critical thinking and spirituality

Critical Thinking

Why is critical thinking important? It is important because not everything you hear and read is true. And since none of us what to believe what is false, we must have some way to tell the difference between what is true and what is false. Nobody wants to be wrong. This is where critical thinking comes in. It gives you the skills to think more clearly.

Be Skeptical

Martin Cohen says that “Lesson One in critical thinking is that you need to always be aware that what you think on any issue may be wrong.” He goes on to say, “Lesson Two is the harder learnt: what you read others saying may be wrong too” (294). A skeptical state of mind is required in order to think critically about anything. We are too prone to overlook evidence that is contrary to what we already believe.

“The fundamental cause of the trouble,” writes Bertrand Russell, “is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubts” (Cohen 12). The sure sign of shallow thinking is the dogmatic attitude towards what they believe. As you grow older you realize the wisdom of the saying, “The wider the pool of knowledge, the greater the shores of ignorance.

But it is not just the claims that should be questioned, but the assumptions behind the claim. As Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau writes, “Critical thinking means questioning not only the assumptions of others, but also questioning your own assumptions” (5). Assumptions are the things we take for granted. Wrong assumptions lead to wrong conclusions.

Claims and Beliefs

A claim, sometimes called a truth claim or proposition, is “a statement that is either true or false” (Moore and Parker 500). Not all statements are claims, but many statements are. In fact, we hear claims every day of our lives. The problem is that we don’t question these claims and ask if they are really true. A claim is true if it corresponds to reality, it is false if it does not. When what you think matches the way things really are, you have a true claim.

The best definition of truth is that it is the correspondence of thought and reality. Every other attempted definition has to assume this one. In other words, every other definition has to assume that their definition corresponds to the reality of what truth is.

Now the truth of a claim can never be absolute or certain. The truth of a claim cannot be absolute, because we do not know everything, and what we don’t know might show that the claim is false. This also means that we can never be absolutely certain of any claim. This is true for every aspect of human endeavor, from science to philosophy.

Furthermore, a claim can never be completely comprehensive. In other words, a claim is made of words, and words are not reality – they are symbols created to represent reality. As such, words cannot contain the depth and scope of reality itself. This is why Zen Buddhism warns us about mistaking the symbol for the reality. Just because you know the definition of humility doesn’t mean you have humility.

Beliefs are claims that we have accepted as true. Critical thinkers should be careful about what they accept as true. They should have good reasons for the things they believe. But many times we don’t have good reasons. Often times we just accept the beliefs of family, friends, and the media. We should learn not to automatically believe everything we hear. We should test it out, think it through, weigh the evidence, discern the assumptions, and come to a reasoned decision.

Faith and belief are different, and you should be aware of this difference. Belief is merely the accepting of a claim as true. It says nothing about the grounds for that belief. Some beliefs are justified, which means there are good reasons for accepting them. Other beliefs are unjustified, they are reached not by solid reasoning but bias, prejudice, or emotional considerations. The point is that the word belief says nothing about the grounds of accepting a claim.

Faith, on the other hand, does indicate the grounds of belief, or the lack thereof. Faith is accepting a claim as true without evidence, without good rational reasons. Faith and trust should not be confused, trust is confident reliance on a person or thing, but says nothing about whether this trust is warranted. In this sense, trust is like belief, it does not indicate whether the grounds for the trust or belief is good, bad, or nonexistent.

Paradigm Prisons

Claims are statements that are true or false. Once a claim is accepted as true it becomes a belief, and beliefs are very important. As Joyce and River Higginbotham point out, “What you believe about yourself and your world determines to a large extent the kinds of experiences you will have and how you will interpret them” (45). Your experiences in life are limited by your beliefs, and then they are interpreted by your beliefs.

If you take a hike on a mountain and are suddenly in rapt awe, your experience will be filtered through your beliefs. This network of beliefs is called a paradigm, it is the mental map you have created of the world. It is the world as you interpret it, your worldview. The rapt awe will be interpreted by a Pagan as union with Mother Nature and a Christian as God. All our experience are filtered and altered by what we believe. Beliefs shape your view of reality, and as such, they shape your life.

The problem is that paradigms allow us to make sense of the world, but they also blind us. We can’t see any other perspective but our perspective. Everything makes so much sense to us, we are just so certain that reality is how we envision it. We are caught in the paradigm prison, a prison for the mind.

Paradigms are not optional, we need them to think at all. They are our effort at trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle of reality together. Unfortunately, many us inherited our paradigm from our family and society, and few actually question the paradigm that they inherited. This is why, generally speaking, Muslims come from Muslim countries, Christians come from Christian countries, Hindus come from Hindu countries, and so on. Being born into a Muslim country is not a good reason to be a Muslim.

Critical thinkers know the dangers of being stuck in a particular viewpoint, and that is why they try to expand their vision, look at things from a different perspective. They know that a claim that can’t be tested shouldn’t be trusted. Sometimes you may find that the opponent’s viewpoint is actually closer to the truth. They you will have to decide whether you follow the truth or whether you just don’t want to be wrong. You might also discover that we believe many things for other than rational reasons.

Possibility and Probability

Since the truth can never be known with absolute certainty, we need to accept the fact that we will never know for sure that we are right. That should bring a sense of humility and perspective into every conversation. But for some people, that will cause distress and unease. For if we don’t know anything for sure, what about questions of God, death, hell, and the afterlife?

This is when it is helpful to remember the difference between the possible and the probable. Many things are possible, but few things are probable. The key is to believe the probable, and be open but unbelieving of the possible. The possible could possibly be true, but we have no good reason to believe it is. The probable is that which we have good reason to believe is true.

There are only three options we can take when dealing with a claim. We can accept the claim, reject the claim, or suspend judgment concerning the claim. Accepting the claim means believing it, rejecting the claim means disbelieving it, and suspending judgment means that we are still in doubt about the claims status. The question is on what basis should we make the decision?

Evidence is the basis for accepting or rejecting a claim, and a lack of evidence either way is the basis for suspending judgment. By evidence I mean objective and verifiable facts, observations, or inferences. The ultimate authority for the critical thinker is evidence. The scientific method is the best self-correcting means to evidence that we have developed. The further we get from science and into more subjective things, and the more careful we need to be in our thinking.

In weighing the evidence, you are trying to reason to the most probable claim that offers the best explanation of the evidence. You want to make sure the claim is logical and consistent, based on objective physical observations, that it works in real life, and that it answers best all the questions raised by the issue.

The Burden of Proof

There is a teapot buried 12 feet deep somewhere on Pluto. Do you believe me? Why not? You can’t prove that the claim is false. I mean, it could possibly be that NASA sent a probe to bury a teapot on Pluto. It could be true, I mean it is possible, no matter how very unlikely.

First, this demonstrates the difference between the possible and the probable. A teapot on Pluto is not probable and therefore should not be believed. But a second point is revealed by the line, “You can’t prove that the claim is false.” Possible claims and mere assertions are the same thing. And this is why the understanding the burden of proof is so important.

The rule of the burden or proof says that a person who makes a positive claim has the burden to prove it. In other words, if you affirm that something is the case, it is your responsibility to give good reasons for accepting your claim. This also means that the person denying a claim has no obligation to prove a negative. In the case of the teapot, the burden of proof says you have no obligation to prove that there is no teapot on Pluto. Rather, it is my job to first give you evidence of my claim.

Once an affirmative claim is made and evidence is offered, it is only then that the burden of proof switches to the person denying the claim.

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• Barnet, Sylvan and Hugo Bedau. Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings , 8th. Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. • Cohen, Martin. Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies . West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015. • Higginbotham, Joyce and River. Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions . Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2002. • Moore, Brooke Noel and Richard Parker. Critical Thinking , 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2000.

5 thoughts on “Critical Thinking”

“Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can do no more.” -Thomas Merton. Critical thinker, yes. Faithless, no. – Patty Kay

I enjoyed your article! I think that most who claim faith have no reason. And I think many do.

Does it really matter? Just because some do not need proof for everything, doesn’t mean they can’t be critical thinkers.

Hi Patty, although I enjoy some of what Thomas Merton has written, I must disagree with him here. Rational belief is accepting a claim for good reasons, logical and empirical reasons. Faith is accepting a claim without evidence. Clear logical thinking that follows the evidence is not “the path to faith.” It is the path to truth. Truth is the correspondence between thought and reality. How are you going to know that your thought matches reality? By following the evidence.

Does it really matter? It depends on whether or not truth is important to the person. The path to truth is evidence, not faith. Evidence will lead you to the most probable answer. Faith is not a path to truth. That is why there are so many faiths and none of them agree. Being a critical thinker does, in fact, mean that you follow the evidence to the best possible claim, at least on all important issues.

W. K. Clifford is famous for saying, “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything on insufficient evidence.” Thomas Henry Huxley put it this way, “it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.” A more colloquial way of saying the same thing, in the words of English historian G.M. Young, “a man has no more right to an opinion for which he cannot account than to a pint of beer for which he cannot pay.” My advice is, “Don’t believe beyond the available evidence.”

Hello Jay, I appreciated your response. Concerning Merton, he’s difficult to read … long sentences and even longer paragraphs. I’m not looking for a debate, really … and I don’t think you’re making it one. I enjoyed your essay, I just think about old Merton when I read something along your lines. Truly, I’ve read more than Merton about faith and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t say I don’t have it. Faith in Something I have no clear image of, except for all that is. I enjoy reading other points of view. The only thing I really know is that I don’t know. So more power to you. You are a good writer!

Hopefully your friend, and definitely an admirer, Patty

Hi Patty, thank you for your response. I never found Merton hard to understand, I just disagree with his beliefs. When I was a Christian I was a big fan. He was a gentle and sincere teacher and was open-minded for a Roman Catholic.

I understand that feeling of “Something” greater. It is real, but interpretations differ. Some call it God, others the Tao, and yet others, like myself, I call it Nature. Nobody has all the answers, certainly not me.

My path is to follow the evidence to the best possible explanation. At the same time we have to realize the limits of what we know. That humility will keep us open to reality as it unfolds and help us live in harmony with one another, despite our differences of opinion.

Count me as your friend. Jay

Dear Jay, I must say, I am enjoying this exchange. You make me think. And what may seem laughable, I’m not thinking I should change my thinking, but thinking how I can explain it without the need to defend it.

I don’t know how to convey my agreement with you without explaining the differences in our fundamental understanding. Perhaps the main issue is vernacular. “You say tomato, I say tomaHto.”

What you call Nature, I call God. It really is that simple. At some point, all the evidence, all the verifiable comes to an Uncreate. If it all began with the Big Bang, or whatever you choose to call the emergence of Being outside eternity, okay. Then, to me, God is the Universe. Something had to be to cause, or become, that. If it is Nature, okay. I still call it God.

If our Universe is a bubble, or a wave amongst countless other waves or bubbles, then there is an Uncreate that existed to usher in all the Universes that are, have been, or will be. Or, I can imagine that eternity is a human-made construct and nothing I see or feel even exists. I am an avatar.

Regardless, I am. To me, that’s all the evidence I need. Human or avatar, here I am. And I respect and honor however I came to be, mostly because I like Being, or imagining I’m being.

Merton isn’t hard to understand. He’s very wrapped up in a patriarchal frame of mind. But that doesn’t mean that everything he says is wrong. He Is hard to read, for me, because I’m in search of meaning out of what is, literarily, rambling. I prefer pithy little sayings.

I am perfectly willing to accept that my thinking is full of beans. But I don’t think my beans add up to a hill in the giant scheme of things. It is how I can best understand the “how.” I’m still trying to figure the “why,” but I’m comfortable never being sure. In terms of my existence, I know that it is finite. A bitter pill, perhaps, but I’ve swallowed it.

If I’ve had past human lives, I’ve always been some version of a Kitchen Wench who has been raped and pillaged by patriarchy and maybe this time around I’m too aware of that fact to want no more. Maybe I’ll die and that’s it. Or maybe, just maybe, I get my fondest wish and my energy will merge with whatever flow there is. Whatever, I know my physical remains will be cremated after all the usable parts have been donated. Any ashes will fertilize a tree.

What concerns me is Now. “Now is the time, now is the place, this very day is salvation.” ~ A song I don’t remember much about, except that line. ~ And what is salvation to me? That my finite existence doesn’t impede other existence and that I work to ensure existence continues in whatever form Nature or God deems it to be. A friend of mine posted a Facebook link to an article about a bug that eats plastic. A leap of imagination from there, I can envision “Nature’s Revenge.” LoL I don’t think there will ever be enough of the bugs to eliminate all the waste humans have produced, but maybe it’s a hint. The Earth is in self-preservation mode. Humans think it’s okay to frack and to demonstrate it’s not, the Earth quakes. We trash up the place and Earth responds. If you want to call it Nature, then Nature is producing Super Bugs that are not responsive to human-made treatments. In a war, I’m certain that Nature would win.

A tangent, sorry!

So, let me conclude with a tip I use to cope with the horrors of this existence. I got it from a daily meditation I receive from the “Center for Action and Contemplation” ….

“It’s not about being correct; it’s about being connected.” —Richard Rohr

Most sincerely (if wackily), Patty

The Science Behind the Benefits of ‘Spiritual Thinking’

Holly Lebowitz Rossi

How spirituality expands our thinking and secures our mental health.

In the 1990s, when I first worked as a religion reporter, a new category of believer was emerging in America. Some of my colleagues called this SBNR: Spiritual, But Not Religious. More recently, journalists responded to demographic data suggesting that as many as twenty percent of the American public identify as “nones,” or having no religious home.

Both “SBNRs” and “nones” are less likely to belong to religious communities or identify overtly with a faith tradition. But in both cases, social science research consistently identified a simple truth— any sense of spirituality, any level of “spiritual thinking” in a person’s life benefits their mental health, their happiness and their resilience.

Lisa Miller, a clinical psychologist and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, has written a new book— The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life —about the brain science behind the mental health benefits of spiritual thinking, regardless of whether or not a person’s spirituality is attached to a religion.

“Spirituality is innate,” Miller recently told The Wall Street Journal , “We can all cultivate this natural capacity and build our spiritual muscle .”

When we do, Miller said, our mental health is more likely to strengthen and be resilient against life’s challenges. “ A strong spiritual awareness protects against the most prevalent forms of inner suffering, the diseases of despair: addiction, depression and even suicidality,” she said, referencing multiple studies. These studies are based on brain scans that showed spiritual thoughts to activate parts of the brain associated with greater blood flow, lower stress hormones and emotional responses like bonding with others.

Protection from mental illness is not the only benefit of spiritual thinking, she continued. “Character strengths and virtues such as optimism, grit, commitment and forgiveness go hand-in-hand with strong spiritual awareness . It helps us be more creative. It also leads to more gratitude and more resilience. There is a sense that things will work out.”

“Spiritual thinking,” according to Miller, includes intentional practices to quiet the mind, elevate feelings of awe and gratitude and think generously and altruistically about others.

Meditation, prayer, community fellowship, text study and simple kindness are all ways to cultivate and practice spiritual thinking. For some, those might be connected to a religious congregation or set of teachings. For others, they might have simply evolved over a lifetime of learning, self-reflection and growth.

What does “spiritual thinking” look like in your life? How do you use it to strengthen your emotional health?

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Guided Journey

The Spirituality of Critical Thinking

by Linda Deir | - Linda's Weekly Guided Insights | 3 comments

The takeaway from this episode is … spirituality and critical thinking are not separate; it’s about living in two worlds simultaneously, a spiritual hybrid to living in just this world.
Here’s what this will do for you … being a spiritual hybrid is about harnessing the conversations you are having with your higher self and your Guides .
Here’s what I want you to do with it … it’s a delicate balance to live in 2 worlds, so you must write down what you are observing while living it. This is how you will master being a spiritual hybrid.

NOTE: The “italic text” within this post is channeled from Linda’s Spirit Guides and Angels

Critical thinking does not stand alone.

The spirituality of critical thinking is a hybrid … not just being spiritual, or just thinking. However, for those who are just now beginning to desire this hybrid of the spirituality of critical thinking, it’s also harder to do than ever before. That’s because the outside forces are stronger than ever causing you to doubt yourself.

Fear will instantly seize up all critical thinking .

There’s so much pressure to just think about what you are told that it makes you feel like a pinball getting smacked around that eventually drops into some random hole. People find it difficult to identify what the truth is because of the constant barrage of manipulation being forced on them.

Spirituality alone … lacks depth.

If you take the opinion that everybody’s lying about everything, or out to take advantage of you in some way then you might think it’s difficult, or even impossible to be a spiritual person. Is there such a thing as being half spiritual? … after all, half is better than nothing, right? Your better judgment coming from your higher-self will tell you, “no, that is not right.” This would limit you so much that making any decision would be traumatic. Is your spiritual glass half empty, or half full? It’s not like that.

The spirituality of critical thinking is a process of living in two worlds – simultaneously.

You must learn to focus inward and retreat into the inner light of your being, as opposed to the outer darkness of the world. Being a spiritual hybrid means you are observant, loving, and conscious about what you do and WHY you do it. Once you start putting this into practice you will begin to realize that the truth is already inside you . You just need to slow down, listen, and write it down.

From this cleared-up, inner perspective, you will laugh at what you hear others saying and doing. Living in two worlds allows you to see much more than what is happening in just the physical world. That’s why living in just this world with its limitations will become so obvious that you can no longer accept it as all there is . This greater awareness begins the moment you stop reacting, just calm down and observe, this is when we can reach you and help you on your journey here.

CALL TO ACTION: Start your Self-Examination

Being a spiritual hybrid is what the new leaders are made of. Are you a spiritual hybrid?
Although outside forces attempt to push you away from the spirituality of critical thinking , it’s easier than you think .
Start listening to what others say and then look between the lines. Who benefits? It really is easy to see what’s going on .

HOW IT WORKS: Once you release yourself from panic mode, relax your mind, and stop over-thinking everything you will be able to hear the pure truth coming through from your higher self and your most trustworthy advisors, your Spirit Guides . With the help of your Guides , you will become a superior decision-maker. They have never given up on you. All you need to do is create consistent quiet time and place to detect their guidance and write it down . They have no agenda and always tell you the truth.

Once you tap into this hybrid of being in 2 worlds at the same time you will understand what they meant in this session when they said, “from this cleared up perspective you will laugh at what you hear others saying and doing.” Be a spiritual hybrid of critical thinking and you will be the example others want to learn from . By your example, they will be able to recognize and release the outside pressures that has been controlling them. ~ Linda Deir

Against Dogma: How Blending Spiritually and Critical Thinking Can Improve Your Quality of Life – Medium

‘The missing ingredient in spirituality is critical thinking’ – Philosophy for Life

Critical Thinking as a Spiritual Practice – Keen

How does religion affect critical thinking? – Quora

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Another deep and meaningful message. Thank you.

Yesterday I had a work meeting about reducing the CO2 footprint of transportation (sea containers). In this meeting, it was impossible to question if CO2 (produced by men and machine) is causing global warming. The second item that was impossible to question is if earth is really warming up, and if so, by what, and if it is not warming up, then we would not have a problem?! I could absolutely not go that way!

It is so weird to me that global warming and CO2 are taken as a given fact, and that many people are not questioning it. It makes me laugh at all the weird things that are invented to make people and businesses pay for. The company that we had the meeting with, was hiding behind ‘norms’ and ‘standards’ and that is quite easy to do. My colleague who is in charge said that he also questioned it in some way, but because ‘we are going to have to register the CO2 footprint anyway, in the future because that is the agenda! For that reason, he also took the vaccines, and for that reason, he always blindly follows all rules and regulations that are imposed upon us. Because of that, we will have to do it anyway.

Who says that? For me, it feels that work, jobs, and problems are a joke most of the time. Just to keep us busy enough not to think for ourselves.

Linda’s work keeps me awake, it always triggers me in something that is going on in my life right then.

I barely listen to the regular news channels as that only creates imbalance in my being. To steer clear from the news makes me stay closer to my core and makes it easier to feel what is right or wrong for me.

Looking forward to the next Weekly Insights Linda and Ray ❤️

The work environment you are in sounds like a prison. No open minds or critical thinking going on there, let alone the spiritual side of anything. It feels like a dead zone.

You, Viola, are a critical thinker and a spiritual person making all this obvious to you. So, how can you have any impact in a scenario like this? You can’t!

The spirituality of critical thinkers must find their own way. It’s these types of people who will change a world stuck in fear of stepping out of the status quo.

The people you described will never change anything as they play it safe, making no waves until they can collect their pensions. They will have contributed nothing to making the world a better place, just following the agenda. These people who are currently in charge, are self-serving and obsolete. “They” are what’s wrong with the environment, and not the agenda of a CO2 footprint.

– Linda's Weekly Guided Insights (269)
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2-Taking the Journey (19)
3-Guided Journal Writing System (20)
4-What GUIDED Teaches (9)
5-Lessons from: GUIDED (2)
6-Being "Guided" (14)
7-Know Yourself First (10)
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Healings with Linda (42)
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MEDIA-Live (1)
MEDIA-Radio (24)
Podcasts (2)
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Spirit Guide Angels (6)
Spiritual Meanings (8)
Vocabulary (10)

Companion journal to Guided, My Guided Journey© is available on Amazon , or Immediate Download

“Thank you for these insights, Linda. Everything your Guides say is always so clear. It makes such perfect sense and your weekly postings really keep me motivated and thinking positively. What you are doing really does help people to lift themselves up.”~ Viv Folan

May 1, 2012

How Critical Thinkers Lose Their Faith in God

Religious belief drops when analytical thinking rises

By Daisy Grewal

Why are some people more religious than others? Answers to this question often focus on the role of culture or upbringing. While these influences are important, new research suggests that whether we believe may also have to do with how much we rely on intuition versus analytical thinking. In 2011 Amitai Shenhav, David Rand and Joshua Greene of Harvard University published a paper showing that people who have a tendency to rely on their intuition are more likely to believe in God. They also showed that encouraging people to think intuitively increased people’s belief in God. Building on these findings, in a recent paper published in Science , Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan of the University of British Columbia found that encouraging people to think analytically reduced their tendency to believe in God. Together these findings suggest that belief may at least partly stem from our thinking styles.

Gervais and Norenzayan’s research is based on the idea that we possess two different ways of thinking that are distinct yet related. Understanding these two ways, which are often referred to as System 1 and System 2, may be important for understanding our tendency towards having religious faith. System 1 thinking relies on shortcuts and other rules-of-thumb while System 2 relies on analytic thinking and tends to be slower and require more effort. Solving logical and analytical problems may require that we override our System 1 thinking processes in order to engage System 2. Psychologists have developed a number of clever techniques that encourage us to do this. Using some of these techniques, Gervais and Norenzayan examined whether engaging System 2 leads people away from believing in God and religion.

For example, they had participants view images of artwork that are associated with reflective thinking (Rodin’s The Thinker) or more neutral images (Discobulus of Myron). Participants who viewed The Thinker reported weaker religious beliefs on a subsequent survey. However, Gervais and Norenzayan wondered if showing people artwork might have made the connection between thinking and religion too obvious. In their next two studies, they created a task that more subtly primed analytic thinking. Participants received sets of five randomly arranged words (e.g. “high winds the flies plane”) and were asked to drop one word and rearrange the others in order to create a more meaningful sentence (e.g. “the plane flies high”). Some of their participants were given scrambled sentences containing words associated with analytic thinking (e.g. “analyze,” “reason”) and other participants were given sentences that featured neutral words (e.g. “hammer,” “shoes”). After unscrambling the sentences, participants filled out a survey about their religious beliefs. In both studies, this subtle reminder of analytic thinking caused participants to express less belief in God and religion. The researchers found no relationship between participants’ prior religious beliefs and their performance in the study. Analytic thinking reduced religious belief regardless of how religious people were to begin with.

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In a final study, Gervais and Norenzayan used an even more subtle way of activating analytic thinking: by having participants fill out a survey measuring their religious beliefs that was printed in either clear font or font that was difficult to read. Prior research has shown that difficult-to-read font promotes analytic thinking by forcing participants to slow down and think more carefully about the meaning of what they are reading. The researchers found that participants who filled out a survey that was printed in unclear font expressed less belief as compared to those who filled out the same survey in the clear font.

These studies demonstrate yet another way in which our thinking tendencies, many of which may be innate, have contributed to religious faith. It may also help explain why the vast majority of Americans tend to believe in God. Since System 2 thinking requires a lot of effort , the majority of us tend to rely on our System 1 thinking processes when possible. Evidence suggests that the majority of us are more prone to believing than being skeptical. According to a 2005 poll by Gallup, 3 out of every 4 Americans hold at least one belief in the paranormal. The most popular of these beliefs are extrasensory perception (ESP), haunted houses, and ghosts. In addition, the results help explain why some of us are more prone to believe that others. Previous research has found that people differ in their tendency to see intentions and causes in the world. These differences in thinking styles could help explain why some of us are more likely to become believers.

Why and how might analytic thinking reduce religious belief? Although more research is needed to answer this question, Gervais and Norenzayan speculate on a few possibilities. For example, analytic thinking may inhibit our natural intuition to believe in supernatural agents that influence the world. Alternatively, analytic thinking may simply cause us to override our intuition to believe and pay less attention to it. It’s important to note that across studies, participants ranged widely in their religious affiliation, gender, and race. None of these variables were found to significantly relate to people’s behavior in the studies.

Gervais and Norenzayan point out that analytic thinking is just one reason out of many why people may or may not hold religious beliefs. In addition, these findings do not say anything about the inherent value or truth of religious beliefs—they simply speak to the psychology of when and why we are prone to believe. Most importantly, they provide evidence that rather than being static, our beliefs can change drastically from situation to situation, without us knowing exactly why.

Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about? Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe. He can be reached at garethideas AT gmail.com or Twitter @garethideas .

Cognitive and Behavioral Changes Arising From Spirituality

Original Paper
Published: 25 June 2021
Volume 60 , pages 4082–4096, ( 2021 )

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This article aims to explore the concept of spiritual transformation and address the question, ‘How does spirituality bring about changes in cognition and behavior?’ It draws on the findings of a larger qualitative study that explored the essence of spirituality and spiritual engagement from the perspective of palliative care clients and caregivers. Four clients and ten caregivers from across regional South Australia participated in the larger study utilizing van Manen’s phenomenology. Secondary analysis of the qualitative data was undertaken to highlight the statements and phrases that portrayed the marked changes in thinking and behavior catalyzed by spirituality. The findings relate to the participants’ spiritual beliefs and practices that helped them journey through the process of death and dying. Spirituality is a plausible explanation of the transformation that occurred, manifested by new thinking and behavior.

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Introduction

Spirituality is an individual's attempt to find meaning and purpose in life (MacKinlay, 2006 ; Mitchell et al., 2010 ). The conceptual understanding of spirituality has expanded to include relationships among human beings, nature and God (Penman et al., 2013 ; Wiklund, 2008 ) and establish connections with the church community, music, family and friends (Harrington et al., 2019 ). The definition of spirituality was elucidated during a conference sponsored by the Archstone Foundation of Long Beach, California in 2009. The agreed-upon definition was the ‘aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred’ (Pulchalski et al., 200 9, p. 887).

Terminally ill individuals report greater religiosity and/or spirituality than healthy or non-terminally ill (Reed, 1987 ). Spirituality appears to be heightened at the end of life. People often become open to discovering unique spiritual meanings after a crisis that threatens health; their faith becomes strengthened, and they are better able to cope and engage in activities that provide a new definition of themselves. Encountering life-limiting conditions may cause people to re-examine their spirituality by reviewing their life and questioning its meaning (Dueck et al., 2006 ; Ironson et al., 2006 ). Spiritual levels seem to increase with shortened lifespan and uncertainty (Park, 2008 ).

Nurses are also rediscovering spirituality for various reasons (Tanyi et al., 2006 ). Holistic care is at the forefront of health, and nurses strive to incorporate spiritual care in clinical practice. Moreover, there is a significant link between spirituality and health (Allen & Marshall, 2010 ; Gow et al., 2010 ), which is relevant to nursing care. Spirituality can cause change/s in people; some authors call this change spiritual transformation (Dueck & Johnson, 2016 ; Williamson & Hood, 2012 ). Spiritual transformation is defined as a radical shift in consciousness and behavior, manifested in the internal and external lives due to religious/spiritual change, and is amenable to observation and analysis (Dueck et al., 2006 ). Paloutzian ( 2005 , p. 334) refers to it as ‘a change in the meaning system that a person holds as a basis for self-definition, the interpretation of life; and overarching purposes and ultimate concerns.’ Some changes are framed within a religious context, called conversion (Williamson & Hood, 2012 ), but some are not. Spiritual transformations can be ‘sudden awakenings’ or can be from gradual growth. The religious and non-religious consequences of spiritual transformations influence the individual’s faith, outlook, behavior and interaction with others (Midura, 2015 ).

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the concept of spiritual transformation viewed from the perspective of palliative care clients and their caregivers as they conveyed what it was like to engage in spiritual matters. Other objectives are to characterize the transformation that occurred for the participants and discuss the implications of transformation catalyzed by spirituality. It is based on a more extensive qualitative descriptive study titled ‘The phenomenon of spirituality: palliative care clients’ and caregivers’ experiences in engaging with spiritual matters,’ where following thematic analysis, one of the themes that emerged was personal ‘transformation’ (Penman et al., 2013 ).

In health and wellness, human behavior is critical in bringing about meaningful, successful and enduring health outcomes. It has been observed, however, that it is a huge challenge to bring about cognitive and behavioral change in order to achieve positive health (Kelly, 2014, cited in Michie et al., 2014 ). One cannot assume that individuals could or would change their perceptions and behaviors because it is good for them. In short, providing knowledge and information is not sufficient to cause change.

Several interacting factors come into play when wanting to make a change, and these include the individual's beliefs, values, habits of thinking and doing, readiness, emotion, the circumstances and environment (Michie et al., 2014 ). A case in point is the children's immunization campaign which has been successful in curtailing childhood diseases (Lee & Bishop, 2015 ). Utilizing several strategies evoking strong emotions and realistically depicting the terrible health consequences of diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus, the campaign proved a success. However, it took many years of convincing the public that immunizations were beneficial, and still being challenged today by conscientious objectors (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, 2018 ). The same could be said about the anti-tobacco campaign (Liss, 2013 ) and the more recent coronavirus vaccination (McCarron & Bako, 2020 ).

Attempts to explain why behaviors change are encapsulated in theories (Braungart et al., 2019 ). There are many of them, and they include environmental, personal and behavioral characteristics as significant factors. Each change theory or model focuses on different factors in explaining how the behavior changes. The behaviorist point of view, for instance, contends that imitation and reinforcement influence the process of change. In contrast, the social cognitive theory posits that behavioral change is affected by the individual’s thoughts and characteristics that elicit specific responses from the social environment and vice versa. Reasoned action argues that an individual considers the consequences of his/her behavior before enacting it. The intention is critical in this theory, as is also the impression of society about the behavior. Of the list of 80 and more possible mechanisms for cognitive and/or behavior change (Michie et al., 2014 ), spirituality or spiritual transformation taken from the religious or secular perspective was not mentioned.

As earlier mentioned, many studies show that an intense crisis may cause people to re-examine their spirituality (Dueck et al., 2006 ; Ironson et al., 2006 ). The spiritual dimension comes into focus when people face a crisis, including life-threatening illnesses. It is argued that spirituality plays a vital role in assisting the individual's coping with illness and improving quality of life (Clarke, 2010 ; LeConté, 2017 ). Individuals with life-limiting conditions and their loved ones describe times of questioning and loss of faith during a crisis, as well as discovery, growth, inner peace and acceptance (Byrne, 2002 ). However, exactly how these experiences happen is not clearly understood.

According to the literature, spirituality can transform lives. For example, James ( 1982 ) postulates that religious transformation known as conversions can lead to transcendence and redirection of life from the cultural psychology perspective. The dynamics involved in ‘conversion’ include five possibilities: 1) apostasy, which is the abandonment of religious commitment, 2) deconversion, which is the departure from a particular religious tradition, 3) intensification, which is a renewed dedication to one’s faith tradition, 4) switching, which is the change in affiliation from one tradition to another and 5) cycling, which is leaving one’s tradition to re-enter later (Spilka et al., 2004). Coe ( 1916 , 2017) perceives conversion as four qualities of change: a profound change in self; an external source of control; an impact on the character and life; and a sense of new freedom. Kirkpatrick ( 1995 ), McCallister ( 1995 ) and Pargament ( 2006 ) discuss different notions of transformation including the stimulation of the attachment system when confronting anxiety and distress, cognitive restructuring and change in self from emotional arousal experienced in the context of a religious event, and a marked change in self in response to stress, respectively. These transformations are referred to as both religious and spiritual experiences (Dueck & Johnson, 2016 ).

Thus, there are many variations of definitions of spiritual transformation; however, common to them is the notion of personal change (Williamson & Hood, 2012 ). Be it a sudden or gradual change, it results from a sacred encounter and entails a change in vertical and/or horizontal relationships. Vertical refers to a relationship with God, while horizontal refers to a relationship with others (Cayetano-Penman, 2012 ; Williamson & Hood, 2012 ). The framing of experiences in relation to God is known as transcendence (Hood et al. 2009 ), which is understood as extending beyond the limits of ordinary experience. The transformation, identified in the larger study, experienced by the palliative care clients and caregivers, will be explicated to grasp the concept of how spiritual transformation may transpire and what is its significance.

Methodology

Research sample.

The participants in this study were diagnosed with a life-limiting condition or had cared for a loved one or were caring for a loved one with a life-limiting condition (Cayetano-Penman, 2012 ). The inclusion criteria were: over 18 years of age, able to speak English, received confirmation of diagnosis, are/were palliative care clients or caregivers, and residing in rural South Australia. The potential participants were recruited through rural and regional palliative care teams.

Research Design

Van Manen’s phenomenological approach (1997) was used for the larger study. This involved research activities such as: being immersed into the phenomenon and capturing an exhaustive description; examining the lived experience by re-learning to look at their world; reflecting on the themes; and balancing the contexts and reflecting on the whole picture.

A secondary analysis of the qualitative data was conducted to address the question, ‘How does spirituality bring about changes in thinking and behavior?’ In carrying out secondary analysis, the aspects of spiritual transformation were re-examined and re-analyzed to develop an original topic (Payne & Payne, 2004 ). The secondary analysis allowed the pursuit of a distinct research topic from that of the original work (Heaton, 1998 ). It was performed to maximize the use of the data and generate new knowledge. Sherif ( 2018 ) asserted on qualitative secondary analysis, ‘… is most effective when used with high-quality, relevant, rich, and complex datasets.’ With careful examination and assessment of preexisting qualitative data, this approach could increase the validity and reliability of secondary analysis research findings.

Methods of Data Collection

In-depth interviewing was appropriate to use because it allowed the exploration of the elements of the phenomena (Whitehead & Whitehead, 2016 ). The participants expressed their views, attitudes, feelings and experiences with greater clarity and depth. There was also the opportunity to verify meanings in the process. The interviewer began by asking the client or the caregiver, ‘What is it like for you to experience a life-limiting condition?’ or ‘What is/was it like for you to care for a loved one who has/had a life-limiting condition?’ A typical interview averaged about 1.5 h. Each interview was audiotaped and professionally transcribed.

Methods for Data Analysis

Two methods were used. The ‘wholistic’ approach examined the text as a whole, and its fundamental meaning was grasped. The ‘selective’ approach involved reading the text several times and highlighting those statements and phrases that seemed significant to represent the themes explicating spirituality and spiritual engagement (van Manen, 1997 ). Both analytical approaches were also used to illuminate the concept of spiritual transformation.

Ethical Considerations

A protocol for the research was submitted to the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), according to the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines. Ethics approval was obtained from the university HREC. Informed consent was obtained from all interviewees.

Issues of Trustworthiness

Several strategies to ensure trustworthiness were employed. An audit trail was kept; every decision made about the research process was described and justified (Morse, 2015 ). Following the interviews, some clarifications were made with the participants concerning meaning and interpretations. Moreover, the researcher acknowledged her beliefs about spirituality and spiritual engagement as these might influence her interpretation of the data. The use of peer review and direct quotations from the participants in the research findings also ensured that the data presented portrayed only the participants’ meanings (Thomas & Magilvy, 2011 ).

Participant Descriptions

There were fourteen participants, ten women and four men (Cayetano-Penman, 2012 ). Five were Australian-born, two non-Australian-born and seven Asian Australians from different countries. The average age was 59 years. Of the fourteen, four were palliative care clients, and ten were palliative care caregivers. Nine belonged to the Catholic church, while five belonged to Protestant churches. (See Table 1 .) Cancer was the primary diagnosis for the majority of the participants. Barbara, Diana, Frederick and Nathan were the palliative care clients’ pseudonames; Ana, Catherine, Eleazar, Gina, Hilary, Isabelle, Jonathan, Kelly, Leah and Maria were the pseudonames used for the caregivers.

The Essence of Spirituality and Spiritual Engagement

The theme ‘ belief in God' was the primary motivator of spirituality brought to light in facing death from the palliative care clients’ and caregivers’ perspective (Cayetano-Penman, 2012 ). Another theme was ‘coping’ as clients anchored their handling of their situations with spirituality. Spirituality was a powerful force and an empowering driver for the majority of the participants. For the caregivers, the horizontal ‘relationship’ embodied spirituality because they were attempting to sustain and extend the interpersonal relationship with their loved one, for whom the remaining time was limited. Clients and caregivers portrayed spirituality as helping in their coping with their past or present circumstances. ‘Transformation’ was one of the themes that embodied the essence of spiritual engagement (Penman et al., 2009 , 2013 ).

Spiritual Transformation Conveyed by the Palliative Care Clients

With the reality of death and dying, spirituality became a priority for the participants, and it became central in their lives during the time. In this study, spirituality propelled people into positive thoughts and actions. As such, it provided many real and potential benefits, coping specifically, and was valuable for those who engaged in it. The participants demonstrated the direct links between spirituality and transformation. In focusing on spiritual transformation, their experiences were varied; however, culture, religion and personal circumstances impacted how they framed spirituality and transformation.

The meaningfulness of suffering, impending death and heightened spirituality brought about personal transformation, altering perceptions and behavior about self and others. The transforming experience affected the sense of self and challenged the participants’ thinking, feeling and doing. As a result of the transformation, there was a change in character, direction and actions that enabled clients and caregivers to be more loving and caring, patient and sacrificing for the ‘other.’

Below are excerpts illustrating some of these perceptible changes. The participants’ words were used and altered appropriately for greater clarity and understanding. Their statements were cited by indicating a reference code, page number and line number documented on the interview transcripts.

New Thinking of Palliative Care Clients

There were many instances of spiritual transformation exemplified by clients who demonstrated a change in thinking. For example, Barbara’s strong faith significantly impacted her outlook and thought patterns following her diagnosis.

Barbara: My spirituality makes me feel powerful as it gives me strength and courage to persevere in life. (B4, 40-41)

She became hopeful and more accepting.

Barbara: I want to be hopeful. (B1, 7) Having a strong faith causes me to accept the fact that death is inevitable and that it is nothing to be afraid about. (B4, 38-39)

Another consequence was renewing of the mind, being more positive about her situation and resolve to move forward.

Barbara: I banish cancer from my mind; I replace it with positive thoughts and feelings, like love, safety, forgiveness, reconciliation and hope. Then I become peaceful and restored, spurring me further along. (B1, 20–25)

This change in outlook was also noticeable among other palliative clients like Frederick, Nathan and Diana. On the one hand, the re-intensification of one’s faith as well as shifting the focus to loved ones happened to Frederick.

Frederick: My worst one [fear of dying] would just be worrying about the wife and probably the grandkids because we have been giving them [grandchildren] a lot of support…but you just got to leave it in God's hands. (F10, 6–9)

Nathan, on the other hands, had a deconversion experience, where he departed from his faith tradition to embrace another. Nathan was holding on the ‘universal force’ through reiki.

Nathan: I believe in the universal force and my circulative therapist to heal me.… I can tap into this force to control my mesothelioma [malignant cancer usually affecting the lungs]. (N5, 8–11)

Diana’s spiritual transformation was manifested in a change in her views about relationships.

Diana: … My spiritual beliefs extend to [caring for] others; I am concerned for others; kindness to others is spirituality too, and so is being involved in the community … (D6, 21-23)

New Behaviors of Palliative Care Clients

With the change of thoughts came changes in behavior. Diana and Frederick exemplified new behaviors as a product of spiritual transformation. Diana’s transformation was evidenced by a marked change in the quality of relationships with others.

Diana: … I think engaging in spiritual matters refers to the intimate times when people helped (D4, 19) … a friend would accompany me to the doctor, sleep with me in the hospital, or cook for me. (D4, 20-21) … It is like building community . (D5, 24)

Following the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition, Frederick experienced a religious conversion, evidenced by becoming more prayerful. Prayer is generally understood to mean talking with God, and Frederick thought that ‘ it [prayer] was powerful. ’ He was also of the opinion that spiritual talk energized the body, and Diana concurred.

Frederick: Praying is probably the main one [that helps me through this ordeal]. (F5, 15) Diana: Every time people visited, we would pray. (D6, 29)

New Thinking of Palliative Care Caregivers

The caregivers demonstrated their capacity to reorganize their lives when confronting death and dying. They too changed in their thinking as they tried to adapt to their situations.

Transformation of thinking for caregiver Maria took the form of becoming cognizant of other ways of healing. Consider her statements revealing a change in direction:

Maria: Prior to his [husband] illness, I never believed in complementary therapies, but seeing the hope this therapy gave to my husband, I changed and became more accepting. (M6, 15-21)

Instances of spiritual transformation showing a change in focus were identified from other caregivers. Becoming adaptive, referring to the ability to undertake anticipatory or reactionary reorganization to minimize the impact of death or impending death, has been observed. There now seemed to be a larger purpose and meaning for Eleazar, while for Leah and Catherine, there was an intensification of faith as they clung to God and his miracles. These were verbalized as follows:

Eleazar: Realizing life is short, it is important to make each interaction count. I need to take stock and smell the roses every day… My wife is mortal and so am I. (E6, 27-28) Leah: You change. I think you go closer; you definitely go closer to God and to each other [your loved one] . (L6, 20-22 ) Catherine: Maybe there is still a cure for him … who knows? I believe in miracles. (C2, 39)

The spiritual transformation could extend internal and external protective factors, such as self-reliance, relationships and good health, to cope with present circumstances. A key result was the ability to adapt to change. The essence of suffering and death enabled the caregivers to be more loving and caring, more patient and sacrificing for their loved one. Caregivers Isabelle, Jonathan and Ana showed changes through heightened empathy and gaining the capacity to be more loving, compassionate and selfless.

Isabelle: I was there [in the hospital] from morning till night. … It was most difficult because I would push him [in the wheelchair] around the garden, shower him, stay up with him … (I6, 20-23) Jonathan: My spiritual conviction helped me care for my ailing mother. (J7, 9). Ana: If only I can suffer instead of my niece, I will willingly do this for her . (A5, 5)

New Behaviors of Palliative Care Caregivers

Similar transformative behavioral changes were evident among the caregivers. At the heart of these changes were action-oriented approaches promoting collective and individual changes toward more effective social interaction, involving gaining coping skills and strategies, self-organization, flexibility and ability to transform to adapt successfully. For example, Gina exemplified spiritual transformation when she revealed that her role and actions were altered from daughter to caregiver to patient advocate from the time of her father's diagnosis of bowel cancer. The transformation brought about a definite change in character and action; there was a conviction to take charge and persevere with the situation.

Gina: … From that day forward [diagnosis of her father’s terminal illness], I resolved to gain the courage to face the problem, to take charge as necessary because Mum and Dad seemed paralyzed at the thought of death. (G3, 8-11)

From the psychological perspective, the transformation could take the form of identification and enrichment of resilient qualities or protective factors. In coping with stressors or adversity, change might occur that would lead to positive adaptability as preparing for the death of a loved one as in Kelly and Ana’s case:

Kelly: Following diagnosis, he [husband] said to me to be prepared. This was the start of a journey preparing me for his passing, selling the house, paying the bills … (K7, 5–12).

Ana: These rituals and traditions [novenas, masses] helped me also. We had priests and pastors [from various faiths] visiting and praying for us. (A6, 46)

In identifying with the sacred, caregiver Jonathan conquered the fear of death with the knowledge that death is like sleep and that there was hope in Jesus’ second coming. He was hopeful and persevering with life despite the challenges he was facing while caring for his mother.

Jonathan: Christians have a different kind of courage when it comes to death. Death is like sleep. Jesus will come and bring them home. (J9, 24–27).

Confronting death forced individuals to see their vulnerability, as it reminded them of their mortality. The participants were made aware of their finiteness and limitations (Cayetano-Penman, 2012 ). Spiritual transformations unfolded for the study participants living the experience of spirituality when faced with a life-limiting condition. The study showed that heightened spirituality and life-limiting condition precipitated transformation affecting identity (for example, Jonathan resolved to care for his mother), sense of self (Nathan perceived reiki to help him gain control of his cancer), purpose (Kelly started preparing herself for her husband’s passing), thinking processes (Barbara replaced negative thoughts and feelings with positive ones), relationships (Diana shifted her concern for others ) and behavior (Frederick prayed and placed his trust on God).

Transformation reconfigured realities and relationships toward the self, others and/or God or a higher power. It appeared that spirituality was a way of coping with a life-limiting condition by strengthening ties with God and loved ones. In many ways, it was about greater connection and oneness. Moreover, it was found that spirituality deepened faith and appreciation of life for the majority of clients and caregivers, and the transformation was even regarded as sacred. For some, spirituality changed how they viewed themselves — from a wife and mother to a nurse, caregiver and/or companion — which meant that adjustments to these new roles were necessary. It was evident, however, that the changes helped them cope and adjust to their circumstances.

Religion has relevance to spiritual transformation (Spilka et al., 2003 ). Some of the ‘conversion’ changes were narrated by the participants. Frederick and his total trust in God depicted the intensification of faith. Nathan and his belief in the universal power was an example of the abandonment of religious commitment and departure from religious faith. Spiritual transformation with religious conversion was also described as having a positive outlook on life (Jonathan believed in the ‘second coming’), unified self (Eleazar focused on self-care), mystical encounter with God (Catherine believed in miracles), new habits of affection (Isabelle made sacrifices for the husband) and commitment (Gina advocated for the care of her father). Thus, there were many forms of spiritual transformation manifested in the study.

Indeed, transformation was a significant, but not a surprising finding. Pertinent to these personal changes was Mezirow’s ( 1991 ) transformative learning where the transformation involved changes in locus of control, personal competence or self-concept and a broadening of outlook as it ‘moves the individual toward a more inclusive, differentiated, permeable (open to other points of view) and integrated meaning perspective’ (Mezirow, 1991 , p. 7). The participants demonstrated these changes as they revealed adjustment, acceptance and positivity in an otherwise tragic situation. The interconnections of the mind, spirit and body were the focus of attention when explaining the relationship between spirituality and health, according to Clarke ( 2010 ); what affected the body impacted upon the mind and the spirit. Following the integration of the mind, spirit and body, a transformation occurred, and these included prayers, meditation, affirmation and complementary therapies (Luskin, 2004 ). The bio-psychosocial effect of spirituality was a possible mechanism that influenced health outcomes (Katerndahl, 2008 ).

Transformative learning resonates with Frankl’s notion of finding meaning in suffering (2006). Having hope, strength, meaning and purpose are concepts of spirituality (Harrington, 2016 ), which facilitated self-transformation. Frankl commented that in overcoming adversity:

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way.

Additionally, resilience development was relevant here. In order to become resilient, palliative care clients and caregivers must gain the capacity to reorganize themselves with change. This reorganizing of self was part of personal transformation. A key concept was the ability to adapt to change, which is the primary ingredient of resilience (Robinson & Carson, 2016 ). Spirituality allowed for developing of coping skills and strategies (LeConté, 2017 ), self-organization, flexibility and the ability to transform to adapt successfully. The transformation could positively interpret the illness by providing a framework by which stressful events may be interpreted and addressed (Reed & Rousseau, 2007 ).

This radical change that the individual could transcend the illness or stressful event and become enriched and rewarded by the experience is a crucial finding in the area of health and well-being. Spirituality is suggested as a plausible mechanism to bring about meaningful and successful cognitive and behavioral change that could ultimately result in positive health outcomes. Personal transformation has a potential application for clients and caregivers having to deal with any type of change. Cases in point are the need to change the diet and sedentary lifestyle, overcome drug addiction, adjust to COVID-19 and/or manage stress. However, the outcomes may or may not be enduring and may or may not always be positive, but it is a noteworthy research avenue to explore further.

Limitations of the Study

Possible limitations of the study relate to the small number and selection of participants and non-return of transcripts. However, increased numbers do not necessarily provide new meanings (Guest et al., 2006 ). The non-return of transcripts to participants may be a limitation; however, none took up the offer to examine the transcripts, but all agreed to provide further clarifications if needed.

In this study, the experience of a life-limiting illness created unique challenges for the individuals involved and their loved ones. Such challenges emanated from the diagnosis and extended beyond the terminal phase of the disease. It stressed vulnerability in anticipating harm and the expectation that one would be unable to cope with what was to come. In response, spirituality was heightened, which resulted in personal changes. Both clients and caregivers altered their views, attitudes, beliefs and behavior during their direct or vicarious encounter with a life-changing experience — impending death or death itself. These changes involved modifications in thought and behavior. Spirituality endowed participants with the ability to transform themselves in the way they viewed life, death, suffering and in the way they related and connected with others. Part of personal transformation was spiritual transformation — rooted in the changed condition of the mind, heart and behavior. Leah, a caregiver, aptly concluded, ‘ As the body becomes weak, the spirit becomes strong. ’ The findings may be applied in the broader clinical contexts to impact patients’ need to change cognition and behavior to achieve better health outcomes.

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The Role of Students’ Spiritual Intelligence in Enhancing Their Academic Engagement: A Theoretical Review

Spiritual intelligence as a new type of intelligence has been limitedly explored in education. As it connects one’s mental and spiritual life to his/her performance and functioning, it can play an especial role in students’ L2 education. However, few studies have empirically examined this construct in relation to student-related factors like academic engagement. Against this shortcoming, the present mini-review study presented both theoretical and empirical underpinnings of this line of research by defining the concepts, their components, and previous studies. Finally, the study enumerated the existing gaps and offered future directions and implications for the educational practitioners and researchers whose awareness of spiritual intelligence and its impact on L2 education and learner-psychology variables can improve.

Introduction

Learning a second/foreign language is widely considered as a complicated process involving numerous factors and layers to effectively occur ( Benevene et al., 2020 ). It requires an integration of variables and issues related to both teachers and students. One of the most important drives of L2 learning is taking students’ emotions and diversities into account. This entails an education based on learners’ unique cognitive, affective, and social abilities ( Arnold and Fonseca, 2004 ). Now, it is a common belief among L2 practitioners that language learners in various contexts extensively vary in their personal and instructional profiles and preferences. This proposition came into vogue with a groundbreaking study of multiple intelligences (MIs) by Gardner (1983) who proposed different intelligences for learners to which teachers must pay attention. However, in L2 research, the cognitive aspect of intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) have dominated the field for decades, especially their impacts and correlations with other L2 learning variables ( Elhambakhsh et al., 2018 ).

Drawing on MI theory, Zohar and Marshall (2001) took a giant step and proposed a new intelligence known as spiritual intelligence (SI, hereafter) that works independently and requires a different understanding of the connection between one’s inner life, mind, and spirit to the external world ( Vaughan, 2002 ). It is an intelligence that focuses on macro-level problem-solving potentials of learners/teachers, particularly problems pertaining to meaning and value of different ways of life ( Zohar and Marshall, 2001 ). It goes beyond a person’s mental ability and conventional psychological development, linking the personal to the transpersonal and the self to spirit ( Vaughan, 2002 ; Estaji and Pourmostafa, 2020 ). As stated by Denny et al. (2008) , SI can establish a learning atmosphere in which students can reach their full potentials as it capitalizes on their ability to make personal meanings out of life experience, consciousness, and critical thinking. In support of these benefits, Zohar (2010) called for an education oriented to the principles of SI that considers students’ curiosity and motivates them to interrogate their previous assumptions about values and events and to embrace new experiences.

Having positioned itself in the body of knowledge in L2 education, SI has recently caught the attention of researchers who mainly explored its impacts and associations with teacher-related variables such as pedagogical success, leadership style, self-regulation, job satisfaction, burnout, professional commitment, and critical thinking ability ( Kaur, 2013 ; Azizi and Azizi, 2015 ; Zhaleh and Ghonsooly, 2017 ; Elhambakhsh et al., 2018 ; Emma et al., 2018 ; Estaji and Pourmostafa, 2020 ). With regard to EFL students, there are only a couple of studies that are limited to the role of SI in developing their writing skills and learning strategies ( Santoso, 2016 ; Sotoudehnama et al., 2018 ) and the impact of SI on EFL students’ classroom behaviors and practices has largely been ignored.

One such overlooked area is the effect of SI on EFL students’ academic engagement that refers to their involvement in classroom activities as a sign of motivation that produces academic energy, zest, investment, and success ( Skinner and Pitzer, 2012 ; Phillips, 2015 ). As language learning is a complex process, students need to be highly engaged in the classroom so that they can pass the challenges involved in L2 education. This is obtainable by developing their SI level that, in turn, causes more confidence, agency, context-sensitivity, academic achievement ( Hassan, 2009 ). However, the existing literature in this domain lacks empirical/theoretical studies on the correlation between students’ SI and engagement. To fill this gap, the present mini-review study aimed to present the theoretical underpinnings of this line of research and offers future directions concerning EFL students’ SI and academic engagement.

Intelligence(s) and Education

The long history of intelligence in education has witnessed many twists and turns since 1980s when it was first regarded as a fixed and innate feature focusing largely on IQ ( Sotoudehnama et al., 2018 ). Such a simplistic view addressed only one dimension of cognitive ability and ignored others ( Hajhashemi et al., 2012 ). However, with the emergence of Gardner’s (1983) MI model the door was opened for a learner-specific education that cares for learner diversity. For Gardner (1983) , intelligence was a combination of several abilities that satisfy individuals’ unique needs and styles. He proposed eight types of intelligence including linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist ( Figure 1 ).

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Types of intelligence (Reproduced with permission from Gardner, 1983 ).

According to him, musical intelligence concerns one’s sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and tones of music, while visual–spatial intelligence pertains to one’s judgment and the ability to visualize through his/her mind’s eye. People with high verbal–linguistic intelligence are skillful in dealing with words and languages, while those with logical-mathematical intelligence are strong in coping with reasoning, numbers, logic, abstractions, and critical thinking. Moreover, he defined bodily-kinesthetic intelligence as being generally good at physical activities like sports, dance, and creating things. Interpersonal intelligence concerns one’s sensitivity to others’ feelings, emotions, intentions, and the ability to work in a group, while interpersonal intelligence means having a deep understanding of the self. Finally, individuals with high naturalistic intelligence have comprehensive knowledge for recognizing and classifying various typologies of plants and animals in the natural world. Despite its universal popularity, Gardner’s (1983) model lacks sufficient empirical data to support the validity of the proposed typologies of intelligence. Additionally, the measurement of these intelligences is yet to be psychometrically approved in education. However, Gardner’s attempts around the theory of MI and existential intelligences paved the way for the introduction of other types of intelligence like emotional intelligence ( Goleman, 1995 ) and SI for the first time in 1990s. Yet, Gardner did not regard SI as a major type of intelligence as it could not meet his eight criteria. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, the viability of the concept was approved in different disciplines (psychology, general education, medicine), but it is still new to second/foreign language teaching and learning.

The Concept of Spiritual Intelligence

The construct of SI as a new term in educational psychology refers to the adjustable use of spiritual information to expedite one’s daily problem-solving and goal achievement ( Emmons, 2000 ). It is the capacity to employ and represent spiritual resources to boost everyday performance and wellbeing ( Amram and Drye, 2007 ). It is worth noting that SI is derived from the notion of spirituality and differs from religiosity ( Koenig et al., 2000 ). In education, SI unifies flexibility and emotional resilience and plays a critical role in helping students/teachers make sense of their world and construct aims and values ( Zohar and Marshall, 2001 ). To put simply, SI pertains to one’s capability to behave and perform judiciously and empathetically, while maintaining inner and outer harmony, regardless of the surroundings ( Wigglesworth, 2006 ). To use Gardner’s (2006 , p. 20) interpretation, SI is “the intelligence of big questions” that draws on human predisposition to probe fundamental questions about existence. According to Zohar (2010) , this type of intelligence can promote one’s motivations for exploration, creativity, cooperation, self-mastery, situational-mastery, and service-provision. In the educational arena, SI concerns the dynamic interplay of students’ or teachers’ inner life of mind, spirit, and their association to instructional experiences and events ( Vaughan, 2002 ). Operationally, SI refers to the use and application of different spiritual information gathered from various resources by EFL/ESL students to improve their academic behavior and classroom practice.

The Principles and Components Underlying Spiritual Intelligence

In the available literature, many principles and components have been proposed for the construct of SI as a complicated variable related to learners. As a case in point, Zohar (2000) proposed 12 key principles underlying this crucial construct as what follows:

Self-awareness: Knowing and recognizing what we believe in, value, and what really motivates us.
Spontaneity: Living in the moment.
Being vision- and value-led: Acting based on principles and beliefs and living in tune with inspirations.
Holism: Seeing things as an integrated system with connected and interwoven parts.
Compassion: Having deep empathy.
Celebration of diversity: Valuing and accepting others with their differences to form a passionate dialogue.
Field independence: Standing against the crowd and having one’s own convictions.
Humility: Accepting when we have been wrong and deeply questioning ourselves.
Tendency to ask fundamental “why?” questions: This is rooted in our desire to understand and discover things profoundly.
Ability to reframe: The ability to see the bigger picture in a wider context to get connected to a larger vision of something.
Positive use of adversity: Having courage to admit and learn from mistakes, obstacles, and challenges.
Sense of vocation: Doing work with a goal to benefit humanity.

In a similar manner, Emmons (2000) proposed five components for the construct of SI including; (1) the capability to transcend the physical and material; (2) the capability to experience enhanced states of consciousness; (3) the capacity to sanctify everyday experience; (4) the capability to use spiritual resources to solve problems, and (5) the ability to be virtuous (to express gratitude, compassion, forgiveness). Drawing on these, King (2008) added four elements of critical existential thinking, personal meaning-production, transcendental awareness , and conscious-state expansion to the construct of SI ( Table 1 ).

Different components of SI.

These dimensions indicate that SI is a complex variable that may differ across cultures and contexts. Hence, it can be argued that further empirical studies on this construct in L2 education may come across more and various components. The proposed dimensions are by no means fixed and universal as they have been offered decades ago. Consequently, future empirical studies are suggested to test the existing dimensions or even add/modify them in L2 education, especially in relation to learner psychology variables (e.g., academic engagement, motivation, resilience, efficacy, etc.).

Student Engagement

As one of the most important objectives of education and what teachers are urgently seeking for, student engagement in language education became more visible and highlighted by positive psychology that gave weight to learners’ positive emotions and inner states ( MacIntyre et al., 2019 ). It is a multi-faceted variable concerning the extent and quality of students’ involvement and participation in classroom tasks and activities ( Skinner and Pitzer, 2012 ; Tu, 2021 ). Students’ engagement is a representation of their intrinsic motivation that is shaped over time and in a positive academic context ( Elliott and Tudge, 2012 ; Wang and Guan, 2020 ).

As for the dimensions of this meta-construct, research shows that it encompasses behavioral, emotional, cognitive, agentic, academic, and social dimensions as described in Table 2 ( DeVito, 2016 ; Oga-Baldwin, 2019 ).

The dimensions of student engagement.

According to Collins (2014) , this dynamic and multi-layered variables can be affected by different factors including phenomenological factors that are related to one’s ability, culture, and task difficulty; individual - demographic factors such as age, gender, educational background/qualification; and lastly instructional factors that concern teachers’ classroom practices and behaviors. However, SI as an individual-demographic factor that highlights the diversity of learners and the role of spirituality and mind in learning has not been studied sufficiently as a factor influencing academic engagement.

Previous Studies

Contrary to other areas of research on learner-psychology and intelligence, scant studies exist considering students’ SI and its role in L2 education. This might be due to the unclear conceptualization of the term and its association to SLA. Likewise, the concept seems to be more fitting fields that are religion-oriented ( Emmons, 2000 ; Koenig et al., 2000 ). Nevertheless, some scholars have broken the ice and begun exploring the construct of SI in SLA over the past years arguing that it can promote teachers’ pedagogical success, self-regulation, job satisfaction, burnout, professional commitment, and critical thinking ability ( Kaur, 2013 ; Azizi and Azizi, 2015 ; Zhaleh and Ghonsooly, 2017 ; Elhambakhsh et al., 2018 ; Emma et al., 2018 ). Additionally, in their recent mixed-methods study, Estaji and Pourmostafa (2020) examined the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ SI and leadership style in light of their teaching experience level. In so doing, 236 EFL teachers completed two questionnaires on these two variables out of which 10 teachers were later interviewed. The results indicated that the components of SI significantly predicted novice and experienced EFL teachers’ perceptions of leadership styles. Likewise, Emma et al. (2018) quantitatively investigated the effect of SI on Indonesian teachers’ teamwork and commitment using a questionnaire that was completed by 143 teachers. The results of correlation analysis revealed a direct impact of SI on participants’ teamwork and commitment.

As for the effect of SI on students’ classroom behaviors and practices like their degree of engagement in/with classroom activities, Smartt (2014) argued that SI and its features have a strong influence on American secondary students’ engagement and performance. Moreover, the role of SI in shaping EFL students’ language learning has caught the attention of some studies that identified that SI improves EFL students’ writing skills and learning strategies ( Santoso, 2016 ; Sotoudehnama et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, research displays that students’ engagement can cause diverse positive academic outcomes ( Eccles, 2016 ) and is correlated with achievement, motivation, interpersonal skills, psychosocial adjustment, psychological safety, effective learning, success, and classroom culture ( Chase et al., 2015 ; Jang et al., 2016 ; Wang, 2017 ; Tu, 2021 ; Xie and Derakhshan, 2021 ). Despite these studies, empirical research on the association of student engagement and SI, as two constructs in learner-psychology, is demanded in various EFL/ESL contexts. Moreover, this area lacks sufficient research on the intersection of intelligence and positive emotions which have tight connections on the part of learners and their learning. Hence, running explorations in this strand of research is highly recommended.

Concluding Remarks

In this mini-review study, it was maintained that SI can play a pivotal role in shaping and raising EFL students’ academic engagement in the class. Hence, it can offer implications for different stakeholders as their knowledge of intelligence and positive emotions adds fresh insights to their practices. This theoretical review is meritorious to EFL teachers in that they can work on techniques by which they can improve their pupils’ SI and engagement levels. They can also get familiar with the role of learner-related variables (SI) and emotions in the process of learning. Similarly, EFL students can benefit from this study in that it can increase their awareness of the power of their mental/spiritual resources to solve problems and experience well-being in education. Teacher trainers, as another group, may find this study valuable and offer training courses to EFL teachers in which ways of dealing with and improving students’ SI and engagement are fully explained and practiced. Additionally, they can add a psycho-emotional aspect to their training programs along with pedagogical issues. Furthermore, this article can be useful for L2 researchers and inspire them to run similar and complementary studies in which the role of SI in SLA is more illustrated. The current state of research in this domain is limited to a number of correlational studies using a one-shot design. Hence, future studies can be conducted using qualitative and mixed-methods designs. Moreover, most of the studies on SI have focused on teacher-related variables, so future research can be recommended examining learner-related variables especially those of PP. As both SI and engagement are dynamic and multi-faceted, experimental studies are also suggested to see if they develop over a course or not. Finally, cross-cultural examinations can be done of EFL students’ level of SI and engagement to identify whether cultural and social factors mediate their relationship.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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The influence of spirituality and religion on critical care nursing: An integrative review

Affiliations.

1 Research Group under the Andalusian Research CTS 1050 "Complex Care, Chronic and Health Outcomes", Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Podiatry, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
2 University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
3 Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
4 Research Group CTS 969 "Innovation in HealthCare and Social Determinants of Health", School of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
PMID: 33966310
DOI: 10.1111/nicc.12645

Background: Spiritual care could help family members and critically ill patients to cope with anxiety, stress and depression. However, health care professionals are poorly prepared and health managers are not allocating all the resources needed.

Aims and objectives: To critically review the empirical evidence concerning the influence of spirituality and religion (S-R) on critical care nursing.

Methods: An integrative review of the literature published in the last 10 years (2010-2019) was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, CINHAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane and LILACS. In addition, searches were performed in the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe and the Grey Literature Report. Quantitative and/or qualitative studies, assessing S-R and including health care professionals caring for critically ill patients (i.e. adults or children), were included.

Results: Forty articles were included in the final analysis (20 qualitative, 19 quantitative and 1 with a mixed methodology). The studies embraced the following themes: S-R importance and the use of coping among critical care patients and families; spiritual needs of patients and families; health care professionals' awareness of spiritual needs; ways to address spiritual care in the intensive care unit (ICU); definition of S-R by health care professionals; perceptions and barriers of addressing spiritual needs; and influence of S-R on health care professionals' outcomes and decisions. Our results indicate that patients and their families use S-R coping strategies to alleviate stressful situations in the ICU and that respecting patients' spiritual beliefs is an essential component of critical care. Although nurses consider spiritual care to be very important, they do not feel prepared to address S-R and report lack of time as the main barrier.

Conclusion and implications for practice: Critical care professionals should be aware about the needs of their patients and should be trained to handle S-R in clinical practice. Nurses are encouraged to increase their knowledge and awareness towards spiritual issues.

Keywords: adult; critical care; intensive care; nursing; paediatric; religious; spirituality.

Publication types

Critical Care Nursing*
Critical Illness
Spiritual Therapies*
Spirituality

IMAGES

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Critical Thinking Skills: Definitions, Examples, and How to Improve
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VIDEO

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COMMENTS

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Background: Spiritual care could help family members and critically ill patients to cope with anxiety, stress and depression. However, health care professionals are poorly prepared and health managers are not allocating all the resources needed. Aims and objectives: To critically review the empirical evidence concerning the influence of spirituality and religion (S-R) on critical care nursing.
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