The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS)
Psychometric Properties of Its Adaptation to the Religious Domain of Identity
Abstract
Abstract. The current study proposed the adaptation of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) to the religious domain as an instrument to measure both individuals’ religious identity formation processes (when a variable-centered approach is adopted) and religious identity statuses (when a person-centered approach is adopted). The scale has been tested on a sample of 727 Italian participants aged 13–65 years, by collecting evidence of score structure, convergent, and criterion-related validity. Regarding the score structure validity, we confirmed that religious identity formation consists of three processes (commitment, in-depth exploration, reconsideration of commitment) and that, by using these scores, individuals can be placed into five different religious identity clusters (achievement, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, searching moratorium). As to the convergent and criterion-related validity, we tested the relationship that the three factors (religious identity formation processes) and the five clusters (religious identity statuses) have with religiousness and subjective well-being, respectively. Results indicate that the instrument is a promising tool to measure religious identity. Future studies should test this scale in other countries and with people from diverse religious traditions.
References
2014). Measuring gender identity and religious identity with adapted versions of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 4(1), 226–237. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v4n1p226
(2001). Passing on the faith: The father’s role in religious transmission. Sociological Focus, 34(2), 185–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2001.10571190
(2016).
(Development of the religious self: A theoretical foundation for measuring religious identity . In A. DayEd., Religion and the individual. Belief, practice, identity (pp. 127–143). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97813156048482016). Is religious identity a social identity? Self-categorization of religious self in six countries. Psicologia Sociale, 11(2), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.1482/84098
(2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
(2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
(2015). National and gender measurement invariance of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): A 10-nation study with university students. Assessment, 22(6), 753–768. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191115584969
(2015).
(The identity statuses: Strengths of a person-centered approach . In K. C. McLeanM. SyedEds., The Oxford handbook of identity development (pp. 97–112). Oxford University Press.2008). Identity formation in early and middle adolescents from various ethnic groups: From three dimensions to the five statuses. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(8), 983–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9222-2
(2010). The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): Italian validation and cross-national comparisons. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 26(3), 172–186. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000024
(2012). Correlates of identity configurations: Three studies with adolescent and emerging adult cohorts. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(6), 732–748. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9702-2
(2016). Hypothesis testing using factor score regression: A comparison of four methods. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76(5), 741–770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164415607618
(1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
(2018). Advances in subjective well-being research. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0307-6
(2009). Proprietà psicometriche della versione italiana della Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) con studenti universitari
([Psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) with university students] . Counseling, Giornale Italiano di Ricerca e Applicazioni, 1, 201–212.2010). Testing for factorial invariance in the context of construct validation. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 43(2), 121–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175610373459
(2014).
(The Four Basic Dimensions of Religiousness and life satisfaction among Dutch and Italian young adults . In M. MikuckaF. SaraccinoEds., Life satisfaction: Perceptions, social influences and implications for long-term health (pp. 17–28). Nova.2014). Collective identity and well-being of Bulgarian Roma adolescents and their mothers. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(3), 375–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0043-1
(2018). Relationships between identity domains and life satisfaction in minority and majority youth in Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2017.1336997
(2016). Religiosity and self-rated health: A longitudinal examination of their reciprocal effects. Journal of Religion and Health, 55(3), 844–855. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0056-z
(2016). Identity development in adulthood: Introduction. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 16(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2015.1121821
(2000).
(Cluster analysis . In H. E. A. TinsleyS. D. BrownEds., Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modeling (pp. 297–321). Academic Press.2001). Religious identity status as a model to understand, assess, and interact with client spirituality. Counseling and Values, 46(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007x.2001.tb00203.x
(2016). Looking at the dark and bright sides of identity formation: New insights from adolescents and emerging adults in Japan. Journal of Adolescence, 47, 156–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.09.008
(2019). Spirituality and ethnocultural empathy among Italian adolescents: The mediating role of religious identity formation processes. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000155
(2007). The role of religious identity in the mental health of older working and retired adults. Aging and Mental Health, 11(4), 434–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860601086371
(2003). Religion and identity: The role of ideological, social, and spiritual contexts. Applied Developmental Sciences, 7(3), 196–203. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0703_11
(1986). Religious attendance and subjective health. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 25(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/1386061
(2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
(2011). A longitudinal study of religious identity and participation during adolescence. Child Development, 82(4), 1297–1309. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01609.x
(1980).
(Identity in adolescence . In J. AndelsonEd., Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). Wiley.2003). Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field. American Psychologist, 58(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.24
(2011). Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The Big Four religious dimensions and cultural variation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42, 1320–1340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111412267
(2021). Open data, open materials and ESM for the “The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): Psychometric properties of its adaptation to the religious domain of identity” article [Data Set]. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14039123
(2003). Factorial and construct validity of the Italian Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 19, 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.19.2.131
(2019). The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525
(1988). Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
(2000). Coping with an uncertain future: Religiosity and millenarianism. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 23(1), 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1163/157361200x00032
(