The 16 item and 6 item versions can be found in Underwood (2011) www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/2/1/29 ,
accessed May 21, 2014.
Results and Comments
The scale contains some items that may represent good mental health in and of themselves (deep inner peace,
feeling connected to the wider natural world) and this may affect its discriminant validity. Nevertheless, it
appears to be a good scale for assessing religious/spiritual experiences and is one of the few validated scales that
does this well. Users of the scale may wish to administer only selected items if any overlap with mental health is
of concern; however, be aware that the scale was developed to consciously include a variety of items that
describe experience of relationship with the transcendent for people of many religious beliefs and those who may
not call themselves religious.
DAILY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES SCALE
Instructions: The list that follows includes items you may or may not experience. Please consider how often you
directly have this experience, and try to disregard whether you feel you should or should not have these experiences.
A number of items use the word ‘God.’ If this word is not a comfortable one for you, please substitute another word
that calls to mind the divine or holy for you.
Many
times a
dayEvery
dayMost
daysSome
daysOnce
in a
whileNever
1. I feel God’s presence.
2. I experience a connection to all of life.
3. During worship, or at other times when
connecting with God, I feel joy which lifts me out
of my daily concerns.
4. I find strength in my religion or spirituality.
5. I find comfort in my religion or spirituality.
6. I feel deep inner peace or harmony.
7. I ask for God’s help in the midst of daily
activities.
8. I feel guided by God in the midst of daily
activities.
9. I feel God’s love for me, directly.
10. I feel God’s love for me, through others.
11. I am spiritually touched by the beauty of
creation.
12. I feel thankful for my blessings.
13. I feel a selfless caring for others.
14. I accept others even when they do things I think
are wrong.
15. I desire to be closer to God or in union with the
divine.
Not at all Somewhat close Very close As close as possible
16. In general, how close do you
feel to God?
Note: Copyright rLynn Underwood www.dsescale.org .
Reproduced with permission.537 SINGLE DIMENSIONAL SCALES
V. VICES AND VIRTUES