guttman scalogranscalogramscal analysisogranogram each respondent is given a

scale score in this study a respondent could have received a scale scoreranging between 1 and 9

22an evaluation of the church orthodoxy of the respondents sampledsarrpledsample6sarisarrsani

ispiedpled

found in appendixappendil C

iforn Lulation

i 1 ln lrriri discrimination

im

1 s

y

oi

3the semi

s udybeti teen

a-rid

js

cacatemiscatemitemi

ts

ts y

Appendil

88

atlon

arld

teml

dow

arri

athe

anal

24

of 4 and 5 the unorthodox category received scale scores of 6 7 and 8 and

the extremely unorthodox category received the scale score of 9 the sub-

sequent statistical analysis of the findings will utilize these five church

orthodoxy categories

llcylloy

ercoerx o

TABIE 3

GUTTI tan SCALE CRITERIA indexINDSXPTIMpaim OFCY CHURCHGHURCH ORTHODOX

PROVOPRUVO CITY salSAsaiTLPtldetide

1 coefficient of reproducibilityreprodacibilityofreprodacibility 88

2 range of marginalrmarginal frequencies

a the extreme modal frequencies are 24 and 76

b seven of the eight items fall between 75 and 2.525

c the spread is sufficient tou provide a fullfuli ranoarangeranodanoedano ofopoa secresscoresscorasP

3 Miniraminirrainminirawri iiarginalmargnarg reproducibilityreproducibimi 66J

4

11

difference

ity

between coefficient of reproducibilityreprodrenrod andacibillity the coefficient

of minimuriminimurumininini marginalrmurimurunurinurlmurdnuru reproducibilityroproducibilityproducibilityroproducib islicy 22

5 number of items and responserasponsepasrashas categoriesponsewponse eigneeighteignt dichotomous ibericitericitite6

edicericrisriz

pattern of etcorerror gradient

ar7r error to non erro ratioraulo

a ratiorotio for alltiltiiail items only iteitem 6 has more error than non eerrorror

in the latter response category

b itenitem by iteiitel erroenloenio23

responseRogatecategoxj

spousegory error non error

qu3stiomQUESTIGI 2

QUESTICII 4

QUESTIOITQUESTIOU faf3

n3

121363

2

131

6

4943

2

9

53014

4112

1830

66166

70153

122106

23the response categoriescatecorlcatocateeato indicateescorl the responses after they hadha6haehaa been

dichotomized rafer to table 4 foiforiod responseresronseresnes categoryronse meaninganingmenecate ol

25

TA p3CR rTERDO

6

OL

fu

he

7

M

J 12

QUEs11ion 1453

3

il-len

M

T L

ex tyetrebye rne

wri

r

item

1

25

cors

pa

111.1

26

table 4 continued

QUESTION faf5

QUESTIOII 1

QUESTIONQUESTIOI 616

QUESTION 8f

QUESTION 7

responsecategory

1232

121

3

3632

121

6

3552

125125

error

1022

3015

553

422

712

non error

15193

16962

18929

20545

21442

52

QUESTIO 4 7

3

52

QUE3T101 172 5 42

loyICY

2

TABLE 424

SCAIESCALEschie OF CHURCH ORTHODOXY

scale items scale typelype read down

1 2 3 5 jt

how often do you do 3mamtemple work of any kind

2 do you hold family 2moamohome evening

3 do you have family 2wawprayer in your home

4 duringdaringdarlngduping 1966 did you yespay a full tithe

5 howeow often do you attend 2moamosunday school meetings

6 to what degree do youparticipate in card play NRing

7 the general authorities SA

are inspired of god

8 the L D S churchpossesses divine authority SA

MOY moyHOYeloy MOY MYMOYeoyecyLOYN LOYN LOYN LOYN

MMOY MMOY MMOY MMOYLOYN LOYNLOYIN LOYN LOYN

2waw WMMOY wmmoywmmoyLOYN LOYK LOYN

yes part part partnone none none

2mo2m0oamo 2moamo MMOY MMOYmilMIILOYN

oyLOYN

NR NR SO SOs909al al

SA SA AU AUDSD DSD

AU AUSA SA DSD DSD

3mam c at least once every three months MOY more than once a year LOY

less than once a year 2moamo twice a month 2waw twice a week W ss weekly11 monthly R rarely SA strongly agree A agree U undecided D

disagree SD strongly disagree N never S sometimes 0 often andal always

24see church orthodoxy items in appendix A in the section entitled

belief and participation

27

5

1LOY N

M I1 M moy

WMMOY wm140yLOY N

S

7

Hohowoftenwoften

28

validity and reliability

the mostostnost important technical criteria for evaluating an instrument

is that of validity an instrument is valid if it measures what it purports25

to asuremeasurerae selltiz et al indicate that validity can be established26

four different ways

content or face11facefacell validity was used to validate this research

guttman himself suggests that content validity should be used to validate2

a scale therefore upon the strength of guttman1sguttnantsGutt suggestionmantsnants the help28

of five officers within the mormon church was solicited to determine the

validity of the two scales the officers concluded that the scales were

sufficiently valid

the use of concurrent predictive and construct validity was not

used to validate the scalesscalesiseales since vernosVernonvennon church orthodoxy scale was not

utilized due to the pretest results which indicated that several items did

not sufficiently discriminate and due to the fact that no previous research

had been attempted in respect to this particular religious experience scale

25claire selltiz et al opoo00O cit p 154166154

26166

the four types of validity are content validity concurrent validitypredictive validity and construct validity content validity sometimescalled face validity is the determination by qualified observers to whatdegree the instrument is representative of what it is supposed to measureconcurrent validity is established if another instrument or scale is devisedwhich helps to distinguish the variables in question predictive validityis established when future performances can be predicted from the scale orinstrument construct validity is the attempt to get at underlying meaningsand explanations of an abstract concept drawn from theory

27stouffer et al op cit p 535453

2854

the five officers within the mormon church which viewed the rel-igious experience and church orthodoxy scales as valid included three bishopsand two stake presidents

n

C

27

fouroun

ts

o

scaliseallseailng

sociolosaciolocicalgical

29

concurrent and construct validation were impossible content validation

was given precedence over predictive validation upon the strength of29

Guttmanguttmanls statement

it is difficult to establish the reliability of a scale and this

is a major criticism of scalogramscal analysisogram an instrument is reliable if30

it consistemtlyconsistently measuresmeas theupesutes same thing with different sample populations

A test retest reliability technique would be important to future research

in this area but none was done in this study however some degree of

reliability seems to be indicated by the utilization of the guttman scaling

technique guttman states five purposes of scaling of which two seemseera to31

lend themselves directly to establishing some degree of reliability the

two purposes of scaling which lend themselves to reliability are 1 scal-

ing is undertaken to obtain variables which characterize sample populations

and 2 scaling is undertaken to predict outside variables from the scale

scores since the sample population is considered representative of the

of the universe and the results of the tested scales allows us to consider

them as unidimensional this leads to the conclusion that some degree of

reliability has been approached

analysis of the data

since most of the data was ordinal it was decided to use the tau C

statistic as a measure of association between religious experience church

orthodoxy and background variablesvarL tauablesabies C provides a coefficient of rank

29stouffer et al op citeiteltcit99 p 535453

3054

bernard phillips social research new york the macmillan company1966 p 161165161

31165

louis guttmanGut Atiattatiltroan basis for scaling qualitative data americansociological review vol 9 number 2 april 1944 p 139150139 150

outs ide

for

lsGuttmantmanf s

neltneir

3032

correlation and can be used when their are a large number of ties itis also a measurement to which significance tests can be applied

in a few instances where the ordinal level of measurement was not

possible a corrected coefficient of contingency was used as a measure of

association with chi square as a measure of significance

the .0505 level of probability was arbitrarilyarbra establishedrily as the

criteria for determination of significance the statistical analysis of

the data is found in the next chapter

summary

the study of religious experiences as they relate to church ortho-

doxy was conducted among 27626 adult members of the L D S church residing

in provo utah representativeness of the sample was maintained through

the use of a systematic cluster sampling technique sociology students

distributed and collected the anonymous questionnaires which were then

analyzed to test the hypotheses formulated for this study

two scales religious experience and church orthodoxy were con-

structed to measure the two phenomenaphenomphelom Asena a result they produced coe-

fficients of reproducibility of 95 and .8888 respectively content validation

was used to validate the two scales A major drawback to this study is

its lack of reliability sample representativeness and the scaling results

indicaindicate that reliability mayray exist these scales need to be given to

another sample with the results beinabeingbeinp comparedcomparedocompa

32

redo

hubert blalock jr social statistics newneit york mcgraw hillbook company inc 1900 p 321

reliabil fwaaymaty

structed

e

05

88

31

the data is to be analyzed by use of the chi square corrected

coefficient of contingency and tau C statistics to find the significance

and strength of association of all relationships

relibellbeil

follofollotij ing

ayeare

leaieast

tidTij

CHAPTER 111IIIlii

presentationpreelPREMI OFaltionnATIONartion NTDIITGSFILINGSFI

introduction

As stated in chapter 1I the purposes of this study areQYQ 1 to

construct a religious experience typology which will be used to discover

whether or not a sequential order of religious experiences from the least

to the most intimate type exists 2 to examine the relationship between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy and 3 to investigate the

influence of various background factors which maynay clarify somesoinesolsoi ofne the

social characteristics which affect the relationship between religious

experiences and church orthodoxy

the following is a presentation of the findings interpretations

and conclusions mnichwhich maynay be drawn from the data all inferences concluded

fromfron the results of these findings will appear in the interpretation

chapter chapter IV

the sequential order of religious experiences

the following hypothesis was tested to discover whether or not

a sequential order of religious experiences exists fromfron the least to the

most intimate type

hypothesis 1 religious experiences develop in a sequence from the leastto the most intimate type that is an individual encountersa confirming experience before a responsive experience aresponsive experience is encountered before an ecstaticexperience an ecstatic experience is encountered beforea revelational expedienceexperience

32

C

experiences

e

i

ol01 4perlpepi

33

the use of guttman scalogramscal analysisogram of religious experiences

see chapter II11 supports this hypothesis the data for this hypothesis1

is presented in table 5 scalogramScal analysisogram revealed that most of the

respondents who did encounter one religiousrelinellneil experiencegigus type encountered

a confirming experience most respondents who encountered two religious

experience types encountered confirming and responsive experiences most

of the respondents who encountered three religious experience types encount-

ered confirming responsive and ecstatic experiences and of course

those respondents who encountered all four types of religious experience

types encountered confirming responsive ecstatic and revelational

experiencesexperienceso

TABLE 5

SCALE TYPES OFCF RELIGIOUS experiences REPORTED BY MEMBERSMMERS OF THECHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF IATTERDAYIATTER SAINTSDAY RESIDING IN PROVO UTAH

2scale types of religious experiences

those respondents who encountered fourreligious experience types

those respondents who encountered threereligious experience types

those respondents who encountered tworeligious experience types

those respondents who encountered onereligious experience typetypcetyrce

number

31

44

6

4415

percentage

112

16016.0160igoige

24324.3

16.0160igoW

1for a number and percentage distribution of the curranceoccurranceoccurrenceoc and

frequency of each of the religious experience types see appendix C tables1 and 2 an evaluation of religious experiences is found in appendix C

2those who encountered four religious experience types received

a scale score of 1 those who encountered three religious experience typesreceived a scale score of 2 those who encountered two religious exper-ience types received a scale score of 35 d those who encountered onereligious experience type received a scale score of 40 ninety 326 re-spondents did not encounter a religious experienceperience and werevere assignsassignedassignc a0

scale score of 5

67

1 67567.5

nd

3 and

e perience Aspondents

243

675

326026

6686

001ooi

cac0

experryper

34

the relationshipRelation betweenshieshia religious bcperiences and church orthodoxy

three hypotheses were fformulatedemulated to exalexaminemansminsmane the relationship between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy

mathesishypothesismothesis 2aaa an individual whomno encounters a religious experience willdisplay greater church orthodoxy than an individual whodoes not encounter a religious experience

A comparison was maderoade between the church orthodoxy of those who

encountered a religious experience and those who did not encounter such

an experience ninety respondents 32.6326 indicated that theythay had not

encountered a religious experience as opposed to 186 675 respondents

who did report a religious experience

table 6 presents the data for this hypothesis whenlethenuhenleihen the church

orthodoxy of these two groups was compared a difference significant past

the 001 level was observed A low correlation of 15 C exists in

tabieTABLETAME 6

A varis0nacopparisolf1 OF THE CHURCH ORTHODOXY OF THOSE respondents WHOWITO REPORTEDPLEFORTEDFORTEDbuePLErue

A RELIGIOUS experienceEUERIENCE amyAND THE CHURCH ORTHODOXYrhodoxy OF THOSE WHO DID NOT

REPORT A RELIGIOUSRELIGICUS experience3xper

religious church orthodoxyexperienceencounters ultra semi extremely

orthodox orthodox orthodoxunodoxcr unorthodox unorthodox total

those respondentswho have encount-ered a religious 186experience 37.6376 23.6236 258 666.6 43 99.9999

those respondentswho have not en-countered a rel 90igiousivious experience 189 144 26.7267 16.7167 233 1000

total N 8 58 71 32 29 276262

X 4 C s 15 P

ec riences crthodope a

experience

t PY

0 C

CRrHODOXY

TCE

church arthcrth0doxy

8

87

istat stoicallysticallystieallycallyeaily

appeCD ndixadix

Mothesis

076 236 999

267 167

ice

portedreo

33.113311 df .001001 statistically significant

3elaboration of the church orthodoxy categories is found in appendix

C

6.6 4 3.3

ol01

00oo

91gi

001ooi

tehoteno

141lot 4.4

35

the predicted direction suggestinggestingsur that persons who encounter a religious

experience will be more orthodox than their non experiencing counterparts

hypothesis 2bab the greater the variety of religious experiences encount-ered the greater the degree of church orthodoxorthodoxy displayed

table 7 presents the support of this hypothesis the results of

TABLE 7

THEa51

reiationshiprelationship BETWEENETWEEN THE VARIETY OF RELIGIOUSLIGIOUSrar7experiences encountered AND CHURCH ORTHODOXY

religious church orthodoxyOrtho

experiencesdoV

ultra semisenasenn extremelyerbErtextorthodox

remelyorthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

individuals whohave encounteredfour types ofreligious experemper 31bencesiences 41941.9 29.0290 25.8258 0.000 3.232 99.9999

individuals whohave encounteredthree types ofreligious exper 44lences 47747.7 15.9159 18.2182 15.9159 2.323 1000

individuals whohave encounteredtwo types ofreligious exper 67bencesiences 43343.3hooboo 2422422.42.4 2.929 4.545 3.030 100.11001looi

individuals whohave encounteredone type of rel 44iviousigious experienceqeri 15.9159enceeneeenea 29.5295 31.8318 13.6136 9.191 99.9999

individuals who haveencountered noreligious exper 90lence 18.9189 14414.4 26.7267 16.7167 23.3233 100.010001000

total N 87 57 72 31 29 276a

Z s 5.89589 tau c

of

TABLE

BI

ENCOUiaered czlu itohIZCHiloh

41 9

e

7

419 290 258 32 999

182 159 23

224 29 45 30

159 295 318 log 999

189 ibb 267

29

24

dow

.2929 P s .001001 statistically significant

ol01

ol01

orthodoorthodox

36

the tested relationship indicate that the hypothesis can be accepted A

significant relationship between the variety of religious experiences

and church orthodoxy does exist the moderate correlation tau c 29

is in the predicted direction and is significant past the 001 level

this suggests that the greater variety of religious experiences an

individual encounters a moderatederateno increase in his church orthodoxy willtillwili

result

hypothesis 2cac the greater theune frequency of religious experiences encount-ered the greater the degree of church orthodoxy displayed

the results of the tested relationship between the frequency of

religious experiences and church orthodoxy when controlled by each of the

scale types of religious experience see table 5 indicate that no rela-

tionship exists between the frequency of religious experiences and church

orthodoxy except when a respondent encountered two religious experience

types this finding is not logical when the frequency of religious exper-

iences is related to church orthodoxy and controlled by the scale types

of religious experiences tables 1 2 3 and 4 in appendix D have been

constructed to present these findings

summary of hypotheses 1 and 2

the findings relevant to hypothesis number one suggest that religious

experiences develop in a sequential order that is less intimate experiences

are encountered before morenore intimate religious experiences

hypothesis number two states that a positive relationship exists

between religious experiences and church orthodoxy it was observed that

a respondent who encountered a religious experience was significantly morenorenoromoro

prediactedcted directiation

Yy i

C

tionship

orthodo

o L

39hb

29mb05om

25mm 0206

aopo

pmmm31ha

2cac

25.25

bencesiencesfrequency

of

church

three

exper

orthodoxy

2cac

07.07

bencesiencesfrequency

of

church

four

exper

orthodoxy

2cac

02.02

bencesiences

15.15

haa3113.113311

33

11

001.001

positiveositivepositive

TABLES

SUMMRYSUIMRY

OF

THE

FINDINGS

OF

THE

relationship

significance

C

2

score

X

frequency

exper

S

dativenegativegative

8

S S

0

TA

BLE

8

BETWEEN

RELIGIOUS

experiences

AND

CHURCHCHURGH

ORTHODOXY

independent

dependent

hypothesis

2

signiasignif

acanceicance

table

page

variable

variable

number

tau

c

level

direction

numberzumber

number

religious

church

experience

orthodoxy

2aaa

encounters

variety

of

church

religious

orthodoxy

2bab

29.29

experiences

frequency

of

church

one

experience

orthodoxy

2cac

05.05

maefremao

quency

of

church

two

orthodoxy

6

34

5895.89089

001

ositivepositive

7

35

NS

te

38.38

N

1

86

393.93493.49

2

87

1021.02

NS

positive

3

88

31.31

NS

positive

4

89

07

001 001001.001

ositivepositive

peniponi

cac6

38

orthodox than his non experiencing counterparts it was noted as well

that the variety of religious experiences a person encounters will

moderately affect his church orthodoxy however there seems to be

no relationship between the frequency of encountered religious exper-

iences when controlled by the scales types of religious experiences

except for those respondents who encountered two religious experience

types the frequency of religious experiences will moderately affect

the church orthodoxy of those who encountered two types of religious

experiences the latter finding is not logical when the frequency

of ofreligiousreligious of religious experiences is controlled by the scale types

of religious experiences

in conclusion the data suggest that the greatest influeninfluenceinfluent upon

church orthodoxy is dependent upon howhoxhot many different religious exper-

iences an individual encounters

table 8 summarizes the findings of the relationship betweenI1

religious experiences and church orthodoxy

background factors related to church orthodoxy

selected background factors see chapter I1 were used as control4

variables in this study since previous research indicate their usefulnesst

therefore the relationship between various background variables indep-

endent variables and church orthodoxy dependent variable is the focus

see the section entitled background factors in chapter I1 whichwill elaborate on the usefulnessusefulnes of these background factors in previousresearch relevant to church orthodoxy it is to be noted that the writeris not aware of any previous research undertaken to investigate the rela-tionship between missionary experienceperience and church orthodoxy it is as-sumed however in light of the emphasis placed by the mormon church onmissionary service that it would be an important background variable touse when analyzing church orthodoxy

C

CD

s

experienceenee

backgroundvariable

tionship

usefulnes

vanavahlvaht

ol01

varivarl 7

39

of this area of researchoresearchrese thearcho background van5 include age sex

type of church membership missionary experience occioncionochionoc and income

these control variables were thought to be important inasmuchinasi asmchmeh

the possibility exists that church orthodoxy may be a function of any or

all of the above mentioned variables the significance and association

between background variables and church orthodoxy is importantinport forant under-

standing which individuals are orthodox in their church commitmentcommitmentocommitmentscommit itmento

is also important to understand the extent to which these variables affect

church orthodoxy so that the relationship between religious experiences

and church orthodoxy can be better understood

As discussed in chapter I1 the following hypotheses were constructed

in order to test the various relationships between the selected background

factors and church orthodoxy

hypotheses

3 As a person becomes older he will display greater church orthodoxy

4 maleshalesnales will display greater church orthodoxy than females

5 converts to the church will display greater church orthodoxy thanthose who have been members of the church all of their lives

6 those who have had missionary experience will display greaterchurch orthodoxy than those who have not had missionary experience

7 the higher a persons occupational level is the greater the churchorthodoxy he will display

80 the higher a persons income is the greater the church orthodoxyhe will display 0

age and church orthodoxy

the third hypothesis states that there is a direct relationship

between age and church orthodoxy table 9 shows the relationship between

s

on

8

betkieenvieen

ococlon

01oi

gigl

79pg

01oi 90go

40

the two variables the findings reveal that no significant relationshiplationshipexists between age and church orthodoxy A correlation of .0101 tau c

indicates that the association between age and church orthodoxy is in-

significant therefore the hypothesis is rejected that is there isno difference between the age of a person and his church orthodoxy

TABLE 9

THE relationshipa8

BETWEEN AGE andAKDAIM CHURCH ORTHODOXY

church orthodoxyage

ultra semi extremelyorthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

213021

314031

30

415041

40

516051

50

61

60

and older

7631.6316 22422.4 21021.0 10.5105 14514.5 1000100.0

7435.1351351 21.6216 24.3243 12.1121 6.868 99.9999

4438.6386 13.6136 27.3273 9.191 11411.4 100.01000

3815815.8 18418.4 39.5395 7.979 18418.4 100.01000

4134.1341341 22.0220220 26.8268 14614.6 242.4 99.9999

total N 87 55 72 30 29 23273

a2

relationship

21 0oao00 14 5- 100 0

seeMs

316 224 210 105 145

216 243 68 999

386 136 273

158 184 395 184

268 146 24 999

0270270.27 tau c .0101 P .9090 not statistically significant

examination of the data reveals that the age group between 516051

years

60

of age display the least amount of church orthodoxy while those over

61 years of age seem to display the greatest amount of church orthodoxy

even though an insignificant correlation exists the data seems to indicate

that a person may become slightly more orthodox as the individual becomes

older

94gb

41

sex and church orthodoxyOrth

table

odoy

10 presents the relationship between sex and church orthodoxy

the findings reveal that a significant relationship exists between sex and

church orthodoxy the degree of association is 026 C and the relationship

is in the predicted direction it can be concluded that the male respond-

ents display greater church orthodoxy than female respondents

TABLE 1019

THEa

relationship BETWEENBEDPEEN SEX AND CHURCH ORTHODOXY

sex

maiekaleyaleealeynie

female

37637.6

total N

a 2X 4 C 26 P

type of church membership and church orthodoxyOrth

table

T odomodoy

11 presents the findings related to the relationship between

the type of church membership and church orthodoxy A comparison was made

by dividing the respondents according to hetherwhether they are converts to the

church or life members and comparingconparingcon theirparing church orthodoxyorthodoxyoorthodox

it

yo

is observed that no statistically significant relationship exists

between the two variables 0 A low correlation of 04 C is present and the

relationship is in the predicted directionsdirectionodirectiondirect theiono low correlation suggests

that converts may be slightly more orthodox than life members

5

228928.9898.9 17.8178 30.0300ooo000

8 56 69

df

87

ae

v

is

258 183

289 178

05

129

139

26

376

89

11.351135

church

ultra semiorthodox orthodox orthodox

jibjim 25.8258 18.3183

.0505 statistically significant

orthodoxy

extremelyunorthodox unorthodox total

9354 12.9129 1000100.0

18013.9139 949.4 100.01000

32 29 27323

.2626

huilafbui assionssion

6762

llolio

00oo 00oo 0

40ao 001ooi

xax2

42

TABLETABIE 11

THE relationshipsrelationship8RELATIONSHIP BETWEENa8

TYPE OF CHURCH aem3rshipAMAND CHURCH ORTHODOXY

type of church church orthodoxymembership ultra semisendsenn extremely

orthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

45convert 35.6356 20.0200 31.1311 6.767 6.767 100.11001looi

229life membermenmem 310berben 21.0210 24924.924109 11.8118 11411.4 100.11001

total N 8 57 71 30 29 274a 0 I1

X 4 C

served mission 52.5525 30.5305305005 ige16916916.9 0.000 0.000 99.9999

did not serve 196mission 27627.6 17317.3 26.5265 14314.3 14.3143 100.01000

total N 86 53 60 31 28 255a i 1

X 4 C

i3111 RSHIP

member ship

6 71

87

49

ororthodoxyuhodoxyexperience ultra semi extremely

orthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total59

2

lassionary experienceebqpoerience and church orthodoxyOrtho

table

doa12 presents the findings of the relationship between missionary

experience and church orthodoxy the relationship was tested by comparing

the church orthodoxy of those who reported missionary experience with the

church orthodoxy of those who did not report missionary experience

TABLE 12

THE relationshipsrelationship5RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN5 missionary11.11111 experience1

AND CHURCH ORTHODOXY

mssionary11issionarymissionary church

356 67

210 249 118

04 50

525 999

276 265 143 143

dow

309430.940094 df

lassionarymissionarypassionary

2492.49 df .0404 P .5050 not statistically significant

40.40 P .001001 statistically significant

234204 998996

039009

orthodorthid

relationshipreiationship BETVIEENBETWEEN occupation AND CHURCH ORTHODOXY

occupationchurch orthodoxy

ultra semi extremelyorthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

81professional 506506s50.6 23423.4 16ol60igo160160ige 49 49 99899699.699.8

25manager proprietor 360 200 200 12.0120 12.0120 100.01000

39white collar 256 179 33333.3333 128 103 99.9999

64skilled worker 188 23.4234 25.0250 14.1141 180818818.8 1001

unskilled sem-iskilled rancher 59and farmer 25.4254 169igo16916.9 33.9339 13.6136 100210210.2 1000

total N 8 56 6

43

the analysis of the relationship between missionary experienceexper

and

Lencelenee

church orthodoxy revealed that a statistically significant relation-

ship does exist A moderate correlation of 40 C exists in the pre-

dicted direction it is concluded that those who have engaged in mis-

sionary service will generally display greater church orthodoxy than

those who do not serve missionsnismismls forsions the church

occupation and church orthodoxy

table 12 indicates that there is a statistically significant re-

lationship between occupational level and church orthodoxy A moderate

correlation tau c 20 exists between the two variables in the pre-

dicted direction the interpretation of these findings is that church

TABLE 13

THE reiatioushe38

29 29 268

aZ 402 tau c 20 P 001 statistically significant

indicateseates

TABLE

a

4 91

36 0

18 8

87 67 268

statisticallyicalla

lationship

120 120

999

234 250

254 log

506

102

104lobiob

rardfardrandlyts

380080

109log 43ao

41bi

orthodoorthodox

orthodorthid

eae1 AMANDard CHURCH ORTHODOXYMHODOXY

church orthodoxyincome

10000300003.0000 and above 43 0 5

7000909997000999970009.9997000

500069995000469995000 6999

9999

below

46999

5000

total N

a7

44

membersmer withabers high prestigious occupations will generally display greater

church orthodoxy than members with low prestigious occupations

income and church orthodoxy

the eighth hypothesis states that there is a direct positive rela-

tionship between income and church orthodoxy the relationship was tested

by comparing the familyfardlyts annual income to the church orthodoxy of the re-

spondent table 13 presents these findings

the relationship between the two variables is significant A low

positive correlation tau c 12 exists which suggests that those who

earn a greater annual income display somewhat greater church orthodoxy than

those who earn a smaller annual income

TABLE 14343

THEa

4

relationship BETWEEN incoiINCOKEiacoi

178 tau

summary of the

in conclusion table

ultra-orthodox

38.0380

22422.4

242.427427.4

85

c s .1212 P

background fa

orthodox

26126.1261

15.2152

25425.4

19.2192192

55

ss 05 statist

actorsctors and

35 shows

semiorthodox unorthodox unorthodox

10.9109

29.1291

22422.4

34234.2042

68

church

the relationships

434.3

8.98913413.4

15.1151

29

leally significant

orthodoxy

extremely

15.2152

8.98916416.4

414.1

28

that were found

total46

100.0100079

100.11001looi67

100.0100073

100.01000

265

crthod

orthodowthan

TABLE

0

5 000ooo

1 78 statistically

background factors

f

tionship

spondent

orthodo

224

24

12

254

291

224

89

152

89

274

43543543.5 26 1

2060 1216

SUMMARY H

S

41

TABLE

15

OF

THE

FINDINGS

BETWEEN

VARIOUS

background

FACTORS

AND

CHURCH

ORTHODOXY

incl

independentiependent

ie

impendentpendent

dependent

ypothesishypothesis

significance

table

page

variable

variable

number

tau

c

level

hypothesis

direction

number

number

age

church

orthodoxy

3

01.01

90.90

rejected

positive

9

40

sex

church

orthodoxy

4

26.26

05

accepted

positive

10

1

type

of

church

church

membership

orthodoxy

5

04

50.50

rejected

positive

11

ar4r

42

missionary

church

experience

orthodoxy

6

40

001.001

accepted

positive

12

42

occupation

church

orthodoxy

7

20.20

001.001

accepted

positive

13

43

income

church

orthodoxy

8

12.12

05

accepted

positive

14

44

01

90

26

50 001 001

relationshRelationorthodoorthodox

46

between the various background factors used in this study and church

orthodoxy it appears that sex missionary experience occupation and

income significantly affect church orthodoxy this is to say a person

will generally be more orthodox if he is a malemaieplaleniale has had missionary

experience has a high prestigious occupation and has a large yearly

income age and type of church membership are two variables which may

slightly affect church orthodoxy although no significant relationships

were observed when tested all hypotheses generated to test the rela-

tionship between selected background factors and church orthodoxy were

in the predicted direction

the influence of various backgroundbackqroundbackground factors upon the relationshipbetween religious experiencesperiencesex and church orthodoxy

the previous section presented the findings of various background

factors when they are related to church orthodoxy the findings revealed

that sex missionary experience occupation and inconeancone affect church ortho-

doxy

the same control variables are used to differentiate the kind and

extent of the interrelationship existing between religious experiences when

they are related to church orthodoxy this type of analysis will help the

reader to understand which variables influence church orthodoxy that is

whether it is religious experiences or the background variables which

influence church orthodoxy it is also important to understand the variance

in the relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy when

various control variables are imposed for example there may be a dif-

ferent kind of relationship existing between religious experiences and

church orthodoxy when various age groups are taken into account

itappears

typeof

relibiousgious

inconilerile

tionship

sh

ol01

betsbeti teen

becoibecci ies

47

the control variables used are age sex type of church membership

occupation and income table 15 summarizes the findings when each of the

background variables are used to control the relationship between religious

experiences and church orthodoxy

agerge

for those individuals in the sampled population between 213021 years30

of age there exists a very strong relationship between religious experiences

and church orthodoxy the relationship weakens markedly as the individual

becomes older gradually however the relationship increases especially

for those 51 years and olderolderoaldero

it may be concluded that religious experiences have the strongest

influence upon the church orthodoxy of those between the ages of 213021 years30

of age religious experiences have little influence upon the church ortho-

doxy of those between 315031 years50 of age for persons over 51 years of age

religious experiences have a moderate influence upon their church orthodoxy

sex

there appears to be a moderately high relationship between religious

experiences and church orthodoxy for femalesmlesmies and only a moderate relation-

ship for malesAtlesmaieskriesrr this finding indicatesthatindicates religiousthat experiences have a

stronger influence upon the church orthodoxy of women than for men As

previously indicated men tend to be more orthodox than womenwonie it is con-

cluded that even though men are more orthodox than women religious exper-

iences influence the church orthodoxy of women more so than forfod men

fe

n

for

les

ol01 church iiembershipnerabershi2

there appears to be a stronger relationship betweenbetxreen religious

experiences and church orthodoxyorth forfodoW lifeor members than converts this

finding suggests that religious experiences mynaymay have a greater influence

upon the church orthodoxy of a life member than upon the church orthodoxy

of a convert

missionary perienceecperienceexperience

the data suggest that there is a stronger relationship between

religious cperiencesexperiences and church orthodoxy for1 respondentsor who havehanve hadbad

missionarymasslomassio experiencenary than forlorjor those who have not had missionary exper-

ience it is concluded that religious experiences have a greater influence

upon the church orthodoxy of individuals with missionarymissionaryn experience than

individuals without such experience

occupation

menmemberbep

emaemqerienceserienerlenenlencesees

48

type of

A stronger relationship between religious experiences and church

orthodoxy exists for those of the unskilled semiskilledssemiernil skilled and

professional occupational groups than those who are considered white collar

workers managersdianarrianar anders proprietors this finding suggests that religious

experiences have the greatest influenceuponinflnenceuponinfluence theupon church orthodoxy of the

lowerlm andterten upper occupational roupsgroupscoupsc and a less influence upon the middle

occupational groups

incomeInco

A

irie

moderatelyraoderately high relationship betweenabbtbbt religiousw experienceseen and

a perienceenee

suggestthat

e

skilledorchodolhodo W

jor

perl

sunSUMsumnasunnaaa

seemseenE

bejetbelci reenroentoen ortodthodo y

lateaate befbeaoreode

orthodoorthodox jenceeenced

orthodoorthodox

49

church orthodocorthodoxy exists for those earning less than 5000 per year A

moderatederatemioniomlo relationship between the two variables exists for all other income

groups this finding suggests that the church orthodoxy of those earning

less thantl 5000mn per year is morenore strongly influenced by religious exper-

iences than any other income groups

summary of relationship whenuhen controlled by various control variables

in summarymnarysu the strongest relationship between religious experiencesperiencese

and church orthodoxy seemsseens to exist under anyarv or all of the followingol con-

ditions

lowing

the individual is between 213030 years of aeagea ae female life member

of the church has had missionary experiencee is of the lower or upper

occupational groups and earns less than 5000 per yearyearoyeanbearo

summarysuusuj of findings

the findings of this study indicate that an individual will encounter

a lesslesies intimate typetrpe of religious experience before a moreriorenorenonerione intimate type is

encountered

it was found that a persontpersonsparsont church orthodoxy is significantly influ-

enced if he encounters a religious experience of any kindokind also an indivi-

dual church orthodoxy is moderatelyodera affectedtely depending upon the variety of

religious experiences he encounters the frequency of religious experiences

seemed to have little influence upon the church orthodoxy of a persongpersonaperson

the social background factors of sex missionary experienceqperiencee occu-

pation and income positively affect church orthodoxyoorthodovorthodoxorthodox troTTOtaayo background

factors age and type of churchchurcij membershiperibership do not seemseen to significantly

influence church orthodoxy

the relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy

en

e ist f

via22 find

s intirinter iate

s

t s n

emerienceserlenerieneplences

d

n

i rr

21- 0

orthodordoczy

orthodowdoV

bences

elala

orthodox

I1memberlemberlenber

yesno

not skilledskilled

lwhitehiteldhite collarMOPprofessional

less 5000500069995000700099997000

6999

100009999

re

ch

numberhuaberheaber ofcases

7874443841

92181

45229

59196

6064392581

72678141646

legiousligiousreligious experiiresults correicorrel

urch Orthodoxy1

Z score

5415.415411.221221221.951951952432.4324132.41324132.20220220

2.832832835.69569569

1861.865.05505

1.60160igo4204.20

2402.402.542541.381381.28128

001ooi

oi01

01oioolooi

001ooi

iolo001ooi

01oi01oiiololoio001ooi

001ooi

oloi

09og

iglg

07oy

lgigeol001

av6v

50

TABLETABLS 16

A bumrysumry121ary OF THE relationship betheenBETWEEN RELIGIOUS experiencesRELATEDREIATED I1TO CHURCH ORTHODOXY lymenVHENIPMEN CONTROLIcomtrolisd BY AGE SEX

TYPE OF CHURCH 0MEPSHIP hissi01iary9ssionary experienceoccupation lctACTKLMantalmala INCOMEincoINCG

controlvariables

age

sex

type ofchurchmembership

missionaryexperience

occupation

incomeIn

i

corria

213021314031

30

41504140

51605150

6160

malemaiefemale

convertlifelifliceilce

SUD

CHUR H 1T

experience typology5correlated

church 56

significancelevel

.001001

.2020 US

.0505

.0101

.0505

.0101

.001001

.0505

.001001

.1010 NS

.001001

.0101

.0101

.1010 NS

.1010i0ia NS

.001001

.001001

.0505

.0101

.0505

tau c

.5252

.1212

.0909

.2929

.2929

.2323

.3535

.2222

.2828

.3535

.2525

.2626

.2626

.1919

.2222

.3535

.3737

.1919

.2323

.2323

the religious experience typology results are based upon thescale types see table 5

6scale scores werex used to assign each respondent to one of five

church orthodoxy categories refer to appendix C for furtherlurther elaboration

1 8.686 0.058

116mbersabership

M 0p 010

5

1 TA1e

186

254138128

183

2005

05

05

05

05

5212

2929

2335

2228

3525

2626

2235

2323

itts

86

ap

3.703700700201.831832.472471.80180

snee typologyabedated

5

with

3513.51

mainmaln

51

indicatinf7indicating that religious experiences is a nainmainmaln factor influencing church

orthodoxyortho jecoriesbecoriesbecormesbebecbeedoxydozy strongercoriesormes whenvenenlenen any or all of the following conditions

adoarcareapoape metruetnuet the individual is between 213021 years30 of age a female lifemeribelmeribermeviber of the church who is of the lower or upper occupational groups

and earns less than 5000 per year

is

net

perlenperiendeniences

CHAPTERCHOTERI IV

mterpretationdueftretationt OF FINDIIIGSFINDBJGSFINDB

theoretical

JGS

orientation

As discussed in chapter I1 religious experiences have been explainedtlainedtrainedprincipally fromfronafron a psychological point of view however in light of a

total explanation of religious experiences and morepiore importantlyportantlyi them rela-

tionship between religiousreligions experiencesperiencese and church orthodoxy it is import-

ant to consider sociological explanationsexola asnations well

the basic theoretical nodel of this study is that religious exper-

iences and church orthodoxy are somewhat ltuationalsituationalsais1i from denondenorpjdenom nationinationbination to1

denomination the social situation itself as a variable under which rel-

igious experiencespariencespatiencesex and church orthodoxyorthodoorthodoxortont arehodo operant will 1 diminishdininishninishdi

or

anishinish

enhance the occurrence and frequency of religious experience and 2

determinedauer themina relationship between religious experiences and church ortho-

doxy ififflff for example a religiouspeligrolig denominationiouslous emphasizes that itsmembers incur religious experiences and that such experiences are con-

tingent upon being considered orthodox then its members will probably

encounter experiencesperiencesperionperienperlonmanynany andceseesreligious a relationship will exist between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy on the other hand ifii a

religious delorrdenqrrdenorrbinationination does not encourage its members to encounter

religious experiences and does not emphasize a relationship between the

two variables then there will probably bebeebel reitfewfeitrelt religious experiences

ounteredencounteredcounteredene and a weahweak relationship will existelx

1

ist

this sameSBMCsanesansancsam vieview is taken by rodney stark social contexts and rel-igious experience 11 reviewroview of religious research vol 7 1965

dimdin

betlbeti teenencouenciuviterriter marnar r

iviousigious

azeakizeak

tingent

17

52

e

oint li zhtD T

ious experaper1 encesances0 L relig

cy

e

nd ortiriodoxyiaYIDyta

T t en conte rltsP

tionship

i

experiences

e

taen

aht

alts

relinellneil iousloub e r0 ype

lallai

oteenotheniiseilselise

perienperlencesees

denondenorcinatlinat ionslons

abnoriatnori ial

53

upon review of the religious practices of various protestant

and catholic denominations in the united states it is apparent that the

emphasis placed on denominationaldenorndenord membersmeimernational toloersibers encounter religious exper-

iences and adhere to established beliefsbelief and practices varies widely

some fundamentalistcfundamentalisticfundamentalistsfunda religiousmentalistic bodies view religious experienceskperiences as an2

integral aspect of their religious rites and ceremonies these rel-

igious denominations usually take a strict interpretation of their rel-

igious scripture and doctrine that is religious periencesexperiences are to be

encountered biblical verses are to be literally interpretated eccle-

siastical commandmentsmndrientscoimcolw area tore be rigidly followed and religious encount-

ers are a sign of being orthodox as well as enhancing the membersmemnem

church

berts

orthodoxyorthodox on the other hand more liberal denomimtions especially

in the urban setting view religious experiences as abnorminormiab among liberal

religiousreilarelia groupsiouslous religious cperiencesexperiences are frownedframed upon seldom discussed

except as occurrences in biblical timestinestimtin andes otherwise dismissed as a

phenomenon not to occur in this era of time these religious denominations

usually take a liberal interpretation of their religious scripture and

doctrine this is to say beliefs and practices of liberal denominations

are usually individually interprotatedinterpretated ecclesiastical conmiandraentscopvqiandments are

usually not strictly adhered to and little relationship is emphasized

between religious experiences and church orthodoxyortho hencedorcy the social

situation found within various denominational bodies plays an important

role in determining the occurrence and frequency of religious experiences

and the relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxyoorthodoxjorthodoxyorthodox

2

yo

ibid p 18

s

e

ex

tobe

e

siastical

ir

bodiles

menmernenibershipmembershipiber isship taught and instructed in the

importance of religious experiences as the medium of communication between4

man and god advocated in the teachings of the church is the concept

that all truth comescones fromfron god it is taught and believed that truth5

through revelation is given to individual members of the church as

well as to the leaders of the church

in addition it is taughttau advocatedglatglit and perpetuated by the

L D S church that a concomitant relationship exists between religious

experiences and church orthodoxyorth the

experiences

odoy church

occur

says

prior

that

to

at

a

times

person

religious

becoming6

orthodox on the other

hand it is taught that religious experiences help maintain and increase7

a personsper churchsonts orthodoxyuhodoxyoy it is also taught that a personsperpen churchsonts8

orthodoxyorth willodoy precipitate a religious experience

3the doctrine and covenants salt lake city utah the churchmurch

of jesus christ of latter daydairdaitdatt saints 1952 sections 3 11 20 42 7175 94 102 128 the doctrine and covenants is one of four officialscriptures of thetine L D S churchchuCht

4trch

jamesjanes E talmagetaimageTaLtai articlesmagenage of faith salt lake city utah thechurch of jesus christ of latter day saints 1960 p

5ibid p 296299296

the

299

hotyholy bible king janes vensionversionversi the neunew testamenttes thementnentconversion of saul of tarsus the book of mormon mosiahosiahdosiahI chapter 27both books are official scriptureinscripture in thethol L D S church church leadersconcur with this statenentstatementsta astenent well

7this view is espoused by church leaders as well as the writer who

is an active participant of the L D S church8joseph F smith jr doctrines of salvation vol 2 salt lakeiakeaake

city utah bookcraft 1955 P 304

ol01

oftheodthe

felirrelir ious

convecoave saonsion

stateistated iientfientllant

54

applicability off theunoune theoreticalTheoretheone kodelmodelicalgeal to thesampled ilornon population

theme mormon church views religious experiences as normalnorial and an3

integral aspect for the development of the religious man throughout

all mormon congregations the

sati led po lationP

vlevis emeriences

tau c ht

0 iven

cz

1

ja ies

6IC ja es ta1 i ng on

thel

joseph

emeriencesees

o L

wing

lous

les

ale

relirellreil lousiousloos eorcorgimonilmon ar iong

55

As a result of the emphasisphasisennern placed upon the occurrence and freqfrea

ency of religious experiences within the mormon church it was noted that186 or 67 5 percent of those sampled have encountered one religious exper-

ience type at least once

As previously stated the L D S church emphasizes a concomitant

relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy it was

observed that the occurrence of one religious experience type significantly

influences the church orthodoxy of the church member in a positive direction

it wasrasvas also observed that the more types of religious experiences encount-

ered by the church member the more orthodox he would be

the occurrence of religious experiences within the context of the

mormonPl churchormononmon is emphasized more than the frequency or number of such9

experiences this may be a partial explanation why the frequency of

religious experiences does not significantly affect church orthodoxy

an explanation of why a moderate correlation does exist between the freqfrea

ency of religious experiences and church orthodoxy for those church members

who encountered twotiyotvo types of religious experiencesperiences cannot be made the

finding does not follow a logical sequential pattern sincesincasinea the religious

experience scale types were utilized certainly this is an area for

further exploration

since religious experiences are fairly common among the L D S

members sampled in this study see appendix C tables 1 and 2 and the

occurrence of one or more types of religious experiences moderately

influences church orthodoxy it seems plausible that the social context

9the same five church officials who attested to the validity of

the religious experience scale and the church orthodoxy scale stated thatthe occurrence of religious experiences is emphasized more than the freqfreaency of such experiences within the L D S church

freq

wi thin

x

woutdbe

9 0

emsriences

ek

675

long

67567.5

sarmsawnsaynpledpied

I1

perlenperiencescos

circlr

orthodoorthodox

agroundiground

56

in which religiousrelig experiencesflous are operative inln relationship to church

orthodoxy is a key factor in understanding why such experiences occur

and why they influence church orthodoxy

it seemsseens plausible that the prevalence of religious experiences

among L D S church members cannot be reasonably attributed to indiirdiir10

di

vidual psychic conflicts as suggestedsug byested several early psychologists

since 186 675percent675 ofpercent those sampledsarmpled have encountered one religiousreilorelio

experience

iouslous

type at least once if the data is viewed from the standpoint

that people comply to established noniasnorms which are einphasizedqhasized by a religious

denomination and behave in a manner which is perceived as expected then

the presented theoretical model is of value and mayrayrny contribute to our

understanding of why religious experiences occur and are positively related

to church orthodoxyorthodoryortontorthodoorthodox

conditions

hodoryv

which fluenceinfluenceEn the theoretical model

even though it has been observed that religious loeriencesexperiences is

positively related to church orthodoxy selected background variables sign-

ificantly influence the relationship e the followingfollo discussionvring relates

to the findingslindlin betweenbetTingsdin religiousvreen experiences and church orthodoxy when

controlled by age sex type of church membership missionary experience

occupation and income

age

Imost studies indicate that religiosity varies with age vernon

10notable psychologists were janes leuba edwin starbuckstaxou and

william jamesjanesjaniesjamies

i

see as

e

0

C C

mr1 ch T

ox

ex-periences

orthodo V tiry

bael

stamou

beansbearsyears

indolinvol reorientrerrient

57

found that amonganong mormonscormons the youth display the greatest amount of rel-

igiosity the findings of this research indicate that no relationship

exists between age and church orthodoxy therefore no support can be

given to previous research in this area however when the relationship

between religious experiencexperiences and church orthodoxy is controlled by

age groups the strongest relationshirelationshiprelationship between the two variables exists

for those between 213021 years30 of ageare thisth indicatesisindicates the religious

experiences have the strongest influence upon the church orthodoxy of

this age group

A tentative explanation for religious experiences having the

greatest influence upon the church orthodoxy of the 213021 year30 age group

mynaymay be due to the churchy1 emphasisi on youth programs missionary work

for this age group participation in various auxiliary church programs

and a greater need to belong to a social organization As a result

there maynay be higher expectations for the youth and young adults to con

form to the established normsnornnormnonn of the church which includes encounteringencounterin

religious experiences and being orthodox in their church commitmentsconmitmentsconirlitments

the trend of the relationshiprelationshid seemsseensbeemsbeers to indicate that there is a

strong relationship between the two variables for those 213021 years30 of

age significantly decreasing after 30 years of ageafeare and again increasing

after 50 years of age this finding indicates that those between 315031

years

50

of age are influenced least by religious experiences in thier rel-

igious commitmentscorcoieor whichm mayruyidtmeidame bentsants dueduteduie to greater occupational civic and

other social activity involvement than those under 30 or over 50 years of

azoagoageazeC

anong

es

P

C

CD

s

C

ae

rerrient

ex-periences

relationshi

30years ol01o L

periencesees

encounter in

relationshiuhiD

a e

morenore strictly to the pre-

vailing church norlis with respect to church orthodoxyox

when

nodoyu

the relationship between religious experiences and church

ortodthodo y

ieonleon

belvibetvigeenreen religareligious

orthodoorthodox

58

sex

previous research indicates that females are generally more

religiously inclined than males argyle points out that anong catholic

and protestant church membersembers there is a tendency for women to experience

moreraorenore guilt feelings than men hence religious involvement is a legitimate11

C

means for releasing the galltgulit feelings among L D S church membersmemmen

however

bersbens

vernon found that malesnalesmaies are more religiously involved than femalesfenfer

the

oleswies

findings of this study support vernonvernonts researchts in this area this

finding may be attributed to the social structure ofoj theI1 mormonL church which12

may serve to counteract the social factors favoring female religiosity

this conclusion is based upon the premisepromise that greater opportunity for

expression of lay leadership is open to malesyalesmaies rather than females there-

fore men will become more involved and conform morenore

orthodoxy is controlled by the sex variable there is a stronger relation-

ship for women than menriennenpienplen indicatingindicateindicatiindi thatnccati religiousrelirious experiences influence

the church orthodoxy of women morer thanore for men A possible explanation

for this indingfindinganding nay be as argylearulearbieanble suggests moraenworaenwortien incur more guilt feelings

than mennen which allows them to have more religious experiences to sustain

their church orthodoxy

tyeetype of church nembershipnemborhilmembership

both vernosVernonvennon study of cormonsmormonsmiornions and fichterfichtertsfichten study of protestants

michael argyle religiousrelipious behavior london routledge & keganpaul ltd 1958

12vernon sociology of religionreligjonreljeonReliRelrellreilrei opgjon cit p 2262269

m

11lormon

may

norestrictly

nor is

i Q

for

fnen

of

ar&7le Reliplouspiousrious 8

orthodowdoV strona er

reli rious

o

ts Fichterts

jEon

worfi1 erierl

piehPichplchterschiefsconclusion

even though some evidence is given that the convert respondents

are somewhat more orthodox than life members the data indicate that there

is a stronger relationship betweenbet religiousiTeen experiences and church ortho-

doxy for life members than converts to the church the conclusions to

be drawn from this finding may be 11 membersnenmenimennensnemsnem bombornbers into the L D S

church may be more established in church teachings and expectationspectations so

that they conformconeon moreraorenoreforin strictly to the norms of the church ie encount-

er religious experiences and know what is expected in relation to adherabher

ance to church beliefs and practices more so than converts and 2 converts

who initially made a commitment to the L D S church to live its teachings

may complycortlycoraly morenore strictly to being orthodoxorth ratherodok than encounter religious

periencesexperiencesoexperiencperien

missionary

cesees

experience229rience

those whoveno have had missionarymissiona3v experience are significantly moreinorelnore

orthodox than those whoienoleno did not have missionary experienceexper itLence may be

concluded that those who have served missions for the church weretenevenewene orthodox

before engaging in missionary activity and thus missionary experience

mernerbribersribers

chchuL rch

pichtersrichters

achreh

59

and catholics revealed that converts are oremoremodenode religiously involved than

members born into the c1liurchchurch the findings of this research seem to

lend some support to the above conclusion however only 45 tig164014lgb16416.4 percent

of the respondents sampledrapledrailed reported themselvestheirselvestheintheirthern asselves converts while the re-

maining 229 836 percent respondents reported that they were born into

the church if there were a larger proportion of converts represented in

the samplesampiesartie the findings may have strongly supported vernon and pi

n

sa

y e

bein

ex

t 1.1

eso

rw ining

i

coruritmentnent

tens

I1 s

seiselqi

forthoseforthome whomno did not serve sesionsmissionsssions for theune church this finding

alongalonsalone with the findings of the relationshiprelationshi between missionary experience

and church orthodoxy suggest that both missionary experience and religious

experiences are determinants of church orthodoxy rather than either var-

iable this finding is logical since the L D S church encourages only

those who are orthodox to serve missionsnis andsions that missionaries while1thileathile

serving a mission are expected to encounter religious experiences there-

fore it may be speculated that those who have engaged in missionary serv-

ice already conforiconform to the norms established by the mormon church and thus

missionary experience is an important factor which helps to perpetuate con-

formity to church normsnor-as

occupation

previous findings as well as the findings of this study indicate

that those of low occupational levels are least orthodox however itwas also found that the strongestsaronostrono relationshipest betweenbetT religiousTeen exper-

iences and church orthodoxy exists for those respondents who are unskilled

semiskilledsemisedil orskilled professionals admittedly there is a large discrepencydiscrepancy

in occupational prestige between unskilled semiskilledsemi andskilled proifessionalprofessional

occupations with respect to the religious perienceexperience church orthodoxyorthodox rela-

tionship this discrepencydiscrepancy may be explained by the lower occupational

status groups conforming differently to church normsnorris than the upper occ-

upational status groups tillsthis is to say lower occupational status groups

unskyunsk1wiled

60

helped perpetuate an ndividualindividualsindividual church orthodoxy

the findings suggest that there is a stronger relationship betheenbetweenbet

religious

iteenireen

experiences and church orthodoxyortho fordolcy those who servedserve missionsd

than forfon those

U

ra

p

fandingindingC

q

e per

e

conforiuI1 ng

tionship

pational

i

relationshi

fornLity

skilledbilled

ij

conforiu

pen

rity

reen

retrelnet

relirellreil ghC

incomeincoaincha levels this suggests that lower income level individuals may be

noremoremonenone emotionally involved with religion than higher income level persons

I1

tepelepe

adiQDI

lenoigno ae1e Css

aieiie thatllthatlmjepjertep

61

nay be moreorenoreode emotionallye involved withtith religion than than higher occu-

pational status groups who mynlaymlay be more formallymmlly involved with religion

the data support this conclusion when it was observed that 20 40.8408 per-

cent of the respondents who reported they had encountered four types of

religious experiences and were either ultraorthodoxorthodox or orthodox in their

religious commitnentcommittentcommit werenent of the professional class only 4 81 percent

of the respondents who reported they had encountered fourfoun types of rel-igious experiencesqperiences were classified as ultraorthodoxultra ororthodox orthodox and were

of the unskilled semiskilledsemiserziseniserdi orskilled skilled occupational groups conversely

those respondents who reported thattinat they had encountered fourfaarfoar types of

religious experiences 8 respondents or 32 percent verewereterevene classified as being

sanisemiseraisaralsanai orthodox unorthodox or extrenelyerlrenelyextremely unorthodoxu and were of the lower

occupational status groupsgro onlylips 2 8 percent respondents who reported

that they had encountered four tynestypes of religious experiences were either

semisemsea orthodox unorthodox or extremely unorthodoxorthodoxup and of the upperupped occ-

upational status groups

incomeIn

previous

corlie

research as well as the findings of this study indicate

that those earning smallmallsnallsnailnailnali incomes are least orthodox howeverHm therevenreverteven strong-

est relationship betweenbetlbeti religiousrelicreiloumen experiencesiouslous andexperienc churechurchs orthodoxya exists

for those ienowhoenoi earn less than 5000 per year this finding mymay indicate

that those earningearnieanni lessnr than 5000 per year are more stronglystron influenceday1y

by biousgiousreligious perioncesexperiencesex upon their church orthodoxy than people of higher

n i

fo

ultra orthodoxadox

fouroun

e

U a1 s IL

UIS1 onoccupyoccupa ionlon ly

relig ims

s

i ationshi e rd L 0p I orth doxy1

ortho 0 hi er

inco me

co-imltiaent

pational

pational

niaotionallyaily

408

rith

who mally

ol01siblisibilities the congregation provides a local symbol of the trad-itional doctrine that he accepts and applies furtherfarther most ofhis close friends are also affiliated with the parish thisaffords a religious fellowship that is nore meaningfulmeaning thanfaiPalful hiscontacts on the job and independent of the churchchurchy formalfornalfornaistructurestr peaksacture and depressions in his everyday affairs oftenlead to private prayer ilehellelie and his wife are mindful of an after-life and have fostered in their children a similar regard ingeneral religion transcends and uplifts his life though it isthe source of no prestioprestige and is morenore a feeling than an activitynownaunaw who is to say which of these is the morenoremonenone religious both areinvolved in different kinds of religion neither is hypocriticalbaohaohwo

13

critical

HN J demerathdemden III111tiierathenath social class religious affiliation andstyles of religious Involvementinvolvement1involvements in R bendix and S M lipset edsclass status and poiterpowerpotterpoiPOT newter york mehienie free press 1966 p 389

chtehl rch in-frequently

190igo6

lanian

bonvinconvintnent

eae6

feelinbeelin

62

both social class indicators occupation and income suggest that

those of lower occupational stausstatus and who earn a low annual income may

be more emotionally involved in their religious commitment than those of

high occupational status and who earn a high annual income this con-

clusion inaymay suggest thatthau social classes conformconf differentlyorrlorriorni to established

church nornsnorrborns according to the way each perceives the expectations of the13

L D S church nerathdemerathmerathDe supports this conclusion by stating

to emphasize these distinctions in kind consider two hypothe-tical individuals with constrasting religious styles the firsthas inherited his church membership as a familyfanniy legacy althoughthe congregation is across toitotolmtol rwanmrwrn fromfrornfronbrorn his present homehoplehonehopie and noneof his closest friends are members he remains loyal to thechurch and reserves sundays for dispensing his obligations toit his attendanceatten recordcianceclAnce is virtually unblemished As a bankerhe is chairachairmanchairn of the parishparishes financial committee bateatbutt whilea sincere participantpartiepartle iniparyt the congregations weekly prayers ofthanks he is not given to spontaneous devotion A modernistreligious doctrine is neither very urgent nor very clear to hlmahimhirahinhime

theC

church provides a point of stability and reinforces hisviews on business ethics yet his religious experienceeteraeTerietena isiseneeence rarelyemotionalei for all of this he is esteemed within the churchand within unethe connunitycoimranityconn asunity an eminently religious mnlilan withunassialable integrity and a sense of christian servicesy contrast thevieuieule second person is not a fornaiforiforn al church member atall however he does have a denominational preference and feelsnominally affiliated with the denominationsdenomination neighborhood parishmrisharish c

while he attends church infrequently and participates in respo-nsibilities

0

is

icalindividnals

nrenibershe

withthe

C 9

class1

ts

ts

ts

thou ie

ach

fonnfornronn

niarj

murmunch Is15 ex al

betibetl teen

pabpat ionallonallonai status group and earn a large income however religious exper-

iences have theirthein strongeststron influencerest upon church orthodoxyorth underodoW any or

all of the following conditions the individual is between 213021 years30

of asesageaset a female life menbermemberdenber of the church whovano hasims engagedenarenjr in missionary

workvovkkv is of the unskilled semiskilledaemisemi orskilled professional occupational

group

worvor

and earns an annualamal income of less than 000 explanations of

the social correlates whichwaichwalch influence the theoretical modelnodel weree madee

summary

de

the

sunsum

basic theoretical model of this study is that religious exper-

iences and churchclif orthodoxytrchtroh are somewhatsomesone situationalwhat fronfromfroni denomination to

denominationnominationdo the social situation itself as a variable under which rel-igious experiences and church orthodoxy are operant will 1 1 diminish

63

the first is15 a5 mainstay of the church as an institution withouthimmin the parish would founder and in return the church offershim support for his position in societysocie thistv is not only amatter of social standing butbelbulbuu it is also justification for hisvalues and wayvraywaxeay ofol01 life

in conclusion higher status groups are norenone apt to participatetoparticipate formally

toin church activities while the lower status group tends to be more emo-

tionally involved in religionpelireli henceyencehencegiagim loverlo10 class persons may conformconcor

more

dortaSorTacorta

strictly to the L D 5 churchschurchy expectations of emotionalemotenot involve-

ment

lonalionallonai

whileuhlie the ioiddieiddleidele and upper classes i-may conform more strictly to the

Churchchurch15 expectationspeatations of formal involvement

suroiaryanroSuro ofiarylary conditionsconditignscon4itionsCondit whichmachwachigns influence theoreticalmodel

it was observed that those who are mostnost orthodox in their church

comitnentcorvniitrrientcomit arenent males with ssionarymissionary experience who are of a high occ-

upational

yer

theoretical model

md

pa

any 0r

aged

5000 emplarzaEmp ttionslanzalarza

ur r nnarna

d

ooo

yed

lay

reen

amai

II11mormon6 churchion does regard religious experiences as normalnornal

and a phenomena to be encountered by the membership the L D S church

teaches that a concomitantconco relationshipbitantnitant exists between religious exper-

iences and church orthodoxy and that one will perpetuate the other

beterideteri iline

orthodoorthodox

64

or enhance the occurrence and frequency of religiousreli experiencesious and 2

deterriine the relationship between religious experiences and church ortho-

doxy

A review of the religious practices of various protestant and

catholic denominations in the united states seems to lend support to the

above theoretical model somesoine fundamentalsticfundarrentalisicfundamental religioussticstiestec denominations

take a strict uerpretationinterpretation of their religious scripture and doctrine

and adhereariere rigidlyriCpic toridly it mopekorerope liberal religious denominationsdenomdenon usuallyinactionsinations

take a less strict interpretation of their religious scripture and do-ctrine and allow its membership individual interpretation of church prin-

ciples

the

the findings of this study support the theoretical model one

hundred eighty six 6756567.5 percent reported that they had encountered one

religious experienceeteraeTeri typeenceenee at least once the occurrence of one or moreraore

types of religious experiences moderately influences church orthodoxy

therefore it seems plausible that the social context in which religious

experiences and church orthodoxy are operative is a key factor in under-

standing why such experiences occur and whyveny they influence church ortho-

doxy

it was observed that the background variables of sex missionary

experience occupation and income significantlynificantlySI affectV church orthodoxy

as

nific

well

antly

as religious experiences however with respect to background

irr

hestead

y

or

orthodo

adlere

675

lous

lon

cesees have the strongest influence upon church

orthodoxy under any or all of the following conditions the individual

is between 213021 years30 of age a female life member of the church who has

engaged in missionary work is of the unskilled seni skilled or professional

occupational group and earns an annual income of less than 5000 explan-

ations of the social correlates which influence the theoretical model were

made within the text orthisofthis chapter

workisworkjs

65

variables religious emerienexperiences

folloangtangt

Ls

vang

iarylarycarv

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND discussion

summarysumiresumir1 of1arv the problemprobienProb

this

ienilerl

study was an attempt to examine certain aspects of the rel-igious experience phenomena as they pertain to adult membersmennenmem ofbers the mormon

church residing in provo utah

the purpose of this research was to 1 construct a religious

experience typology whichwhicli wouldrould be used to discover whether or not a se-

quential order of religious experiences fron the least to the most inti-mate exists 2 investigate the relationship betweenbotbet religiousiTeen exper-

iences and church orthodoxy and 3 investigate the influence that various

background factors have upon the relationship between religious experiences

and church orthodoxy

sincesincesircesireesinsir littlece sociological research and theory construction has

been done in this area it was thought that this studystuar maymy be of importance

by adding to the knowledgek ofnm thetiedge sociology of religion and developing

some theoretical guidelines which may explain religious experiences as

they relate to church orthodoxy nithwithhithelun this in mindnind the assumption was

made that religious experiences as well as the relationshiprelation betweenpshii

religious experienceseteraeter3 andancesences church orthodoyortho4ovorthodoxyorth mayodoy be situational from

denomination to denomination formal hypotheses then were constructed

based upon the assumption made

the fondal hypotheses considered in this study wereverewenevene

66

SU112hnry

wa s

i

quential

denoriiination

freofreafeeo I1

viepieale

I1 atteatle

oruorlexlexi uhperlenperieneesces

hishigI 1 er

befbeaoreone

riodociodo y mymuymuj varyvayvax they hypotheses are

3 As a person becomes older he will display greater church orthodoxy

4 maleshalesmaieseales will display greater churchmarchsmarchmurch& orthodoxy than ferralesfernalesfermalesferfei

5

malesnalesmaieslales

converts to the churcnchurchchuran will display greater church orthodoxy thanthose who have been membersneribersibersneknermek of the church all of theirthein lives

6 those persons who have had itiissionarynissiomrymessinissi experienceomryompy will display greaterchurch orthodoxy than those persons who have not had roissionarynissiorarymissinissi exper-ience

orAry

bacorbecor

6

1 religious experiences develop in a sequence from the least to themost intimateintinateintjimte type that is an individual encounters a confirmingexperience before a responsive experience a responsive experienceis encountered before an ecstatic perienceexperienceem an ecstatic experienceis encountered before a revelational experience

2 there is a direct positive relationship between religious experiencesand church orthodoxyorth

a

odoy

an individual ihowho encounters a religious experience willweil displaygreater church orthodoxy than a person who does not encounter areligious experience

b the greater the variety of religiousliCiousre experiences encountered thegreater the degree of church orthodoxy displayed

c the greater the frequency of religious experiences encounteredthe greater the degree of church orthodoxyorthodoyorthorvoru displayedriodociodo

six additionaladd hypothesesLional were constructed to test the relation-

ship betweenbet backgroundtreenireen variables and churchcharchchanch orthodoxy in order to clarify

sone of the social conditions under which the relationship between religious

experiencesperiences and church orthodoxy

the higher a personsper occupationsonts level the greater the church ortho-doxy the person willveil display

8 the higher a personsper annualsonts ingorieincozsieincorie is the greater the church ortho-doxy the person will splaydisplaydA

data for testing the hypotheses were gathered on a questionnairequentioquestioadministered

laire

to 276 adult provo residents who held riieribershipraembership in the L D S

churchChur

sarnplesansar

cn

representativeness was riaintained by utilizing a systematic

67

confirming

0 cy

ce uency 0y

si

hypo esesases

es

7 orttiolio110

vle rmixybainedtained

odoy

ees

bency

ciuseluster sarmpli n technbechn I que

steristerl

antiintisfirrinfirrino ex

68

clustereluster sampling technique see chapter II11

A selfseif administered questionnaire was developed which included

two scales a religious experience scale and a church orthodoxy scale

developed by the writer the titotwo scales produced coefficients of re-

producibility of 95 andada 88d respectively in addition six background

information questions were included in the questionnaire

the data merewere analyzed by using the tau C statistic to find the

strength of association of the relationships between all ordinal data

when the tau C statistic was inappropriate chi square and a corrected

coefficientcoefficiexy of contingency were used

religious experiencebeeriEMeribeera zeolotypologyeneeence

it has been shoenshown that religious experiences anongamong an L D S

church population can be analytically differentiated into four types with

each type enphaelpha sizing a different level of intimacy between an individual

and a supernatural being it has also been suggestedbucsucbuo thatgested this typology

has the utility of ordering a variety of religious experiences from the

least to most intimateintiiate types that is a church memberemberenbern will usually

encounter a confirm ling experience before a responsive experienceeTeri aenceenee

responsive experienceeTer beforeLencebencebenee an ecstatic experienceeterience and an ecstatic

experience before a revelational experience ther3foretherefore a person who

encounters a religious experience will have also encountered a less

intimate type of religious experience as well it was concluded that

a person has a less intimate religious experience before an intimateinttype

binateinate

of religious experience is encounteredoencounterbeing able to order religious experiencese from the least to mostnost

informatlon

u

relielousebous aariong

four

oi

supernaturalrnaturalturaitunal

n

co nemencetemenceC

lededo

erthasizing

eTerieneeence

enencountecounte

long

riate

relireilrell

enierierlemphasizephasizepha orsize encourage itsmembershipmembershi to encounter religious experiences and does not eimhasizeemphasize a

relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy then the

relidelldeil iouslousappp 0

alloailo ted

ritrilore

ficanoficant

69

intimateintaintb typesnate 1 allowed the writer to moreriore nipletelycompletelyco examine the

effect of each religious experience type upon church orthodoxy and 2

assign each respondent a scale score so that the relationship betweenbetibett

religious

teen

experienceexperiences and church orthodoxy could be morenore accurately

examinedexanexam

the

ined

religious experience typology as a research tool has the

potential of furtherinfurthering research and theorytheoatheox developmenty in the area of

religious experience

religiousreilaRelia Eexperienceous n relatederlenceermenceer toLence church orthodoxyortho

it was observed that church orthodoxy is significantly influenced

depending on whether or not a person encountered a religious experience of

any kind also the more types of religious experiencesex encounteredperlences the

greater a persons churchan&n lhodoxyorthodoxyorilurch will be the frequency of religious

experiences when related to church orthodoxy does not seemseeriseen to have a

significant effect upon church orthodoxyorthodoorthodox

theme

Vdata seem to support the theoretical odelmodelnodeln that religious

experiences as well as the relationship between religious experiences

and churchchurchuu orthodoxyeirlcIri are situational fromfrofron denomination to denominationdenoma

if

nation

for example a religious denomination advocates that its membership

willip incur11 religious experiencesex andper2ences emphasizes a relationship between

religious experiences and church& orthodoxyurch then its menbersneribersibersfenbersmernermek illwillliieilrr usually

encounter many such experiencesceriences and a relationship will exist between the

etotwouto variables if a denomination does not

religlious

assi P n

s

etermenceerienceerlerienienceenee

6 erienceermence

sigm

su ort

l1

ious

rd

ex-periences

nipletely

perieneesces

o

qed

one

lous

neilorelio iouslous

concoiconchiimitantiiitant

70

members of the denomination will seldom encounter relirriousreligious experiences

and the relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy

will be weak

the adult members of the L D S church sampled in this study

lend support to the theoretical model that religious experiencesperiences and the

relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy are sit-uational depending upon the religious organization studied

the mormonMlo churchrinon regard religious experiences as normal and an

integral aspect of mormonIr theologyorrion the L D S church membership is

continually taught of the importanceportancelr of religious experiences and the

necessity of each memberniemie tomberaber encounter such experiences in addition

the mormonnormon141 churchormononmon teaches that there is a concomitant relationship between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy specifically the church

says that at tines religious experiences occur prior to a person becoming

orthodox and at other times religious experiences occur due to a person

being orthodox in his religious commitnentscomaunentscommitments

one hundred eighty six 6756567 percent5 of the L D S church

members sampledsanpled indicated that they had encountered one type of religious

experienceexper atLencelenee least once the data also conclude that there is a mo-

derate relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy

therefore the theoretical modelnodel seemsseens to be supported

social conditions affectingAffect theinc theoretical model

the social correlates of sex missionary experience occupation

and income seemseen to nificantlysignificantlysissir affect church orthodoxy this is to

say men whoutho are returned missionaries for the L D S church who

are of the upper occupational groups and earn more than 10000 per

bet teen

01

uational

perienceseesperlen

ninriangn

lidliriidlimitationslitations of this study must be mentioned to assist the

reader in his interpretation of the findings

A serious limitation to this studystuttstuatstunt is its lack of reliability of

the religious experience scale and the church orthodoxy scale although

there are indications that both scale are reliable it is still a ajornajormajor

drawback to the inferences that can be madenade fronfromyron the findingsfindinvs

another limitation observed by the writer was the possible lack of

representativeness of the sampled population this was due mainly to 4

23 percent respondents of the total sample who did not complete or

return the questionnairequestioiuia A twofoldtwotvo problemprobienoldfoldoidroldroid isroblerobie manifestmaninani asfest a result

1 A reduced samplesampie size provides greater error when generalizing to

the entire population and 2 the sample draimdrawn mayruaymcay be biased

A third limitation was generated whenwhonvihon each housing unit was

selected as a basis for the samplesampiesampiesamplesamsan ratherpie than one adult dornonhornon1 residentornon

residing in the housing unit As a consequence two femalefemmiefen respondentsmiealewie

were included in the samplesampie for every male respondent no140lioiio control was

made forfon randomlyrandomrandon electingselectingsly one adult member of the household

A fourth limitation to the study is the level of generality to

laerinerlaen

kreirelne

aviaroiarora

ol01

rinril

nisais

orthodoorthodox 5y

sararosarrro1e

71

year are the most orthodox however religious experiences most strongly

influences church orthodoxy under any or all of the followingfollonfolloi conditionsningring

the individual is between 213021 years30 of age a female life member of the

L D S church has engaged in missionaryssionary service for the churchchurchy is of

the lower or upper occupational groups and earns less than 5000 per

year

itationsijlmitationsstationsli ofr the study

several

stuL

Mis 84

p

lutation

tvia s

for foer

ti-ro

orthodo

f

tirle

ay

libations

ae

Dicdiedlehotemeingzing

72

which inferences can be applied the findings of this study can only be

generalized to the adult mormon population residing in provo utah due

to the fact that provo utah is predominantly L D S in religious pre-

ference there maynlay exist a bias of the characteristics of the mormonIl sub-

culture

lormon

therefore generalizing beyond adult mornion residents of provo

utah maynay involve many inferences which are not warranted or justified

the barrier of question clarity is always a limitation of anonymousanonmious

selfseif administered questionnaires the researcher can never be sure that

the respondents interpretated all of the questionnaire items in the same

way

A self report technique such as the one utilized in this study

maynay bias the data inasmuchinasainasr asmehmch the respondents may desire to look good

on the questionnaire

dichoteraiaing the responses of the two scales for statisticalanalysis may have diminished the validity for interpretationinterpretatj purposes

with a larger sample contingencycontina tableeneyency cells would not have had to been

collapsed providing greater accuracy to the study

finally this study does not imply causation but concomitance

this study was concerned withvith showing correlation and significance of

the relationships in questionquestionoquestionsquest sincelonoiono scalogramscal analysisogram wasiras used only

correlation and significance can be demonstrated it is assumed that

other variables may be present to linit the possiblitypossibility of showing the

existanceistanceexistenceex of a cause and effect relationship

suggestionssu forgestions further research

religious experiences as related to church orthodoxy is a rel

0

dichotem

lon

C C

nfay

eliplieji and validity of the religious experience

gndgfidand church orthodoxy sealesscalespeales the eight itemslems comprising of the church

orthodoxy scale have notaqpq been used in this binationcombinationcorri or tested together

neitherneitherNel hasther the religious experience scale ever been applied to the mormon

subculture thuspup a standardized instrument to measure church orthodoxy

nd religious experienceaqpq forp any adnationndnationnationnddenomination let alone for the mormon

churchgl4rqh has nobnotpatooo beenheen developed iftf the same population were resampledsampledre or

a different copmmnity were sampledsarri apledpied comparative analysis could be made

p cheekcheckaheclthecl the reliability and judityvalidityjidityvav4 of the scales

secondasecondfreconSecon betterpetteroetterpetteddf methods maypay be devised to collect data relevant

o0 religious experiences and church orthodoxy since 84 23 percent of

faose sampledsamp didredjed not concomcompleteplete or refused to return the questionnairequestionnaihere is evidencer5dpppp hatthathet thet selepselfp eportreportdeportaport technique may not be the best

approachlayarlaypr to95pch data collectiongolpol inlection this areareaade of study perhaps interview

schedules as opposed to questionnairesqiptioni wouldminesmires be a better method of obtain-

ing reliable da

tharthirdthjrthardthadd

tayfaytap

the scalesscatesseates devisedd forfod this study need to be refined and

detestedretestedyretespetes therethedetedy can be improvement madenademads on both scales such as wording

arityglantyurity of itemsite depthhisuis andend magnitude of solicited responses and greater

prehensivenessenprehensivenesspqyrprehensvpjpppen of each itenitem tot morenore

church

fully

orthodoxyprthodo

explore

fourth

the

thehe

range

theoretical

of

model

rel-igious

utilized

perienqesexperiences

in

and

this study only suggests

difdlfferent eortcortcorl nty

rp13ngit g

etyaty

ahtght

arqr odoxadox

ermenceerience

aqtq

suggessuggeptio

73

lively unexplored areaar ofea the sociologysopio60050 oflowloU religion therefore the

followingfdllowinp suggestions are made which maynay contribute to a better under-

standing of religious commitment

firstfarst apl replicationppprlication of the research conducted in this study maynay

helpheiph to establishept the ayreliabilityrpgbjph

at iv9ty

ns

ei U

y

denoaird

ap

to

T teporm e re

hepere e be Ut he ppjfrLSth a

gp4pp

L

9

CY

su bestsgestsgg

itblentrient

standard iz ed anstruminstrument

erieneeence

questionnaifaasethqgq

retested T jedejerelede

tle

for

nei

tiie

gaid

imirhich

yneedaneed

74

that religious experiences and the relationship between religious exper-

iences and church orthodoxorthodoxy need to be viewed in terms of coriplyingcorrplyingconicorrcorieori toplying

the normsnornnorm of the religiousrelio organizationlousious and are situational from denomin-

ation to denomination certainly nuchmuchnueh more research is needed in this

area to prove modify or disprove this theoretical model

s

sndIND informationINFORI

first

IATIONlation

we would like to have just a few items of background informationabout yourself your family your job etc please be accurate as possibleand please do not leave any question blank

butlessautless

APPENDIX A

questionnaire AND instructionsINSTRUCT

1 PERSOMLPERSOTMAL

lusIUS

backgroundbac11grout

what is your age1 213021 530 6170612

70314031 640 718071

380

415041 750 814 516051

2

60

what is your sex1 malemaie2 female

3 what is the occupation of the head of the household1 unskilled laborer2 semiskilledsemi laborerskilled3 skilled laborer workers and foremen4 farmer or rancher5 clerical retail sales or other white collar6 manager proprietor7 professional

4 about what do you think the total income will be this year for you-rself and your mediateimmediate family

1 under 3000 4 7000999970002

9999300049992300049993000 54999 10000 and over

3 500069995000

5

6999

how long have you been a member of the mormon church1 all my life 3 convert more than 2 years2 convert less than but less than 5 years

2 years 4 convert more than 5 years

6 have you served a mission for the church1 yes2 no

75

poss ibieible

1

nprofessional

in

1

23000oooo

dognydo4ny

76

II11 BELIEF AND participation

this particular section deals with various aspects of church belief andactivity please answer all questions frankly and be as accurate as possible

strongly stronglyagree agree undecided disagree disagree

1 the LDS churchpossesses divineauthority

2

3

4

the general authoritiesof the LDS churchare inspiredinsp3 ofred god

4 times 232 tinestidiestimes3 once a more than less thana month a month month once a yr once a yr never

how often doyou attendsunday school

how often do you attend the temple to do any kind of temple work1 more than once a month 4 less than once a year2 onceonee every 131 months3 5 never3 more than once a year

5

6

7

do you have family prayer in your home1 twice a day2 once a day3 262 times6 a week4 once a week5 232 times3 during the month

6 once a month7 more than once a year8 less than once a year9 never

do you hold family home evenings1 once a week2 232 times3 a month3 once a month

4 morenorerote than once a year5 less than once a year6 never

during the year 1966 did you pay a1 full tithe 2 part tithe 3 did not tithe

never seldom sometimes often always8 to what extent do

you participate incard playing

111IIIili RELIGIOUSreliqious experience

this last section of the questionnaire deals with those communicationsthat man has with god the father jesus christ the holy ghost angelstranslated beings and resurrected beings each type of religious experiencewill be explained after which two questions will be asked of you pleaseanswer all questions as frankly and accurately as possible

0

223

whatextentdo

uhan

aliallailbaysiays

relineli lousious

aretruearentrue

ariorrio

77

in the first type of religious experience an individual feels the presenceof god the father jesus christ the holy ghost angels andor trans-lated beings for example an individual feels an outpouring of thespirit to the extent that he gains a knowledge 11 a feeling an intuit-ion that the gospel is true god lives joseph smith as well as otherlatter day prophets areane true prophets of god etc A spirit has bornebodnebornawitness to you this type of experience can take place in any meetinggathering or whenwilen you are alone also this type of experience couldhappen once to you or very frequently

1 have you had an perienceexperience similarslisijsll tonilar this1 yes I1 know I1 have 3 no I1 do not think I12 yes I1 think I1 have have

4 no 1I know I1 have not

2 what is the frequency of such an experience1 neverneven 4 monthly2 less than once a year 5 weekly3 more than once a year 6 daily

intrierierl the second type of religious experience an individual feels the presenceof god the father jesus christ the holy ghost angels translated beingsandor resurrected beings and in addition feels that the supernaturalbeingbeings s are communicating ithwith the individual in particular included inthis type of religious experience would be such experiences as the lord orholy ghost promptingprorqptingpronpting an individual to act in a specific way enenwhenehendhen in acertain situation another example would be when a person receives directinspiration as what to do when faced withirithrithinithnithi a decision

1 have you had an experience similar to this1 yes I1 knoknow I1 have 3 no I1 do not think I12 yes I1 think I1 have have

4 no I1 know I1 have not

2 what is the frequency of such an experience1 never 4 monthlynthlyanthly2 less than once a year 5 weekly3 morenorenodemode than once a year 6 daily

the third type of religious experience not only inrolvesinvolves the previous twotypes of religious experiences butcut also includes a lasting ongoing0 re-lationship

nobetween

oingthe individual and god the father jesus christ the

holy ghost angels translated beings andor resurrected beingsfor exampleexamexan anpie analogy of this lastingttlasting ongoing relationship wouldbe two people whovrho after becoming acquainted wanted to expand their re-lationship to see each other often and continually learn new thingsabout each other to the point of establishing an affective relationship

one individual affecting the behavior of the other and vice versabecause of this relationship the individual always has the ability to bein constant communication and thus be continually itspirituallyspiritually closecloset tothe supernatural beings in thisunis blastinglastingilasting ongoing relationship theindividual may be gavengiven the power to prophesy speak in tongues healwitness ericalesmiricalesiricalesmiriirilriirl etcealescales

CD

ex

toV

silrdlartoT

m

lationship

lationship

perieneeence

in rolves

It

out

vlsivisions

youhadbouhad

incluincledes

78

have you had an experience similar to this1 yes I1 know I1 have 3 no I1 do not think I12 yes I1 think I1 have have

4 kono I1 know I1 have not

2 what is the frequency of such an experience1 1 never 4 monthly2 less than once a year 5 weekly3 more than once a year 6 daily

in the fourth type of religious experience one or more of the physicalsenses are involved in witnessingwitnessinjt god the father jesus christ theholy ghost angels translated beings andor resurrected beingsthe physical senses include hearing seeing and touching an exampleof this type of ofreligiousreligious experience includes a person who may have seenheard touched or conversed with a supernatural being this type ofreligious experience may also include visions and dreams in which asupernatural being appeared

have you had an experience similarsl toallanalian this1 yes I1 know I1 have 3 no I1 do not think I1 have2 yes I1 think I1 have 4 hoyo I1 know I1 have not

2 what is the frequency of such an experience11 never 4 monthly2 less than once a year 5 weekly3 more than once a year 6 daily

1

experlencelenee

wee dy

C resurrectedbeingscac3

1

ol01

coneonrideredsidered

represcepresent

anatinat1 ons or are not

APPENDIX B

AN AREA description OFCF PROVO UTAH

it was thought that an area description of provo utah would

benefit the reader with respect to the samplingsartsaiTsalt procedureling used in this

study and its representativeness the accompaningacconpaningaccompanying mapnap of provo city

was included to indicate those portions of the city from which the sample

was drawndraun theme shaded areas represent the cluster units included in the

samplesampie

provo utah has an estimated population of 42800 as of 19619677

according to the provo city chamber of commerce approximately seventy

affiliated with a local church

the northeast portion of provo is considered the upper class

arellinearelling area the northern part of thlethe city in general is considered

middlemiddieaddleaddie and upper middle class the mediateimmediateiruirL southern portion of the

city is also considered middleniddlemiddie class with somesonesorne integration of iowerlowerbower

middle class residents the southwestern portion of the city in large

part is the dwelling area of the lower class citizenry of provo utah

79

DES CRIP TION

thouc ht

tne

theprovo

sixpercent thechurch

localchurch

iscon

CD C

six percent of the city population are members of the church of jesus

christ of latter day saints the balance of the population 24 percent

belongbelona to various protestant and catholic denominationsdenomnationsdenonndenomdenornnations

sorneraedae

experiencesexmeriences

expertexperiI1

ence

APPENDIX C

AN evaluation OF MMIGIOUS experiencesOF THE respondents SAMPLEDSAEPIED

religious

F

experiences

itare defined as those preceivedprece encountersived

with a supernatural beings by man four types of religious experiences

are defined and discussed as fully exploring the range of religious exper-

iences encountered by membersnierDier ofabensabers the L D S churchchurchychurche the fourcour types of

religious experiences include the confirming responsive ecstatic and

revelational experiences

confirming experiences occurred more than any other religious

experience type amonganongarharraih theong L D S church members sampled twotto hundred

thirty five 85 2 reported that they knew or thought they had encountered

a religious experience the number of respondents encountering responsive

experiences was almost as great as those encountering confirming experiences

twowo hundred four 739 of the respondents knew or thought they had encount-

ered

encoun

a

L

responsive experience ecstatic experiences were encountered by

83 301 respondents who knew or thought they knew they had encountered

such an experience only 35 127012.70 respondents reported that they knew or

thought they had encountered a revelational experi3nceexperienceexpertexperi

talbesbalbes

aneeance

1 and 2 report the number and percentapercentage distribution of

the occurrence and frequency of reported religious experiences by members

of the mormon11 churchormonornon residing in provo utahutan

81

appe14odix1dix

0 HE

fullyexploring

four

reportedthat

c

encouxycerediered

10e

1270

tro

8521852185.21

12712.7

90go

94ga

69gg

coicolrfarmingirming

82

TABLE 1

EXTENT OF RELIGIOUS experiences REPORTEDREPOWED BY 1tiibers23i3ersI OF THE CHURCH

OF JESUS CHRIST OF IATTERDAYLATTERDAYIATTERLATTER SAINTSDAY RESIDDIG INN PROVO UTAH

religious experience types number percentage

confirbiingfeels the presence

of a supernatural being

yes I1 know I1 haveyes I1 think I1 haveeoyionio I1 do not think I1 haveno I1 know I1 have not

176592516

270276tyo

yes I1 know I1 haveyes I1 think I1 haveno I1 do not think I1 haveno I1 know I1 have not

140644626

2

50.750723.223216.7167949.4

100.01000

ecstatichaving a constant lastingongoing and continually1 spirituallyispiritually closetcloserelationship with a supernaturalbeing

yes I1 know I1 haveyes I1 think I1 haveno I1 do not think I1 haveno I1 know I1 have not

493491

102275276

17817.812.312333.033037.0370

revelationalreyelationalthe physical senses perceive asupernatural being

yes I1 know I1 haveyes I1 think I1 havenowo I1 do not think I1 haveno I1 know I1 have not

161959

182276

5.8586.969

21.421465.9659

1000100.010010

0efelymwie

yes

27

27

27

10011

214

58

507232

178123

370

58

214659

63.863821.42149.0905.858

100.01000

responsivesupernatural beingcommunicating with individual

in particular

116ilgiialia

morekoreeore than once a yearless than once a yearnever

2046

27237276

7.70.000141.42.2229.898

85.9859100.01000

90go

00oolbib

iili

freqfreauency

onlconlh h3yllyLL

83

TABIZTABLE 2

FREQUENCY OF RELIGIOUS experiences REPORTED BY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCHOF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTERDAYIATTERDAYIATTERLATTER SAINTSDAY RESIDING IN PROVO UTAH

frequency of religiousexperience types number percentage

confirming

dailyweeklymonthlymorehoremonehone than once a yearless than once a yearnever

2836378752

276

10.110113.013013413.431.531518.818818813.013099.8998

responsive

dailyweeklymonthlymore than once a yearless than once a yearnever

ecstatic

162625905564

276

5.8589.4949.090

32.632619.919923.223299.9999

dailyweeklymonthlymore than once a yeariesslessbess than once a yearnever

revelationalrevelatiorevelationRevelrevei nalnaiatloatioatko

93

143231

187276

3.1311.1115.1515

ii6li6l11.211267.867899.9999

dailyweeklykontimonti

REPO1llred11red 1 E11mers

confarrainirrain

36

51

&7

loi

134

130998

5894

326199232999

31

112

999

2298

859

bency

ay

recepeeepace

aaa111

lvedalved

acxlcx

84

AN evaluationWALMITION OF THE CHURCH ORTHODOXY

OFor THE respondents SAMPLEDwriedwr

church

IED

orthodoxy is defined as the degree to which church members

adhere to the beliefs and practices prescribed by the church since there

are varying degrees of acceptance of church teachings and practices in the

L D S church its members can be found along a continuum of church ortho-

doxy church orthodoxy was amenable to guttmanGutout ortiran unidimensional scaling1

therefore the respondents were assigned to one of five orthodoxyorthodox categories72

according to the scale score received table 3 presents the number and

percentage distribution of the respondents assigned to the five church

orthodoxy categories

TABLE 3

IMLSLEVELS OF CHURCH ORTHODOXY AMONG MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST OF latterIATTER DAY SAINITSSAINTS RESIDING IN PROVO UTAH

church orthodoxyorthodozy categories numberhumber percentage

ultraorthodoxultra membersorthodox 8 31 5

orthodox membersembers 57 206

semiseraisenalsenni orthodox members 2 261

unorthodox members 31 112

extremely unorthodox membersnermernen 29abereabers 105100510.5276 99.9999

I1the five orthodoxy categories include 1 ultraorthodoxultra 2orthodox

orthodox 3 semi orthodox 4 unorthodox and 5 extrem3lyextremely unorthodox2according to guttmaguttman scaling each respondent is given a scale score

in thisthithl study a respondent could have received a scale score ranging between1 and 9 hence respondents were assigned an orthodoxy category in the foll-owing annermannerrn 1 ultraorthodoxultra respondentsorthodox had obtained a scale score of1 2 orthodox respondents obtained scale scores of 2 or 35 3 semi orthodoxrespondents obtained scales scores of 4 or 5 4 unorthodox respondentsobtained scale scores of 6 7 or 8 and 5 extemelyextremelyexterterlexten unorthodoxemelyely respondentsobtained a scale score of 9

ONG

87 315206n

72

uno lhodox

extrei ialy

ns

ring ul tra3

Orthodoxydozy

105

lely

ting

led

ooi001

thatenthetenpie

85

the data disclosed that 96 or 348 percent of the respondents

attended the templetempietenpie once every three months or more and that 144 or

413 percent of the respondents hold family home evening at least twice

a month of those sampled 147 53.2532 percent indicated that they had

familyfamil prayeryff at least twice a week one hundred sixty 60 percent

of the L D S church members sampled said they paid a full tithe during

1966 attendance at sunday school of less than twice a month was engaged

in by 78 28.3283 percent of the respondents card playing was an activity

engaged in by 83 30.1301 percent who reported that they played sometimes

often or always two hundred fifteen 77.9779 percent of the respondents

reported that they strongly agreed that the L D S church possesses

divine authority twotuo hundred eight 753 percent reported that they

strongly agreed that the general authorities of the church aroare inspired

of god this means that except for the extremely unorthodox respondents

virituallyrituallyvi every individual sampled strongly agreed that the L D S

church possesses divine authority and that the general authorities of

the L D S church are inspired of god

the data seem to indicate that the respondents sampledsain forpledpied this

study believe in the doctrines of this religious organization to a much

greater extent than they participate in the prescribed activities

sixty60532

283

779

511111fit051ofm ultra semisendsenn extremelyalousgiousglous expenenceqyqexperience orthodoxorthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

4daily 0.000 25.0250250 75.0750 0.000 0.000 100.01000

2weekly 0.000 50.0500500 0.000 50.0500 0.000 100.01000

Wmonthly 0.000 50.0500500 50.0500 0.000 0.000 100.01000

more than once a 20rj

typelypeippe of relirellreil

00oo 750250 00oo 00oo

00oo 00oo 00oo

00oo 00oo 00oo

liil

70yo

APPENDIX D

TABLE 1

THE FREQUENCY CF RELIGIOUS experiencesexperiencescf OFCF THOSE respondentsRESPOWHOMHO

MENTSencountered ONE RELIGIOUS experience TYPE reiatedarelated21RELATEDREIAbeiabela TO

21TEDaTHEIRMIR CHURCH ORTHODOXY

those whoencountered one church orthodoxy

l11

j1xcljj 11.11 GL y

year 20.0200 30.0300 15.0150 20.0200 15.0150 100.01000

less than once a 14year 21421.4 21.4214 42842.8 717.1 7.171 99.8998

total N 7 13 14 6 4 44

aZ

0 0

4

kot statistically significant

kiho

500

200 300 150 200

214 71 71 998

38 05.3838 tau c .0505 P .7070 notstatisticallysignificant

86

bittsEITTSbirtsWHO encounteredeitcounteired thoTWOTVIOtuo RELIGIOUSRELIGICUS experience TYPES reiatedarelated3REIArela TOTEDa

THEIRMIRlir CHURCH ORTHODOXY

those wio church orthodoxyencountered twoniordotypes of religious ultra semi extremelyexperiences orthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodoxunorthod total

itdaily 643643f64.3 14.3143 21421.4 0.000 0.000 1000100.026

weeklymeekly 53853.853 23123.131.31201 23.1231 0.000 0.000 100.0100020

monthly 50.0500500 35.0350 10.0100 5.050 0.000 100.01000

more than once a 38year 23.7237 31.6316 3.23234234.2 10.5105 0.000 100.01000

less than once a 26year 23.1231 11.5115 46246.2 3.838 15415.4 100.01000

total N 58 30 36 6 4 134

aZ

I1

00oo 00oo

00oo 00oo

00oo

00oo

231201

oolooi

643gao

87

TABLE 2

THE FREQUENCY OF RELIGIOUS experiencesexperienceeexperienced OF THOSE respondeittsRESPONDRESPCIbespottme71its

0 cr 0 oe 100

8 23ol01 1

il

0-1

ox

3

lwo 214

538

loo 50

237 316 32 105

115 462 38 154

253493.49049oag tau c .2525 P .001001 statistically significant

00oo

00oo

00oo

iglg

00oo ililii

00oolatlay

REIArelaTIMa

88

TABLE 3

THEtee FREQUENCY OF RELIGIOUSRTLTGICUS expersnceseerMER OFi THOSE respondentsWHO encountered THREE RELIGIOUSRELIGICUS experience TYPES reiatimareiated8 TO

THEIR CHURCHHURCH ORTHODOXYORTHODUZY

those whojhoehoencountered three church orthodoxytypes of religious ultra semiseni extremelyexperiences orthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

narn4r14t7.171 0.000 99999.9

2213.6136 0.000 99.9999

2524024.0 0.000 100.01000

5320.8208 1.919 100.11001looi

180.000 11.1111 100.11001looi

daily

weekly

monthly

more than once ayear

less than once ayear

71.71 21.4021402100 0.0000

50.0500

0

13.6136 22.7227

40.0400 16.0160 20.0200200

41.5415 18.9189 17.0170170

55.6556 5.656 27.8278

total N 3 13263 24- 12121

aZ

NCES RESPOME NTS

HEIR cac11ur

crthod

457110 99 9

iho

71

136 999

208

136 227

415 189

556 56 278

07 20

kurch

1.02102102 tau c 07.07 P s .2020 not statistically significant

REIbeibel

whojhoencountered four church orthodoxyOrthotypes

docyof religious ultra semi extremely

experiences orthodox orthodox orthodox unorthodox unorthodox total

221ZZ22daily 31.8318 50.0500500 18.2182 0.000 0.000 1000100.0

10weeklyweeldyweeley 40.0400 40040.0400boo 20.0200 0.000 0.000 100.01000

2147647.6 9.595 38.1381 0.000 484.8 100.01000monthly

more than11 onceianlan ayear

3354.5545 24224.2 18.2182182 0.000 3.030 99.9999

lessloss than once a 39year 35.9359 28.2282 30.8308 0.000 5.151 100.01000

total N 52 36 32 0 4 124

aZ s 0.31031031 tau c

00oo 00oo

00oo 00oo

00oo

00oo

00oo

89

TABLE 4

THE frequencyfrequ131tscyICY CFCITcip RELIGIOUS tperiemc3s OF THOSETIHOSE respondentsWHO encounteredENCOUNTEI FOUR RELIGIOUS experi3iice TYPETYPES related5RELATED TO5

THEIR burchCHURCHHURCHburce ORTHODOXY

those

7 l11e 1 ifd1cesTZED 1 teda

C orarorfrICDOXY

116ntl

year

less

iho

318 182

476 95 48

242 30 999

282 308 51

02 80

atye

.0202 P .8080 not statistically significant

10005100.05

lio110lloiliillstrandnostrand 1960

goodenough erwineruinedvin R the psycholopslrcholoqPsych of0olo010 religious experience new17 york1

basic1

booksmy

inc 1965

gospel doctrine salt laklakeiak city deseret book companycoicol 1961vany

hollingshead augustaugastlugaug Bustast elpitoirn youth neunew york johnjohjohm wiley and sonsinc 1961

holy bible thetha neenevivree york glaiterharperllaiterharped and brothers publishers

hoult thomas the sociology of pligionbellreliPlibeilriiril neenev york the dryden press195801958

jamesjanes elilliawilliannlillia the varietiesvarlVarivadi ofotlesoties religious experiences garden city luewnewyork dolphin books doubleday and company inc

90

blalockmalock huberrhuberteubert LT social statistics hewnew york 1mcgrawmegraw hillelii book companyinc 1960

book of ilbrnon216rrion the salt lake city utah the church of jesus christ ofday saints 1961961iggi

buberbaber 1artinrlrtinlartinbartinJrL 1Irtin and thou new york charloscharlescharies scribnersScrib sonsnes inc 1958

ol01

ol01 latteriatter daydaj saintssalnis 1961

durkheimwurkheimDurdundankdarkdunk emileenileemliekheimheinhelnhelm the elenentaryelenerytarzelementary forrisforrfoxfornfor ofr theis religiousReli lifepiousdaousdrous londongeorge ailenalienallenlilen and unwin ltd 1957

england F E the validity of religious ebcperience new york harperand brothers publishers 938193839383

glock mrlescharleschariesarlesM Y and stark rodney religion and society in tensionchicago rand icnallyiicijally1 and company 19651705

latteriatter

valiovailo f re s aapacp lcncenee

elneinitohitoinntsants

denenademena uh Lat1t J ttlillIII111tit social class in americananericanorieanorleanamoAnelmoarn protestantismrican chicagorand mcinallymcijally116117allyMcI116117neinel andallyJallyjailyaily Concomcomparypary 1965

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9

ABSTRACT

in this thesis 1 1 a religious experience typology was constructed

and used to discover whether or not a sequential order existed of religious

experiences from the least to most intimate type 2 the relationship between

religious experiences and church orthodoxy was examined and 3 several back-

ground variables were investigated to clarify the above relationship

it was found anongarmongamong 276 iormonsmormonsmormone that religious experiences develop

in a sequential order fron the least to the most intimate type and that a

moderate relationship exists between religious experiences and church ortho-

doxy the findings support the theory which states that religious experiences

and the relationship between religious experiences and church orthodoxy are

situational from denomination to denomination and depend upon the emphasis

placed upon the church members to incur religious experiences and adhere to

the emphasized relationship between the two variables men returned mi-

ssionaries high occupational and income status people seem to be most orthodox

however religious experiences seemseenseeiseel toi have the greatest influence upon the

church orthodoxy of 213021 year30 olds femalefemalefen lifealeaie members of the church lower

or upper occupational status people who earn less than 5000 annually

PE riencesriencesex

nis

wlloearn

sionaries

I

Documents

A Study of Religious Experiences as Related to Church