The means and ends of religiosity: A fresh look at Gordon Allport’s religious orientation dimensions

Following Allport (1950), religious orientation is portrayed as comprising two, and later three, independent dimensions of religion of means (extrinsic) and religion of ends (intrinsic). Pargament (1997), however, argued that means and ends are not mutually exclusive but fundamental parts of any religious orientation. This study investigated the relative merits of the two approaches. Christian British adults (N = 160) completed the Intrinsic/Extrinsic-Revised Scale along with questions on demographics and religious practices. Results obtained from Factor Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling support both arguments. Three independent and stable orientations were identified that were, however, meaningfully represented in a lower two-dimensional space defined by the social–personal (focus) and the means–ends (function) religiosity aspects. Means–ends elements may form an independent dimension, reflected in the performance of religiosity.