Religious and spiritual beliefs -: Validation of the German version of the "Systems of Belief Inventory" (SBI-15R-D) by Holland et al. in a population-based sample

The present study describes the German version of the "Systems of Belief Inventory (SBI-15R)" developed by Holland et al. [I]. The questionnaire was used in a representative sample of 954 eastern and 1031 western Germans. The SBI met tests of internal consistency and demonstrated discriminant validity. But the two factors of the original version could not clearly be replicated. For the relevance of religious beliefs we found that women score higher than men, older score higher than younger, persons with lower education score higher than persons with higher education, western Germans score higher than eastern Germans. Connections between the SBI-15R-D and self-evaluation as being religious and importance of faith during childhood give hints to the instrument's validity. The SBI-15R-D can serve as a valid and economic tool to explore the role of religious and spiritual beliefs.