Spiritual yearning is conceptualized as a multidimensional form of longing for meaning, transcendence, connection, and existential fulfillment that is related to, but distinct from, current religiosity or spirituality (Wilt et al., 2026; Pargament, 2013; Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2005). The present study aimed to adapt and validate the Polish version of an English-language measure of spiritual yearning and to verify whether its originally established multidimensional structure could be replicated in Polish cultural conditions. In two independent samples of Polish adults recruited from the general population (total N=404), we examined the factorial structure of the 27-item measure using confirmatory factor analysis and evaluated its internal consistency and construct validity. The findings supported the original nine-factor structure, comprising for Moral Guidance, Divine Relationship, Afterlife Beliefs, Communal Belonging, Transcendent Interconnectedness, Inner Peace, Spiritual Experiences, Authentic Self-Discovery, and Meaningful Legacy, with acceptable to good fit across both samples (CFI = 0.939-0.949; GFI = 0.823-0.842; RMSEA = 0.067-0.077). Reliability coefficients were high for all nine subscales (Cronbach’s α = 0.82–0.95) as well as for the overall indices (α = 0.96–0.97 for the 27-item total score; α = 0.89–0.90 for the 9-item composite measure). Positive correlations with search for meaning, religious/spiritual struggles, and centrality of religiosity, together with the absence of a significant association with presence of meaning, supported construct validity. Although preliminary, these findings indicate that spiritual yearning is observable in the Polish context and that the adaptation reproduces the original psychometric pattern; further research is underway.
Polish Validation of the Multidimensional Measures of Spiritual Yearning: Preliminary Results