Measuring Muslim Religious Identity Formation: Instrument Assessment with A Sample of Muslim-American Students

Abstract:Previous religious identity research has focused on Christian and Jewish religious identity formation, with only a few studies focusing on religious identity development within the American Muslim population. Because of the growing number of Muslims in the United States, it is critical to expand our understanding of this population. The current study samples self-identified Muslim students (N = 194), with the aim of developing a 92-item assessment instrument to examine religious identity as an empirically unique component of overall identity. This study utilizes Bell's (2009) Religious Identity Statuses (RISt) scale and examines factors that have previously been found to be significant predictors for Jewish religious identity and ethnic identity development. The results of factor structure analyses on the RISt and predictor variable scales in the present study yielded factor structures parallel to the original scales in Jewish identity studies. Reliability analyses on the RISt and predictor variable scales suggest that these scales are also reliable measures of Muslim religious identity. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.