Transcendent Indebtedness to God: A New Construct in the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

Indebtedness and gratitude motivate prosocial behavior, but no empirical work has examined how they operate when the giver is God. The Transcendent Indebtedness Scale (TIS) was created to measure positive indebtedness to God. Exploratory factor analysis was first conducted (N = 658), and then, the factor structure was confirmed in a second sample (N = 441). The two samples were then merged to estimate models examining the role of transcendent indebtedness in predicting outcomes. Transcendent indebtedness was a unique predictor of higher secure attachment with God, religiosity/spirituality, positive well-being, and prosocial behavior when controlling for gratitude. Transcendent indebtedness also predicted lower self-centered traits and religious dysfunction. The TIS appears to be a valid measurement of transcendent indebtedness to God-a construct with implications in developing prosocial behavior and religiosity in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Automated summary

The study developed the Transcendent Indebtedness Scale (TIS) to measure positive indebtedness to God, and found that transcendent indebtedness is a unique predictor of higher secure attachment with God, positive well-being, and prosocial behavior.