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Spiritual experiences evoke awe through the small self in both religious and non-religious individuals
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Preston, Jesse and Shin, Faith (2017) Spiritual experiences evoke awe through the small self in both religious and non-religious individuals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70 . pp. 212-221. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2016.11.006 ISSN 0022-1031.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.11.006
Abstract
Spiritual experiences are profound moments of personal transcendence, connection, and wonder. Five studies (total N = 1064) investigate how spiritual experiences induce feelings of awe, in both religious and non-religious people, through a sense of small self. Recalling spiritual experiences increased feelings of Awe (Studies 1-5), Small Self (Studies 2, 4, & 5), and Spiritual Humility (Studies 3 & 4), but did not impact Intellectual Humility (Studies 3 & 4). We thus note a paradox– spirituality promotes humility toward the divine, but not humility about one’s beliefs. Moreover, the effect of spiritual experiences on Awe was mediated by feelings of Small Self (Studies 2, 4 & 5) and Spirituality Humility (Studies 3 & 4). The effects of spiritual experiences on Awe and Small Self were found in both religious and non-religious individuals, but religious people recalled more explicit religious events and life and death events as sources of spirituality, whereas non-religious people were more likely to report experiences in nature, peak experiences, science, and yoga/ meditation as spiritual experiences. We conclude that religious and non-religious people may generate different types of spiritual experiences, but spirituality induces awe through a sense of small self shared by both religious and non-religious individuals, and this may help us to understand the meaning of spirituality without religion.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Awe, Spirituality | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology | ||||||||
Publisher: | Academic Press | ||||||||
ISSN: | 0022-1031 | ||||||||
Official Date: | May 2017 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 70 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 212-221 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1016/j.jesp.2016.11.006 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 12 December 2016 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 6 June 2018 |
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