Transcendent Accountability: Construct and Measurement of a Virtue that Connects Religion, Spirituality, and Positive Psychology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Publication Source
Journal of Positive Psychology
Volume Number
19
Issue Number
2
First Page
243
Last Page
256
ISSN
17439760
E-ISSN
17439779
Abstract
Welcoming accountability is a responsive and responsible virtue that can be shown in relation to people or to God, a higher power, or transcendent guide. Our interdisciplinary team defined transcendent accountability (TA) and developed a 10-item scale using classical and item response theory methods. Across diverse US samples (total N = 990) the scale exhibited internal consistency, construct validity, incremental validity, known-groups validity, and test-retest reliability. TA showed positive correlations with religious and spiritual variables, transcendent virtues (gratitude to God, eschatological hope), human virtues (gratitude, accountability, forgiveness), relationality (agreeableness, empathy), responsibility (conscientiousness, self-regulation), values-congruent autonomy, meaning, and flourishing. It had inverse correlations with negative attitudes and symptoms (personality disorder, anxiety, depression), and weak associations with searching for meaning and social desirability. TA predicted unique variance in spiritual flourishing, meaning, and relational repair. Transcendent accountability is a valuable construct that complements gratitude to God (GTG) and advances positive psychology.
Keywords
Flourishing, gratitude to God, meaning in life, religion, scale development, spirituality, virtue
Recommended Citation
Published in: Journal of Positive Psychology, Volume 19, Issue 2, January 1, 2024, pages 243-256.
