Intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation in Portuguese Catholics

The opposition between intrinsic (I) and extrinsic (E) religious motivation was operationalised by Allport and Ross through a Religious Orientation Scale (ROS). However, empirical studies using the ROS or other derived instruments have not always been able to confirm this clear opposition. This study presents the results of the Portuguese version of the Age-Universal I/E Scale and of a Current Religious Practice Scale in four convenience community samples of the Portuguese population (global N = 932). Exploratory factor analysis enables the definition of three factors. Factor 1 groups I and Extrinsic Personal (Ep) items and is similar to the first factor obtained in studies on European non-Protestant populations. However, confirmatory analysis suggests that the I and Ep dimensions can be distinguished from each other, although they are very closely related. The difference between these two dimensions was clearer in the subgroup of practising Catholics.