Major Life Changes, Spirituality, and Religion
Description
This study aimed to scrutinize the relationship between life changes and spirituality. We examined religiousness and spirituality in 77 adult volunteers aged 39.45 (SD=11.97) who answered demographic questions and completed five subscales of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality. Respondents were grouped based on whether they experienced a major life-changing spiritual event (72.7%) or not (27.3%). The former group scored higher (p<.05) on all measures than the latter group. Among this group, the proportion of religious (p=.04) and spiritual (p<.001) identity was also higher. The groups did not differ in age, gender, education, and living area. Among those who experienced a significant life change, 42.9% had such experiences at or under 18 years. Most (83.4%) of these participants were committed spiritually and attended religious services once or more weekly. The age at which a life change occurred correlated strongly (r=.70) with strengthening religious/spiritual practices. The results indicate that life-changing spiritual events fuel religious and/or spiritual attitudes and behaviors, and their impact might be more substantial if experienced at a younger age.
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Steps to reproduce
Use the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and ask people about significant life changes and their connections to spiritual, and religious beliefs, and practices. Use a larger sample size than used in this study.