What do Americans mean when they say they are spiritual?
It may seem like a simple question, but there’s never an easy answer, according to a new report on spirituality from the Pew Research Center.
The survey found that among 70% of U.S. adults who consider themselves spiritual in some way, certain beliefs about souls, spirits, and science are commonly held.
However, group members have conflicting ideas about spiritual practices such as meditation and their various relationships with religious groups and ideas.
Pew’s report confirms what scholars like Nancy Ammerman, professor emeritus of the sociology of religion at Boston University, have been arguing for at least 15 years: that Americans’ relationship to spirituality, not just religion, is at first glance This adds weight to the content, which is much more complex than the original. .
“Spirituality is a word that has a lot to do with people’s sense of identity and political positions, as well as any kind of identifiable experience or something that can be easily pointed to,” Ammerman said.
From religious to spiritual
For much of U.S. history, describing oneself as “religious” was as uncontroversial as calling oneself an “American.” The majority of adults as well as children belonged to faith groups and attended services regularly.
But in recent decades, the term “religious” has undergone a subtle and increasingly noticeable decline, said Ammerman, who served as an advisor to Pew on the new report. A growing group of Americans are leaving organized religion, and even those who remain active may find the term offensive.
“More Americans are rejecting this label,” she says.
Ammerman said this trend is driven by a number of factors, including the presumed link between religion and conservative politics and the fact that relatively few young people today grew up in religious households. It is said that there is.
“Being perceived as religious used to be one of the ways people positioned themselves among good citizens; it meant they knew they were good and moral. It was a way to show others what it is,” she said. Now, some people worry that using this label will seem strange and judgmental, and may actually damage their social status.
But despite discomfort with the word “religious,” Americans’ interest in easy ways to make themselves look good has not subsided. That’s where the word “spiritual” comes in, Ammerman says.
“You have to have a way of expressing yourself that allows you to say to the world, ‘I’m not a bad person.’ I’m a human being with some depth and some moral sense.” “Spirituality has become a label that people choose,” she said.
In other words, Ammerman believes that a significant percentage of Americans who describe themselves as “spiritual” engage in branding activities. They behave not much differently than traditional “religious” adults, except for the fact that they don’t use the label “religious.”
What is spirituality?
Pew’s new report includes evidence supporting Ammerman’s conclusions. First, researchers found that when asked to describe what “spiritual” means to them, Americans often cite religious concepts such as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
“Twenty-seven percent of the total gave a description related to organized religion,” Pew reported.
The study found that there is significant overlap between religiosity and spirituality. Most of the 70% of U.S. adults who consider themselves spiritual or who describe being spiritual as important also say they are religious or that religion is important. states.
“There is enough overlap between what people mean by the word ‘spiritual’ and what comes to mind when they think of the word ‘religion,’ that nearly half of American adults identify themselves as religious or spiritual.” Pew reported.
The Pew survey on American spirituality was conducted from July 31 to August 6 among 11,201 U.S. adults.
In general, Pugh found that there is no clear line between spirituality and religion. The 22% of Americans who fall into the spiritual but not religious category have much in common with those who are spiritual and religious.
“They’re not as different as we often think,” Ammerman says.
For example, although they are not religious, the majority of religious and spiritual people believe that humans have souls and spirits, that something spiritual exists beyond the natural world, and that there is an invisible spiritual I believe that power exists.
“In many ways, Americans who are ‘spiritual but not religious’ are, on average, less spiritual than American adults who are both religious and spiritual,” Pew reported.
Still, there are some important differences, such as those who are spiritual but not religious are much less likely than others to believe in the God of the Bible. However, members of this category often believe in higher powers or spiritual forces, Pugh found.
The survey also showed that people who are religious but spiritual are less likely to attend religious services regularly and more likely to hold negative views of organized religion. , which is consistent with what Ammerman found in his own research.
The category of spiritual but not religious, she said, “consists primarily of a negative self-perception of not being religious, rather than a positive set of practices and beliefs about being spiritual.”
What do religious groups do with this information?
Pew’s new report and the broader field of spirituality research contain good news and bad news for religious leaders, Ammerman said.
The good news is that the majority of Americans believe in, or at least remain interested in, religious concepts such as God, an afterlife, and miracles. The bad news is that it’s unclear how to get people who identify as spiritual but not religious to come to church.
“This is the $64,000 question for religious leaders in general,” Ammerman said.
Some religious individuals and organizations are responding to recent trends by creating low-pressure opportunities for people to explore their religious leanings.
For example, the advertising campaign “He Gets Us” invites people to learn more about Jesus, even if they are not currently interested in joining a faith group.
“Whether what we are trying to do is reintroducing people to the Jesus of the Bible and becoming his followers, or self-reflection for Christians who want to change themselves, the first It’s about being a bridge to step forward and become more like Jesus,” a spokesperson for the He Gets Us movement told the Deseret News earlier this year.
This year, the Radiant Foundation, in collaboration with Gallup, released a report highlighting the connection between spirituality and mental health, and launched Skylight, a report that makes it easier for young people in particular to incorporate spiritual practices such as meditation into their lives. I also created an app called “. Things to do every day.
better understanding
Pew’s detailed report could deepen our understanding of how Americans’ relationship with religion and spirituality is evolving. Ammerman called this a “huge step forward” in understanding recent trends.
This “will lay the foundation for Pew to be able to track trends more accurately in the future,” she said.
Becca A. Alper, a senior researcher at Pew University who served as the lead researcher on the report, confirmed that Pew plans to revisit issues related to spirituality in the future, but said that the timing of future research is unclear. said it is still unclear.
“The idea is that going forward, we can ask from time to time how these beliefs, practices, and experiences are changing over time,” she said.
