A critical review of the religious attribution literature is presented. Two overriding critiques are that the field lacks adequate instruments to measure religious attributions, and that attributions related to problem causeare confused with attributions about problem solution. Consequently, an instrument was developed to measure religious attributions of responsibility for problem causeand solution. An exploratory, principal-axis factor analysis conducted on data generated by 457 university students revealed the theorized factors of cause and solution. High internal consistency and test-retest reliability wereobtained. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis on a separate sample of 179 students provided evidence of construct validity for the instrument. Research questions are presented that would advance current understanding of religious attributions, and limitations of the instrument are noted.
More than two decades ago, Proudfoot and Shaver (1976) described the parallel between religious attributions and social psychological attribution theories, noting that "attribution theory, with its emphasis on beliefs and interpretations of experience,provides a natural pathinto the realm of religion" (p.328). They pointed out that studies on religious phenomena could profitably emulate attribution research in social psychology, such as Weiner's (1972) investigations of attributional approaches to motivation. Gorsuch and Smith (1983) also examined the similarities between religious and social psychological attributions, emphasizing that people view God as a personal being and therefore may make attributions to God comparable to attributions made about others. They noted that because religion is a multidimensional concept, however, social psychology theories may not fully account for how attributions to God are made. They concluded that studying attributions to God in the context of social psychology's attribution literature may be a productive framework from which to work, but they recommended that researchers not be constrained by existing theory.
Most of the research that has ensued has examined religious attributions as a dependent variable. The general goal of these studies has been to predict a