Establishing the content validity for newly developed buddhist spirituality scale: A delphi study

Abstract

Spirituality is a psychological construct with no universally accepted definition. According to existing literature, spirituality is identified in relation to both religious and secular practices. However, most experts in the field discuss spirituality in relation to religiosity. As a result of this consensus, different types of spiritualities based on various religions have been identified: Christian spirituality, Hindu spirituality, Islamic spirituality, and Buddhist spirituality. Buddhist spirituality is grounded in the teaching of the Noble Eightfold Path. Additionally, the Mahā-cattārīsaka Sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya explains two ways of practicing the Noble Eightfold Path: the mundane and the supramundane. In this newly developed scale, the mundane level of practicing the Noble Eightfold Path was considered Buddhist Spirituality, and items were devised to measure it. Psychological constructs can be evaluated through quantitative measurement, a mental or psychometrics field. One of the psychometric properties of such measurement is validity. The objective of this study was to establish the content validity for the newly developed Buddhist Spirituality Scale based on the teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path. Initially, forty-one (41) items were developed based on the teachings and literature on the Noble Eightfold Path. A two-round Delphi survey was then conducted to examine expert consensus on the proposed items in the scale. The sample included nine (9) experts in the fields of Buddhism (n=4), psychology (n=4), and philosophy (n=1). Data analysis was conducted by calculating the Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI) and the Scale Content Validity Index (S-CVI). In addition to these calculations, items were revised based on the experts' feedback. In the first round of the Delphi survey, twenty (20) items were refined, and one item was added before the second round. In the second round, I-CVI and S-CVI were calculated. The S-CVI for the judged components were relevance 0.97, clarity 0.89, simplicity 0.90, and cultural appropriateness 0.96, demonstrating satisfactory content validity for the newly developed Buddhist Spirituality Scale.