Examining the types of prayers of Irish adults: an evaluation of the measure of prayer type (Richards, 1991)

Recently there has been an increased interest in the use of prayer as a measure of religiosity within empirical research. Additionally, there has been a departure from the use of single-item measures of prayer frequency. One such departure has been the development of the Measure of Prayer Type (Richards, 1991), which uses 19 items to measure types of prayer. The present study investigated if an Irish sample engaged in a similar diversity of prayer types as Richards's American sample. The measure was administered among a sample of Irish respondents (N= 518). "Guidance for self" was the prayer type most frequentlyengaged in while "attunement" was the prayer type least frequently engaged in.