Trust/Mistrust in God Scale (TMGS)
(Rosmarin et al., 2009a, 2011 ).
Variable
The construct ‘trust in God’ is similar to the construct ‘love of God’, and involves both positive and negative
emotional feelings toward God ( Rosmarin et al., 2009a ).
Description
Rosmarin and colleagues (2009a) constructed both 16-item and 6-item versions of the TMGS. The scales consist
of positive statements about love and trust in God (positive subscale) and negative statements (negative sub-
scale). This measure is based on the work of Rabbi Bachaya entitled Duties of the Heart , which describes Jewish
philosophical principles regarding human thought and emotion. This work specifically ties trust in the construct
of God to decreased anxiety and depression and elevated levels of happiness. Scale development is based on six
core beliefs related to trust in God: God has constant regard for all worldly affairs, God has absolute knowledge
of people’s best interests, no power is greater than God, God must be involved for anything to occur, God is mer-
ciful and generous, and God is righteous in judgement. Response options range on a 5-point Likert-type scale
from 1 ‘not at all’ to 5 ‘very much.’ Scores are summed after reverse scoring of negatively-worded items (range
16/C080 for 16-item version). Positive and negative subscale scores can also be reported separately.
Sample
The full 16-item TMGS scale was developed using a sample of 565 Jewish adults (58% female, mean age 37
years, one-third of whom had a college/university degree). Participants came from a range of Jewish denomina-
tions including Hassidic (9%), Orthodox (31%), Conservative (32%), Reform (13%), Reconstructionist (7%), and
none 8%. The 6-item short-form of the TMGS scale was developed in three populations via the Internet: 120
Christians (74% female, mean age 34, 81% Protestant), 234 Jewish individuals (55% female, mean age 37, 60%
Orthodox), and 262 Jewish individuals with high anxiety recruited from clinical trials (57% female, mean age 41,
49% Orthodox).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
For the 16-item TMGS scale, Cronbach alpha coefficients were reported for the trust (0.96) and for the mistrust sub-
scale (0.76) ( Rosmarin et al., 2009a ). For the 6-item short-form, alpha coefficients have been high for both the positive
subscales (ranging from 0.90 to 0.94) and negative subscales (ranging from 0.68 to 0.90), based on three separate studies
reported in the original paper ( Rosmarin et al., 2011 ).
Test/C0Retest
For the 16-item TMGS scale, four to eight week test /C0retest reliability was assessed in 140 participants and found
to be high (0.93) for the trust subscale and acceptable for the mistrust subscale (0.76) ( Rosmarin et al., 2009a ).
Test/C0retest reliability coefficients have not been reported for the 6-item short-form to date (to our knowledge).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Significant positive correlations were found between the trust in God scale and prayer, religious attendance,
religious study, and recitation of grace after meals (ranging from 0.46 to 0.72) ( Rosmarin et al., 2009a ).
Divergent/Discriminant
For the full TMGS scale, relatively low correlations have been found (ranging from 0.11 to 0.15) with diverse
measures of psychological constructs (depression, anxiety, stress, and happiness). For the 6-item short-form, rela-
tively low correlations have been reported with measures of depression ( 20.25 for trust, 0.31 for mistrust) and
anxiety ( 20.18 and 0.22).534 19. MEASURES OF RELIGIOSITY
V. VICES AND VIRTUES