Q. As you begin to consider early findings from the various strands of research, what is one initial finding—however small—that is particularly intriguing to you and why?
Peter C. Scales, Ph.D.
For me, there are both methodological and substantive survey findings that are intriguing. The patterns of responses to the survey items suggest that young people throughout the world took the questions seriously, and responded truthfully to the best of their ability to do so, on topics that are notoriously difficult to be very concrete about.
When asked about their spiritual or religious practices, for example, they did not simply say they did all these things, or didn’t, which would have been unwelcome evidence of a response set being employed rather than thoughtful responding. Rather, their responses differentiated practices that were common and those that were much less common, such that only 18% said they “never” read books about spirituality or religion (the most common of the practices we examined), versus 62% who said they “never” participated in sacred dance or movement as part of a spiritual or religious ritual (the least common practice). Similarly, only 20% said they had never experienced complete joy or ecstasy, but 51% said they had never experienced the voice or presence of God, a difference in reported experiences that we would have predicted ahead of time.
Substantively, perhaps most intriguing so far is the evidence that the great majority of the world’s 12- to 25-year-olds who participated in this survey have thought about and engaged with spiritual and religious matters, that it seems to be something they very much care about exploring. For example, only 18% have never thought about whether they would describe themselves as either religious or spiritual, 65% agree or strongly agree that they are interested in things that are mysterious or unexplainable, and in the last year, 3 in 4 have talked with their friends at least a few times about God or faith.
There is considerable variation across countries in how much young people report thinking about these matters, but in most countries, the majority of the young people surveyed report being interested in spiritual and/or religious issues. Together, the internal logic of the well-differentiated response patterns and the high degree of interest revealed by these youth say to us that these survey data are probably of good quality and therefore will be useful in both scholarly and practical ways. To have that confidence in the data is, for the social scientist, a source of great relief!
Peter L. Benson, Ph.D.
I’m intrigued by the discovery that the terms “spiritual development” and “spirituality” do not easily translate into some languages, like Japanese and Chinese. Why in English do we make the distinction between religion and spirituality? What does this say about English-speaking societies? I think we can learn a lot by probing into cultural differences in language.
Pamela Ebstyne King, Ph.D.
We are realizing that spiritual exemplars are still adolescents. They like to watch TV (even World Wide Wrestling Federation), they game too much, they think about what they wear, they at some point have fought with their parents, they love soccer, they stress over exams, and their parents divorce.
But although in many ways they face the typical issues of adolescents, they live out their lives with a profound sense of spirituality. For most of the exemplars, God is central to their spirituality. These youth tend to describe being in a relationship with God and articulate a strong desire to draw closer to God. On the other hand, some exemplars do not believe in God at all. God is generally seen as benevolent and a source of inspiration, help, direction, compassion, justice, and peace. Many exemplars rely on God to make sense of suffering and struggles. God is seen as in control and active in their lives. Youth articulate wanting to trust God more, depend on God more. Some also talk about God as having influence on all of their lives.
Arturo Sesma, Ph.D.
From a more general perspective (as opposed to a more molecular data-perspective), I think the most interesting little bit thus far has been the realization that youth have thought about these issues and seem highly willing to discuss matters of religion and spirituality. This is especially intriguing to me, as a developmental psychologist, because we just don’t have any high-quality studies on these phenomena, despite their salience in the lives of youth. This is something we all thought would be the case when we began this work, but to actually read the focus group and exemplar data, and to look over the quantitative survey data, it really drives home the point that for many kids, this is an important facet of who they are.
Reader Comments |Add Comment|
Comments contain user-generated content that does not necessarily represent the views of the author(s) or the staff and advisors of the Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence.
How English is English? – 10/24/2008
John C. Douglas, D,Min.(cand)
Interesting to hear comments of language difficulties in translating the terms of spiritual development and spirituality against the “cognitive intents” of the terms in English-speaking societies. How definitively or broadly are the terms’ meanings in English-speaking societies? What are the lessons we can learn from probing cultural differences in defining/describing spiritualy and its development within Anglophonic societies?
Report inappropriate comments to spiritualdevelopment@search-institute.org
