Understanding Spirituality among Chinese College Students: Xin-Yang (信仰) and its Assessment

Abstract

In spite of the effort researchers have made, there still seems to be a lack of cultural appropriateness when it comes to the concept of spirituality. Therefore, the current author considers the cultural appropriateness in the process of developing a scale that measures Chinese college students’ level of spirituality. Three focus groups and face-to-face interviews were conducted to help understand the concept of spirituality among Chinese college students. Xin-Yang 信仰 is the Chinese word the current author decided to use and study among Chinese college students. After the pool of items is developed, a fourth focus group was held among the current researcher and a panel of experts in the field of psychology that enabled the researcher to establish face validity for the current scale. A pilot study was conducted to modify the pool of items. A sample of 2,307 college student participants were recruited online from five different provinces, autonomous regions, and direct-controlled municipality in China. Confirmatory factor analysis, item factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were performed with the data. The final Xin-Yang scale has three factors: characteristics, mental guidance, and relationship to others. Xin-Yang scale is a sound and helpful measurement. Xin-Yang seems to be an important construct to these Chinese college students in relationship to their psychological well-being. Specifically, Xin-Yang is significantly and positively related to hope, self-esteem, and self- efficacy. Xin-Yang is significantly and negatively related to psychological symptoms. In addition, Xin-Yang is significantly and positively related to spirituality. Relationships among these constructs were discussed. Limitations and implications were also discussed.