Date of Award

2-1989

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of faking good and taking bad on Spiritual Well-Being Scale scores in a religiously inactive sample. The study replicated a previous work investigating the effects of faking good and faking bad on SWB scores in a Christian sample. It is a true experiment with three levels of the independent variable: Fake Good, Honest, and Fake Sad instructions. The sample consisted of 151 members of two Oregon Air National Guard units stationed at Portland, Oregon. A demographic questionnaire was given along with the SWB scale. An analysis of variance was performed for each of the dependent measures (SWB and its two subscales, RWB and EWB). ANOVA's and post hoc testing revealed significant differences between all three treatment groups, and for seven individual SWB items. Results suggest the SWB scale is vulnerable to faking by religiously inactive persons, and that ceiling effects are not an issue for this sample. SWB and both its subscales RWB and EWB, were positively correlated with years professing to be a Christian, and comfort being with people. SWB and its subscale RWB were positively correlated with frequency of church attendance, frequency of personal devotions, Christian profession, importance of religion, and dealing easily with people. SWB and its subscale EWB were negatively correlated with preference to he alone. The subscale EWB was positively correlated with satisfaction with current life experience. Though utility of the scale is presently limited, suggestions for use with new Christians are posited. A recommendation for further development of the present SWB form to include questions to detect faking is discussed.

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