Semantics and Psychology of Spirituality : A Cross-Cultural Analysis

This book examines what people mean when they say they are “spiritual”. It looks at the semantics of “spirituality”, the visibility of reasons for “spiritual” preference in biographies, in psychological dispositions, in cultural differences between Germany and the US, and in gender differences. It also examines the kind of biographical consequences that are associated with “spirituality”. The book reports the results of an online-questionnaire filled out by 773 respondents in Germany and 1113 in the US, personal interviews with a selected group of more than 100 persons, and an experiment. Based on the data collected, it reports results that are relevant for a number of scientific and practical disciplines. It makes a contribution to the semantics of everyday religious language and to the cross-cultural study of religion and to many related fields as well, because “spirituality” is evaluated in relation to personality, mysticism, well-being, religious styles, generativity, attachment, biography and atheism. The book draws attention to the – new and ever changing – ways in which people give names to their ultimate concern and symbolize their experiences of transcendence. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Understanding “Spirituality”—Conceptual Considerations....Pages 3-17 Deconversion and “Spirituality”—Migrations in the Religious Field....Pages 19-26 Investigating “Spirituality”: Between Survey Data and the Study of Biographies....Pages 27-38 Design, Methods, and Sample Characteristics of the Bielefeld-Based Cross-Cultural Study of “Spirituality”....Pages 39-51 Who Is “Spiritual”?....Pages 53-67 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Is “Spirituality” Nothing but “Religion”? An Indirect Measurement Approach....Pages 71-85 Semantic Differentials Open New Perspectives on the Semantic Field of “Spirituality” and “Religion”....Pages 87-103 “Spirituality” and “Religion”—Corpus Analysis of Subjective Definitions in the Questionnaire....Pages 105-123 Dimensions of “Spirituality”: The Semantics of Subjective Definitions....Pages 125-151 “Fuzziness” or Semantic Diversification? Insights About the Semantics of “Spirituality” in Cross-Cultural Comparison (Conclusion)....Pages 153-161 Front Matter....Pages 163-163 “Spirituality” and Mysticism....Pages 165-187 Personality Dimensions and Versions of “Spirituality”....Pages 189-203 Religious Schemata and “Spirituality”....Pages 205-218 Coordinates for Mapping “Spirituality”....Pages 219-235 Front Matter....Pages 237-237 The Faith Development Interview: Methodological Considerations....Pages 239-249 Front Matter....Pages 251-271 Mapping the Varieties of “Spiritual” Biographies....Pages 273-273 “...I Really Did Depend on My Faith in God During that Time ... to See the Meaning in My Life.”—Religious Spiritualities....Pages 275-280 “Well, Not a Believer, Meaning That I Have Not Found My Ideal Faith Yet. I Am Seeking.”—Spirituality of Religious Seekers....Pages 281-301 “Whether These Gifts Are from God, from Buddha, from the Universe, I Do Not Care, I Do Not Care at All...”—Quilt Spiritualities....Pages 303-318 Front Matter....Pages 319-337 “Experimenting with Ideologies...”—A “More Spiritual Than Religious” Zen Buddhist....Pages 273-273 “...if the Universe Is Beautiful, We’re Part of that Beauty.”—A “Neither Religious nor Spiritual” Biography as Horizontal Transcendence....Pages 339-353 Redrawing the Map: Varieties of “Spiritual,” “Religious” and “Secular” Lives....Pages 355-372 Front Matter....Pages 373-380 Religion, Spirituality, and Psychological Crisis....Pages 381-381 Front Matter....Pages 383-399 The Contribution of the Study of “Spirituality” to the Psychology of Religion: Conclusions and Future Prospects....Pages 401-436 Back Matter....Pages 437-456 ....Pages 457-457 "This book examines what people mean when they say they are spiritual. It looks at the semantics of spirituality, the visibility of reasons for spiritual preference in biographies, in psychological dispositions, in cultural differences between Germany and the US, and in gender differences. It also examines the kind of biographical consequences that are associated with spirituality. The book reports the results of an online-questionnaire filled out by 773 respondents in Germany and 1113 in the US, personal interviews with a selected group of more than 100 persons, and an experiment. Based on the data collected, it reports results that are relevant for a number of scientific and practical disciplines. It makes a contribution to the semantics of everyday religious language and to the cross-cultural study of religion, and to many related fields as well, because spirituality is evaluated in relation to personality, mysticism, well-being, religious styles, generativity, attachment, biography and atheism. The book draws attention to the new and ever changing ways in which people give names to their ultimate concern and symbolize their experiences of transcendence." -- REBIUN This book examines what people mean when they say they are spiritual. It looks at the semantics of spirituality, the visibility of reasons for spiritual preference in biographies, in psychological dispositions, in cultural differences between Germany and the US, and in gender differences. It also examines the kind of biographical consequences that are associated with spirituality. The book reports the results of an online-questionnaire filled out by 773 respondents in Germany and 1113 in the US, personal interviews with a selected group of more than 100 persons, and an experiment. Based on the data collected, it reports results that are relevant for a number of scientific and practical disciplines. It makes a contribution to the semantics of everyday religious language and to the cross-cultural study of religion, and to many related fields as well, because spirituality is evaluated in relation to personality, mysticism, well-being, religious styles, generativity, attachment, biography and atheism. The book draws attention to the new and ever changing ĺl ways in which people give names to their ultimate concern and symbolize their experiences of transcendence Annotation This title examines what people mean when they say they are 'spiritual'. It looks at the semantics of 'spirituality', the visibility of reasons for 'spiritual' preference in biographies, in psychological dispositions, in cultural differences between Germany and the US, and in gender differences. It also examines the kind of biographical consequences that are associated with 'spirituality'