Spirituality as an Irreducible Human Motivation and Process

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners have defined the critical functions of religion in terms of presumably more basic psychological, social, and physiological functions, such as self-regulation, anxiety-reduction, community, meaning, and evolutionary advantage. While there is support for each of these perspectives, this paper asserts that the most fundamental function of religion is spiritual; that is, people are motivated to discover, sustain, and transform a relationship with something sacred in their lives. Drawing on a variety of theoretical and empirical sources, this paper presents evidence that spirituality is an important, irreducible motivation and process in and of itself. This approach places spirituality where it belongs, at the center of the psychology of religion and spirituality. The paper concludes by considering some theoretical, practical, and empirical implications of a nonreductive approach to spirituality.

Notes

¹There is no single belief or practice that holds the key to an effective or mature spirituality from the perspective of this theory. Instead, I have argued elsewhere that a mature spirituality can be best understood in terms of the degree to which it is well integrated (see Pargament, 2007, for more complete discussion of spiritual integration).