Autobiographical narratives of spiritual experiences: Solitude tragedy and the absence of materialism

This is a member only resource

Become a Member » Log In »
Autobiographical narratives of spiritual experiences: Solitude tragedy and the absence of materialism

What are the differences between experiences that people consider spiritual and experiences that they consider enjoyable? Participants were asked to provide autobiographical narratives of either spiritual or enjoyable experiences and the two types of narratives were compared. In Study 1 (n = 142) the differences between the narratives was established via judge-based thematic content analysis. In Study 2 (n = 174) differences were established by the use of linguistic analysis software. Across both studies spiritual experiences were more likely to involve tragedy and less likely to mention social relationships or materialistic pursuits. Hence spiritual experiences are described as triggered by tragedy reflect greater social isolation and less materialistic than enjoyable experiences.

Citation: 
The Journal of Positive Psychology , 2013 Vol. 8, No. 4, 273 – 279

Become a Member

The IOC is a global community of coaches.

Join

Contact Us

  • Institute of Coaching
  • McLean Hospital
  • 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 314
  • Belmont, MA 02478
  • [email protected]