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PI: Mario Beauregard, Université de Montréal:

Title: “Neural Correlates of a Mystical State in Carmelite Nuns"

Authors: Mario Beauregard and Vincent Paquette, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal (Quebec), Canada.

Abstract: The turn of the new millenium has seen the emergence of “Spiritual neuroscience”, a field of scientific investigation at the crossroads of psychology, spirituality, and neuroscience. The main objective of this new domain of research is to explore the neural underpinnings of religious/spiritual/mystical experiences (RSMEs). With regard to this issue, it has been hypothesized that a "God module" located in the temporal lobe plays a pivotal role in RSMEs. We conducted two neuroimaging studies (one with functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI, the other with quantitative electroencephalography or QEEG) to test this hypothesis. The brain activity of 15 Carmelite nuns was measured while they were in a mystical state (in the Christian sense of union with God). From a first-person perspective, this state was characterized by changes in self-consciousness, emotional state, and body schema. FMRI revealed that this state was associated with significant loci of activation, not only in the temporal lobe, but also in brain regions known to be implicated in emotion (orbitofrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, insula, brainstem), the representation of the body (inferior and superior parietal lobules), and visual imagery (extra-striate visual cortex).  QEEG demonstrated that there was considerable theta activity (4 – 8 Hz) in most of these cerebral structures. Contra to the "God module" hypothesis in the temporal lobe, these findings suggest that several brain regions and systems are involved in RSMEs.

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PI: Brenda Cole, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute:

Title: “Into the Darkness, Into the Light: The Many Shades of Spiritual Transformation Among Cancer Patients”

Authors: Brenda Cole and Clare Hopkins, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

Abstract: This presentation will discuss the development and testing of the Spiritual Transformation Scale (STS), a scale that assesses spiritual changes following a diagnosis of cancer.  The scale contains 40 items that assess spiritual changes across four domains, changes in: world views (e.g., “My way of looking at life has changed to be more spiritual”), goals (e.g., “I pay more attention to things that are spiritually important and forget about the little things that used to bother me”), relationships (e.g., “I act more compassionately towards other people since my diagnosis”), and sense of self (e.g., “I more often see my own life as sacred”).  While most items, like the examples above, assessed spiritual growth, other items assessed spiritual decline (e.g., “In some ways I think I am spiritually lost). The psychometric properties of this instrument were supported through the analyses of questionnaire data from 253 people who were diagnosed with cancer in the previous two years.  Based on these results two subscales were formulated: Spiritual Growth and Spiritual Decline.   The findings indicated that Spiritual Growth was associated with better adjustment for the study participants.  It was associated with more positive affect, greater spiritual well-being, and greater overall psychological growth.  However, Spiritual Decline was associated with poorer adjustment: greater depression, greater negative affect, less positive affect, and poorer spiritual well-being. This presentation will review these findings and explore ways that care providers (clergy, social workers, therapists, etc.) might utilize this instrument to explore spiritual issues with cancer patients, identify people for whom spiritual decline is present, and work with these patients to restore a sense of spiritual well-being.

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PI: Harold Delaney, University of New Mexico

Title: "Antecedents of Transformation: Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Disciplines, and Community"

Authors:  Harold D. Delaney and William R. Miller, University of New Mexico,
and Todd W. Hall and Peter C. Hill, Biola University

Following Hall (2002), we proposed a structural model identifying two key factors that contribute to spiritual transformation:  1) intentionality in one’s spiritual practices (Willard, 1991, 1993); and  2) emotionally-significant relationships within a spiritual community.    In the current project, the focus was on the “fruits” of changed dispositions or habits (James, 1902, p. 262). Specifically, we hypothesized that spiritual transformation would be manifested in attributes classically described through the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love or agape.             

Multiple waves of data were collected at a state university (University of New Mexico [UNM]) and at a Christian liberal arts institution (Biola University) to evaluate this model.  A randomized clinical trial was also conducted to assess the effects of a 16-week program of spiritual direction on the spiritual well-being of Protestant, Catholic, and other students at UNM.

Parallel factor analyses at Biola and UNM helped refine the measures of the predictors (spiritual practices and community) and outcomes (faith, hope, and love) in our structural model.  The longitudinal study conducted at Biola, involving a sample of over 400 students and four waves of data analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling, assessed change over the first two years of college in these spiritual practices and virtues.  Significant linear declines over the two years were observed in spiritual practices and community and in faith and hope.  Within-subject associations indicated that increases (or decreases) over time in spiritual practices and community were predictive of increases (or decreases) over time in faith and hope.  Changes in agape were less well predicted.

The randomized clinical trial of spiritual direction at UNM involved eleven seminary-educated, experienced spiritual mentors who completed a series of workshops training them in using motivational interviewing  (Miller & Rollnick, 2002) to enhance compliance with a program of spiritual disciplines.  85 incoming freshman students were randomly assigned either to receive spiritual direction from a mentor or to work through a book on spiritual disciplines on their own.  Students in the spiritual direction condition were asked to meet with their mentor for 8 bi-monthly, one-hour sessions in Fall, 2004.  Sessions were audiotaped and the tapes were coded for mentor empathy and compliance with the manualized treatment program.   Analyses revealed significant effects of mentoring on the spiritual practices and spiritual community involvement of students assigned to this condition, particularly those who completed at least half of the mentoring sessions.  The increase in the Treatment group from pre-test to the post-test was significantly greater than that in the Control group.  There was also evidence of some effects on the theological virtues assessed at the end of the semester of mentoring, specifically for faith and agape, again with effects more pronounced for those actually treated than for all assigned students.  However, these results were not maintained at the delayed follow-up carried out at the end of the academic year.  The current project also examined the dramatic, lasting “quantum changes” reported having been experienced by students in our samples.   Similarities to, and differences from, results obtained in Miller and C’de Baca’s (2001) study of quantum change will be noted.

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PI: Al Dueck, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Psychology

Title: “Spirituality, Language and Behavioral Transformation”

Authors: Al Dueck, Kevin Reimer, Alexandra Linscott and Hana Shin, Fuller Theological Seminary

Abstract: Western history is replete with examples of persons whose lives were profoundly changed by an overwhelming spiritual experience: the Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, St. Paul and many others.  William James' empirical reflections on the varieties of religious experience reminded the scientific community that spiritual transformation involves behavior amenable to observation and analysis.  The first study to be reported considered correspondence between internal representations of self and other in religious attachment for individuals from three major world religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity). The project emphasized attachment language in its analyses of the self reports of individuals from each of the three traditions. Using a computational linguistic analysis, the results indicate that religious socialization for all three religions is best predicted on people’s immediate social networks rather than parental influences.  A second study examined the experiences of spiritual transformation after highly stressful life events of individuals. The findings suggest that religious exemplars’ appraisals of highly stressful life events do lead to spiritual transformation.

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PI: Peggy Giordano, Bowling Green State University:

Title: "Spiritual Transformation and Criminal Involvement Over the Life Course:
Mechanisms Underlying successful 'Desistance"

Authors: Peggy C. Giordano & Monica A. Longmore (Bowling Green State
University)

Abstract: Most of the research on delinquency and crime focuses on initial causes, but processes associated with movement away from a criminal lifestyle have not as often been investigated.  When investigators have explored factors associated with “desistance” from crime,  lifestyle factors such as marital and employment history have been the primary focus.  The current study explores the degree to which and ways in which spiritual transformations influence desistance processes, once these basic life circumstances have been taken into account.  The project builds upon a long-term follow-up of a sample of 210 female and male adolescents, originally incarcerated due to their involvement in serious delinquency.  Since the initial interview conducted in 1982, the respondents have been re-interviewed as young adults in 1995 and again in 2003.  Funding from Metanexus Insitute has enabled us to analyze the structured and open-ended interview data, and to conduct approximately 50 in-depth interviews with individuals who linked spirituality to behavioral changes they had made.  Analyses of the structured interview data reveal that while perceived closeness to God was, in the aggregate, only modestly correlated with level of criminal activity, we observe an interesting interaction with spouse/romantic partner effects.  The latter has repeatedly been shown to influence respondents’ own behavior profiles, but the level of perceived closeness to God influences the partner effect—among those with antisocial partners, closeness to God apparently operates as a buffer, decreasing or delimiting the impact of the partner’s behavior. 

We have also analyzed the in-depth life history narratives in order to identify the meanings of spiritual transformation from the respondents’ own points of view.  An important aspect of this work has been to document how these women and men connect spiritual changes to behavioral and other life style changes.  The analyses highlight that both spiritual transformations and desistance are best understood as dynamic processes, rather than discrete events.  Our analyses have also led us to include attention to emotional processes, rather than focusing solely on cognitive mechanisms (e.g., the idea of “cognitive restructuring”).  We have also shown how some spiritual beliefs/practices may prove limiting to desistance efforts, and highlighted that a minimal level of economic and social stability increase the likelihood that spiritual transformations will   have a sustained, prosocial effect. 

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PI: Leonard Hummel, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

Title: “Cancer and Spiritual Transformation: A Practical Theology”

Abstract: TBA

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PI: Gail Ironson, University of Miami

Title: “Spiritual Transformation in the Face of Illness: AIDS”

Authors: Gail Ironson, Heidemarie Kremer, Dale Ironson, Annie George, and Elizabeth Balbin, University of Miami

Abstract: One of the most profound crisis people encounter in life is being confronted with a life threatening illness. The reason for examining spiritual transformations in people with HIV is that having such a life threatening diagnosis causes many people to re-examine their spirituality and relationship with the sacred. There were two main components of this study: (1) Questionnaires and in depth interviews were done with people who reported having a spiritual transformation (n ~ 76) in order to understand the process of spiritual transformation in people with HIV. (2) A longitudinal sample was followed over 4 years to investigate any spiritual beliefs and practices that could protect the health (CD4, viral load), longevity, and well-being of people with HIV (n ~76).

Results: We found that about 30% of our longitudinal sample had a spiritual transformation.  The most common antecedents for such transformations were having a spiritual experience including near death experience, getting the HIV diagnosis, or hitting rock bottom/stopping drugs or alcohol.  Participants reported changes in beliefs, behaviors, values, priorities and view of self as a result of their spiritual transformations. Correlates of having a spiritual transformation included having a sense of greater meaning and purpose in life, a more positive view of God, and greater adherence to HIV medications.  Beliefs and behaviors that were associated with slower disease progression in the longitudinal study included: the feeling that God loves you, an increase in spirituality after the diagnosis, seeing the illness as an opportunity for growth, and prayer. Conversely, beliefs associated with faster deterioration with HIV were believing that God is going to judge you harshly, a turning away from spirituality after the diagnosis, and viewing oneself as a victim.

Implications. Variables affecting disease progression such as judgment, victim hood, and spirituality are changeable and therefore interventions can be designed to incorporate them. The reaction to the diagnosis makes a difference in health outcomes. People can be encouraged to deal with the diagnosis in a more beneficial way i.e. turning towards vs. away from spirituality, seeing the growth potentials and opportunities vs. feeling like a victim. Finally, previous research primarily used church attendance to predict health outcomes. Our findings suggest that measures of view of God, judgmental ness and change in spirituality are significant factors which should also be assessed.

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PI: Sung Joon Jang, Louisiana State University

Title: “Spiritual but Not Religious” Explanation of Crime, Deviance, and Mental Health"

Author:  Sung Joon Jang, Louisiana State University

Abstract: This paper is intended to explore “spiritual but not religious” explanation of crime, deviance, and mental health.  First, spirituality is conceptualized as distinct construct from religiosity.  Second, it will be examined whether this proposed conceptual distinction between spirituality and religiosity receives empirical support.  Finally, relationships between spirituality (versus religiosity) and crime, deviance, and mental health will be described based on survey data collected from a national sample of college students in the United States.

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PI: Jerome Kagan, Harvard University

Title: “Contribution of Temperament to a Spiritual Outlook”

Authors: Jerome Kagan and Nancy Snidman, Harvard University

Abstract: A group of 107 middle class adolescents, 15-18 years old, classified at 4 months as high reactive (N=48) or low reactive (N=59) were interviewed at home for their spiritual values. Each adolescent was classified as religious if they attended religious services regularly, awarded some power to a spiritual force, and prayed regularly. One third was classified as having a strong religious-spiritual outlook. The results revealed that 45% of the youth who had been high-reactive were classified as religious compared with 25% of low-reactives  (χ2 = 4.4, p < .05). Second, the youth who on a Q sort procedure described self as “happy most of the time" were more likely to be spiritual and less likely to report that they "worried about being alone". Third, among the high reactives, those who showed biological evidence of lower amygdalar arousal were more spiritual than those high reactives who were less spiritual. This result implies that the religious youth were less apprehensive in the laboratory situation.   These spiritual high reactives were more inner-directed for they reported being more concerned with their school performance and more thoughtful and less concerned with their attractiveness to peers than the less spiritual high reactives. Finally five high reactive girls were diagnosed with depression and were being treated by a physician. All five were non-spiritual, suggesting that a spiritual outlook may be protective against apathy in modern society among those at risk for depression (i.e., the high reactives are more vulnerable than low reactives). These data support the view that a child's temperament makes a small contribution to a spiritual commitment and that commitment seems to be a therapeutic resource for modern middle class youth in our society.

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PI: Dacher Keltner, University of California, Berkeley

Title: “Vagal Markers of Connection and Spirituality”

Abstract: In this paper we make the case that vagal tone is a physiological marker of social connection and spiritual transformation.  To do so, we present data from a one year longitudinal study of spiritual experience.  In this work, we have documented that baseline vagal tone gathered in the fall predicts measures of pro-social emotion in response to film clips (compassion, awe), trait based measures of social connection (agreeableness, extraversion), the dispositional tendency toward optimism, positive health, and positive emotion, and, in internet diary based data, the experience of spiritual transformation.  We rely on other laboratory data to make the case that vagal tone is a marker of compassion, social connection, and spiritual experience.

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PI: Robert Kraus, Juneau Recovery Hospital (Alaska) and University of Kentucky:

Title: “Traditional Spirituality on an American Indian Alcohol Treatment
Program”

Authors: Robert F. Kraus, M.D., Verner Stillner, M.D., M.P.H., Theodore Godlaski, M.A., M.Div., Robert Morgan, Ph.D., University of Kentucky

Abstract:  The research involves the introduction of Traditional Tlingit Indian spiritual and cultural values into an existing western oriented Alcohol Treatment program.  Four dimensions of the project will be presented and discussed: 1) The literature review and ethnographic field work necessary to develop the database concerning traditional Tlingit spirituality 2) The task and techniques involved in introducing these concepts into the program and measuring effects of the intervention on the test group and two control groups  3) The statistical analysis of results to date  4) The development of a psychological test instrument to measure Tlingit spirituality.

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PI: Jean Kristeller, Indiana State University

Title: “Spiritual Engagement: A Path to Coping with Cancer”

Authors: Jean L. Kristeller, Ph.D., Betsy Frank, Ph.D., Virgil Sheets, Ph.D., Tom Johnson, Ph.D., and Leonard Hummel, Ph.D.

A serious illness, such as cancer, brings with it a feeling of vulnerability and often raises issues of existential identity and mortality even if the prognosis is good. Our previous research had identified that even a brief inquiry from a physician into spiritual resources improves mood and cancer-related quality of life, and is well received by cancer patients. The current project has again documented that this type of inquiry is appreciated by patients, and appears to have benefit for individuals struggling with issues around spirituality.

Another goal of the study has been to identify meaningful typologies (and their prevalence) of spiritual engagement with cancer as they occur over time. While we found that relatively few of the 130 patients enrolled in the study reported dramatic experiences of spiritual transformation, over half reported drawing very substantially on their spiritual resources in coping with cancer, expressing a deepened sense of spiritual engagement. We were able to identify four clusters of individuals; the largest group (about 45%) were functioning well, had high levels of spiritual well-being, and high levels of benefit finding in dealing with their cancer. In contrast, a much smaller group (about 15%) had overall the lowest level of functioning, some depression, very little involvement in religion, and reported little experiences of personal growth in dealing with cancer. A third group (about 25%), while also having little involvement in formal religion, expressed high levels of spiritual meaning and peace, had low levels of depression, and were also able to identify ways in which they had grown in dealing with their cancer. The fourth group, also small (about 15%), was struggling with depression and spiritual questions, yet had drawn on their own religious background and beliefs to find meaning in their cancer. Analysis of qualitative interviews with these individuals adds understanding to these different ways of engaging religious and spiritual issues, from both a psychogical and theological perspective.

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PI: Sandra Lane, SUNY Upstate Medical University:

Title: “Spiritual Transformation and Childbirth”
 
Abstract: Objective: This study investigates the phenomenon of spiritual transformation during childbirth for a cohort of 100 mothers, and their baby’s fathers (n=34), age 18 and older.  The study enrolled participants in the third trimester of pregnancy, and follows them until the baby’s first year of life.

Research design: The research involves an observational cohort design.  The primary outcome variable is experience of elements of a spiritual transformation. 

Primary hypothesis: The primary hypothesis is that during childbirth both mothers and fathers may experience a range of potentially positive changes in consciousness that fit within the evolving definition of spiritual transformation.

Preliminary Results: A majority of the babies’ mothers describe changes in themselves from a relatively self-centered focus to a responsible, caring, other-centered focus.  The experiences reported by the mothers, and some of the fathers, fits with the descriptions of spiritual transformation elucidated by prior research and the testimonies of religious prophets or sacred leaders, such as a sense of awe and increased compassion. But the parents rarely report these feelings as constituting a spiritual dimension. 

Conclusion: Significant changes occur to parents during childbirth that emotionally prepare them for parenthood.  These changes are consistent with elements of spiritual transformation as described by other studies, but are not so defined by the parents.

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PI: Donald Miller, University of Southern California

Title: “The Role of Spirituality in Two NGOs in Africa”

Authors: Donald E. Miller, University of Southern California, Greg Stanczak
Williams College, Grace Dyrness, University of Southern California

Abstract: This research project focused on the role that spirituality plays organizationally in two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa.  More than 150 interviews were conducted with staff members and leaders associated with World Vision Tanzania, World Vision Rwanda, and Solace Ministries in Rwanda.  In addition, researchers observed group worship at staff meetings of these two NGOs, as well as worship services conducted for genocide survivors at Solace Ministries.  Based on these interviews and observations, it is argued that 1) religion plays a primary motivating role in the commitment to community development and social services by staff members of these organizations, 2) spiritual practices such as group devotions and prayer serve an important role in creating group cohesion among staff members, and 3) the content of biblical texts provides the context for social policy development (e.g., related to empowerment of women and advocacy related to human rights).  In a limited number of instances, the researchers interviewed individuals who had religious experiences in which they believed God spoke personally to them through dreams and other direct communication.  Both World Vision and Solace Ministries foster ecumenical relations across different Christian traditions, and World Vision, especially in Tanzania, works extensively with Muslim populations in its development projects, even though it is a Christian organization.

PI: Michael McCullough, University of Miami:

Title: “Spiritual Transformation Over the Adult Life Course in the Terman Sample”

Abstract: We conducted two studies using a sample of intellectually gifted California adults who were born in the first two decades of the 1900s.  Our goal was to understand how their religious and spiritual lives unfolded over the life course. In a first study, we discovered that although it is possible to talk about a “typical” pattern of religious development, there are several very distinct patterns of religious development that unfold in very different ways over the life course.  These patterns of development can be predicted on the basis of gender, one’s religious upbringing as a child, one’s personality traits in early adulthood, and one’s choices about family matters such as marriage and childrearing. In a second study, we tried to understand how the religious development of men whose lives were caught up in World War II. We found that involvement in combat during World War II had some important effects on religious development following the end of the war, but that these effects on religious development interacted in some important ways with one’s childhood relationships with one’s parents. The effects of combat exposure on subsequent religious development also differed depending on whether one was following a “low” or a “high” trajectory” of religious development.

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PI: Doug Oman, University of California, Berkeley

Title: “Effects of Spiritual Modeling Stress Management Interventions on College Undergraduates”

Author: Doug Oman, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract: Findings are presented from a spiritually-based randomized intervention among college undergraduates (N=44).  Substantial previous research suggests the efficacy of meditation-based stress management programs. However, optimal long-term effectiveness requires adequate cognitive and/or social resources for integrating reduced-stress states of mind, experienced during sitting meditation, into the remainder of daily living. Based on Bandura's social cognitive theory and previous research, we argue that optimal integration may be fostered by supplying participants with tools for learning from a variety of "spiritual models," i.e., persons who exemplify spiritual qualities. Spiritual models may include members of a person's family or community, as well as prominent persons known through spiritual/religious organizations or printed or electronic media. Consistent with expectations, we found similar immediate and two-month reductions in stress and enhancements in forgiveness, compared to waitlist, from meditation-based treatment conditions that provided (1) high and (2) reduced exposure to tools for learning from spiritual models. However, also consistent with expectations, high versus reduced spiritual modeling tools were associated with increases in a measure of self-efficacy for learning from spiritual models. Potential long-term implications for spiritual transformation are discussed.

Title: "Applying self-efficacy theory to spiritual transformation: Conceptualization and review"

Abstract: Dr. Oman will discusses the application of Bandura's social cognitive theory, especially its self-efficacy component, to spirituality and religion. Little previous research has examined self-efficacy for attaining spiritual and religious goals. He will offer examples of self-efficacy items for spiritual and religious goals, discuss several problematic issues and concerns. and present findings from a review of existing empirical literature.

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PI: Mark Regnerus, University of Texas at Austin

Title: “Losing My Religion: Negative Religious Transformation in Adolescence and Young Adulthood”

Abstract: While Americans are among the most religious in the industrialized world, it is widely observed that many of them exhibit an evident˜though often temporary˜sharp decline (or negative transformation) in religiosity during early adulthood. There is no consensus about its causes, due in part to differing conceptions of what constitutes religious "decline." Using data from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we distinguish between three types of negative religious transformation: (1) a decrease in the frequency of religious practice, (2) a decrease in how important religion is perceived to be, and (3) dropping out of, or altogether disaffiliating from, a religious tradition. Contrary to expectations, the results suggest that emerging adults who do *not* attend college are at greatest risk for all three types of negative religious transformation. Union formation also predicts decreases in religiosity: Marriage tends to prevent a drop-off in religious practice, while cohabitation is positively associated with all three types of decline. Religiously problematic behaviors˜such as drug use, excessive drinking, and nonmarital sexual behavior˜are also positively associated with diminished religiosity during early adulthood.

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PI: Elizabeth A. R. Robinson, University of Michigan:

Title: “Life-Changing Spiritual and Religious Experiences in Treatment-Seeking
Alcoholics: Quantitative and Qualitative Findings”

Authors: Elizabeth A.R. Robinson and Amanda M. Price, University of Michigan

Abstract: Previous research has suggested that alcoholics are more likely to report having had life-changing spiritual or religious experiences than the general population. It is not clear whether having had such experiences is more likely to result in sobriety, although there are indications that these experiences are associated with higher levels of spirituality and religiousness than those who have not had such experiences. Some researchers have found that higher levels of spirituality are associated with greater sobriety. This research project is investigating the frequency and nature of life-changing spiritual/religious experiences and their relationship to recovery efforts, to sobriety, and to other dimensions of spirituality and religion (e.g., religious affiliation, spiritual experiences, forgiveness). Method: We are carrying out a qualitative and quantitative longitudinal survey of 210 alcoholics drawn from treatment centers and from the community. To date, we have 6-month follow-up data on 91 respondents and data collection is continuing. Our respondents on average are 45 years old (range 18-77), 85% white and 8% African-American, 44% are married and 32% are divorced or separated. About two-third are male (64%) and 45% are employed full-time, 15% part-time.  Preliminary Results: At baseline, 51% report having had a spiritual or religious experience that changed their lives, compared to 39% in a national sample. On average, these incidents occurred at the age of 28 (range is 2-65).The most common types of experiences reported include: nearly fatal experiences (e.g., war, accidents), experiences of deliberating connecting to God (e.g., prayer, meditation, church services), deaths and births, connecting with other people (e.g., having a family, talking with a friend or clergy), and being in AA. A few respondents described negative experiences. At 6 month follow-up, 22% had such experiences between the two interviews. These people tended to drink less than those who had not had such experiences, although this relationship is not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our preliminary results replicate previous findings that alcoholics have more life-changing spiritual/religious experiences than the general population and those with such experiences report higher levels of spirituality and religion on many dimensions. Evidence that having such experiences after treatment entry was associated with greater sobriety was inconclusive, however further 6-month and follow-up data are still being collected and may confirm this relationship.

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PI: Jeffrey Samuels, Western Kentucky University:

Title: “Spiritual Transformation among Sri Lankan Novices: Group Dynamics and Networks of Faith”

Author: Jeffrey Samuels, Western Kentucky University

Abstract: A number of previous and contemporary publications on spiritual transformation and religious conversion treat the phenomenon as an individual journey.  Despite acknowledging the role that a person’s contact with a group may play in the process, the actual transformative event is more often than not discussed in terms of the individual: how a personal crisis leads to a search for new meanings and, in turn, to new or deepening commitments to a religious tradition. 

In this report, the principal investigator will examine the role that group dynamics and networks of faith play in the spiritual transformation of young Buddhist novices.  Drawing on conversations with ordinands and novices, attention will be paid to the intimate connections that exist between a novice's continued relationships with the wider community (family members, lay donors, and other monastics) and his success in and continued commitment to his role as a member of the monastic community.  In making the case for a matrix of relationships that spark, contribute to, and enhance an adolescent’s spiritual transformation, the principal investigator will add yet another voice to the growing number of scholars--Oman, Bandura, Stark and Bainbridge--that have begun to move beyond those models that treat spiritual transformation as an individualistic journey or process. 

PI: Roberta Sands, University of Pennsylvania:

Title: "Gender Differences in the Use of Spiritual and Religious Terminology by Baalei Teshuvah"

Authors:  Roberta G. Sands, Rivka Danzig, and Robyn Rapoport Spero (University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice)

Much to the amazement of feminist scholars (e.g., Davidman, 1991; Kaufman, 1991), newcomers to Orthodox Judaism, baalei teshuvah, replace the secular, egalitarian-minded culture of their upbringing with a religious orientation that separates the genders.  This is an analysis of the ways in which men and women who have become Orthodox describe transformations in their internal and external lives as a consequence of their religious-spiritual change.  The presentation aims to (1) compare how men and women view spirituality and (2) determine whether and how men and women differentially construct the domains of work, learning, prayer, and community.

Qualitative data consist of transcribed interviews with 48 baalei teshuvah, half men and half women; two focus group meetings with baalei teshuvah who are health and mental health professionals; and interviews with 10 Orthodox Jewish communal leaders.  Findings based on qualitative data were derived inductively from the data.   Supplementary quantitative data consist of descriptive information on the interview sample and the results of an inventory on psychosocial stages based on Erik Erikson’s model.  The analysis of supplementary data found that the men and women were similar in age, education, and occupations.  Women, however, scored significantly higher in psychosocial development. 

Our principal finding is that men and women use different terms and highlight different dimensions of parallel experiences.  The women spoke openly and affirmatively about their spiritual lives.  Although some of the men scoffed at the term “spirituality,” close examination of the text of their interviews revealed that they spoke extensively about their relationship with God, which we consider fundamental to Jewish spirituality.  With respect to the domains, the men gave more attention to work and its interface with religion than women did. Both men and women spoke about their increasing their knowledge of Judaism by attending classes or learning from others.  The men spoke apologetically about their deficiencies in language and their expressed the desire to attain knowledge of the Talmud, whereas the women spoke about the excitement of learning and the social contexts in which learning occurred.  Both men and women spoke about praying. Men spoke about the importance of being part of a daily minyan (prayer group) whereas the women spoke about their desire to pray on a more regular basis.  The women spoke more expansively about being part of a community than men.  Nevertheless, both men and women spoke of the salience of community service. The men talked about assuming visible roles in the synagogue or prayer group; the women discussed helping others. The results will be discussed in relation to the differential demands on Orthodox men and women and prior research on baalei teshuvah and writings about gender differences in traditional Judaism.

PI: Tom Smith, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago:

Title: “Spiritual Transformations in America”
 
Abstract: The National Spiritual Transformation Study, conducted as part of the 2004 General Social Survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago,is a representative sample of the spiritual transformations of adult Americans. It documents that spiritual/religious change is a common and powerful experience in America. About half of all adult Americans have had such an experience. Such change is strongly related to current religious beliefs and behaviors, but shows little relationship to most non-religious demographics. A series of open-ended items indicates that the leading causes of spiritual/religious change are normal religious activity and having had a serious personal problem, most often an illness, accident, or death to oneself or someone close. A strengthening of faith is the most common consequence of this experience. This is followed by changes in character (e.g. being more understanding, helpful) and the stopping of bad habits (e.g. drinking, partying). The lasting importance of such spiritual/religious change is also shown by closed-ended measures and the predictive power that the variable has in explaining various beliefs and behaviors even with other religious variables controlled for.

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PI: W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia:

Title: “Happily Ever After? Spiritual Transformation and Relationship Quality in Urban Families”

Authors: W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia and Nicholas H. Wolfinger, University of Utah

Abstract: Religious participation has traditionally been linked to greater satisfaction in intimate relationships.  This research has focused on married couples, so little is known about whether religion also benefits participants in less traditional relationships.  Using data from the three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we find that consistently high religious participation by men is usually associated with high quality romantic relationships among new parents in urban America; women's consistently high religious participation, along with spiritual transformations among both men and women, is not typically associated with higher quality relationships.  These results suggest that men's investment in relationships depends more on the institutional contexts of those relationships-namely marriage and religion-than do women's. The findings also suggest that religious effects on relationships take a while to manifest themselves; in other words, spiritual transformations do not have immediately positive effects on relationship quality.