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Spiritual Development

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M. E. Arterberry, K. L. Fingerman & J. E. Lansford (Eds.), SAGE Encyclopedia

of Lifespan Human Development.

Spiritual Development

Whether within or outside of the framework of institutionalized religion, spiritual

development refers to a process of increased depth of awareness, connection to the

transcendent, and search for ultimate meaning as well as engagement in spiritual

practices. Spirituality is regarded as a significant and universal aspect of human

experience, but relatively little attention has been paid within established lifespan

theories and models to the study of spiritual development as integral to human

normative development. Throughout history, and across cultures and traditions,

spirituality has played an integral role in individuals’ lives, and in the overall human

experience. In some countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, and the United

States of America, where divinity is largely present in the culture and discourse,

between 90 and 100% of young adults have expressed a belief in God according to the

World Values Survey. In comparison to other countries where there is more

separation between religion and spirituality, such as France, Sweden, Great Britain,

and Spain, lower expression of a belief in God (less than 70% of young adults) but

higher engagement with spirituality outside of the framework of religion are reported.

Despite its universal potential, spiritual development does not always occur, and its

developmental course may be quite varied across individuals even within the same

culture in its pace, manifestations, and saliency in different life periods with differing

levels of personal investment and a variety of potential triggers. Spiritual development

differs from other developmental processes, such as the physical, cognitive, or

emotional domains. Spiritual development often involves a volitional and active act of
choice. This entry provides an overview of key points in conceptualizations and

research in spiritual development: definition, models of development, contexts, and

stages in lifespan development.

Spirituality: Context, definitions and conceptualizations

Historically, Western scholarship acknowledged multiple aspects of human

existence, including the spiritual. However, the Cartesian mind-body dualism of the

17th c led to an ideological split between empirical science and theology. During the

20th c, with the exception of scholars such as William James, the dominant positivistic

and naturalistic standpoints in the behavioral sciences tended to view spirituality as

inappropriate for scientific exploration. The emergence of postmodernism in the late

20th and early 21st c paved the way for a resurgence of the scientific study of

spirituality as part of a larger cultural and intellectual movement, away from

mechanistic conceptions of reality and towards a more non-dualistic and holistic view.

Furthermore, a growing body of research demonstrated an association between

spirituality and greater well-being and physical health and as a protective factor in

psychological adjustment to negative life experiences.

Despite this growing interest, spirituality’s complex and multifaceted nature

has contributed to lack of clear conceptualization. Still, most discussions of

spirituality include several shared dimensions: the existence of a transcendent

dimension, the relation or connection to that dimension, and the search for ultimate

questions concerning the nature, purpose, and meaning of life. Each of these

dimensions may encompass practices (such as prayers, meditation, or rituals), beliefs

(attitudes concerning transcendence, deity, mortality, and beliefs concerning a

person’s connection to the transcendent), and experiences (such as mystical/unitive or

numinous experiences). The specific contents of these dimensions may be manifested

influences and can be individually and institutionally oriented. Environmental

influences may include effects of distinct social contexts, intentional activities such as

spiritual practices as well as engagement with spiritual teachers, peers, or groups.

Influences at the individual level may include distinct life experiences, which can

involve negatively valence events, such as crisis, adversity, or suffering bringing

about radical change in values or beliefs, and also positively valanced events

involving peak experiences or various transpersonal experiences. Both positive and

negative influences function as potential turning points in the path of the individual’s

spiritual life.

Throughout history religions have functioned as institutional sociocultural

frameworks in which individuals understood, expressed, and experienced their

spiritual concerns. Thus, the terms religiousness and spirituality have traditionally

been interchangeable in the social sciences, and religion was seen as a broad domain

encompassing both individual and institutional components. Since the turn of the 21st

c, with postmodern sociocultural trends challenging traditional patterns and

encouraging pluralism, relativism, and exploration, these terms have become

increasingly polarized, and viewed as related yet different. Spirituality is generally

considered as an individualized, experiential connection to the transcendent, and

religion is associated with an organized system of beliefs and rituals, intended to

facilitate a connection with the transcendent. This partial polarization is also reflected

in a growing proportion of Western individuals who identify themselves as “spiritual

but not religious” and the emergence of new religious and spiritual movements and

practices as alternative platforms for individuals’ spiritual development outside of

institutional religions.
Models of spiritual development

Models of spiritual developmental processes can be conceptualized through

three broad perspectives, each differing in the nature of the process (i.e., gradual or

sudden), conceptualization or substance (e.g., spiritual transformation, changing

allegiance, or spiritual development), and the various contexts in which it may take

place (both within and outside institutional religions) as part of a universal

phenomenon of human development.

The first perspective delineates gradual maturation, most often through stage

models. Some of the few human development theories which considered the spiritual

aspect mostly treated spiritual development as forming part of the highest or most

advanced stages of adult development. This view is reflected, for example, in an

expansion of ego interests toward more ultimate concerns, such as generativity and

finding meaning in life in Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory. A central model of

lifespan spiritual development is James Fowler’s faith development model which

portrays a sequence of seven universal stages. In its essence, individuals progress

from a primal or undifferentiated faith (focused on security) during early childhood to

a synthetic–conventional faith (formal operational thinking, focused on the

interpersonal, strong connection to groups and on conformity to norms) in

adolescence, through stages of young adulthood and mid-life towards a universalizing

faith (similar to enlightenment or transcendence; rarely attained) in late adulthood.

Within the framework of transpersonal (beyond the personal) psychology,

several other developmental models integrate processes of spiritual change and view

them as reflecting a universal stage within a general theory of human development.

Abraham Maslow, the founding father of transpersonal psychology, suggested that an

individual who has reached self-actualization can develop further to transcend the
personal self and reach self-transcendence. His later hierarchy of needs places the

transpersonal stage as the highest form of development and proposes three phases of

universal human development: a deficiency-motivated stage, a humanistically

motivated stage, and a transcendentally motivated stage. In line with this model, Ken

Wilber emphasizes an integrative model of spiritual human development including ten

stages which are categorized across three phases of development: the pre-personal

reflects subconscious functioning, which is largely instinctual and influenced by basic

biological needs. The personal refers to conscious mental processes mainly oriented

toward the concerns of the ego, wherein the development of a coherent self-identity is

achieved. Last, the transpersonal is associated with awareness beyond ego

consciousness. Transpersonal models therefore emphasize a development in which a

change in self-consciousness toward self-transcendence and the spiritual sphere

occurs.

The second perspective conceptualizes spiritual development as the broadly

integrative construct of spiritual transformation. Unlike universal sequential stages or

maturation, spiritual development may occur through a more distinctive and non-

gradual process, such as radical religious conversion by which a person moves from

believing in one set of religious values to another or through the phenomenon of

“quantum change” which exemplifies a sudden spiritual realization and

transformation. Such examples can be found in religious, mystical, or transpersonal

experiences, such as peak or near-death experiences, and as a result of post-traumatic

growth, such as loss, life-threatening illness, or severe addictions, and particularly as

part of Alcoholic Anonymous.

The third perspective conceptualizes spiritual development as a more gradual

and incremental evolution of spirituality over time, most often involving an

process is often viewed as a journey, search, quest, or inner work with no specific

end-point as the individual is constantly exploring his spirituality more deeply and is

always developing.

Irrespective of the lens through which spiritual development is viewed, its

catalyst, whether the change is sudden and dramatic or gradual and incremental, or

whether development takes place within or outside a traditional religious context, it is

almost always accompanied by profound personal change. This change may demand a

transformation of the self, often interpreted as the emergence of individual’s spiritual

identity, reflected in overall purpose, way of being, beliefs, values, and behaviors.

Spiritual lifespan human development

Accumulating evidence supports the importance and relevance of the spiritual

dimension to almost all stages of life, beginning with the “big questioning” evident in

childhood, to its contribution to identity formation in adolescence, through its support

of self-integration in adulthood revealing an even deeper existential exploration in late

adulthood.

Studies have identified a variety of spiritual experiences, concerns, and

capabilities in childhood, among them feelings of wonder and awe, capability to

thoughtfully consider life’s “big questions” regarding meaning, purpose, or death, and

a deep sense of interconnectedness and empathy towards others. However, as

immature thinking is more intuitive, such experiences may be missed by conventional

standards of mature rational thought. Research has also demonstrated that children

can develop an understanding of God as a nonhuman agent and that they treat this

agent as importantly different from humans, especially in cultures where divinity is

more salient. During adolescence, individuals progress from the concrete childhood
impressions of religion and begin to reflect on deeper issues related to existential and

transcendental realms. In this life stage, spiritual development contributes to positive

youth development, values, civic engagement, and a sense of purpose and identity.

During emerging adulthood, interest in novel forms of spiritual searching and practice

may surface, as is evident in the spiritual search activities of college students in an

attempt to discover purpose, meaning, fulfillment, depth, wholeness, and authenticity.

Adulthood is considered a developmental period ripe for spiritual development

due to the accompanying neurological, cognitive, and socio-emotional maturation it

involves as well as the increased strivings for meaning and self-transcendence after

major developmental concerns such as identity, establishing a family, and an active

involvement in the world of work have been met and resolved. During this life stage,

life events may trigger a search for spiritual development. For example, one of the

main domains of positive change of post-traumatic growth following adversity is

spiritual change, reflecting an engagement with fundamental existential questions and

increased interest in issues of a spiritual or religious nature. Spiritual development is

also often associated with later stages of adulthood, during which individuals tend to

explore greater meaning in their lives and face existential end-of- life concerns. The

increased interest in spirituality is also reflected in the prevalence of spiritually

sensitive practices available, such as spiritual care and chaplaincy, particularly

relevant for dying individuals (and their families) receiving palliative care.

Spirituality reflects a multi-dimensional developmental process, influenced by

individual, cultural, environmental, and contextual factors. The potential for spiritual

development is considered inherent to human nature and universal across cultures, but

its salience and the manner in which it is expressed (i.e. whether within or outside of

the framework of institutionalized religion) may greatly vary between individuals.

See also Religion, Spirituality, Faith; Stages of development; God; Identity

(Development, Diffusion, Status); Age periods or stages; Beliefs

Further Readings

Benson, P. L., Roehlkepartain, E. C., King, P. E., & Wagener, L. (Eds.) (2005). The

handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Sage

Publications.

Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith: The psychology of human development. New

York: Harper & Row.

Maslow, A.H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Viking

Pargament, K.I. (Ed.) (2013). APA Handbook of psychology, religion and spirituality

(2013; Vols. 1 and 2). Washington: American Psychological Association.

Wilber, K. (1980). The atman project: A transpersonal view of human development.

Wheaton, IL: Quest.

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