Defining Spiritual Development: A Missing Consideration for Student Affairs

Abstract

Spirituality and spiritual development have been conspicuously absent from student development theories and ignored by many student affairs professionals. The authors argue for consideration of spiritual development by student development theorists, provide a definition and framework through which to consider spirituality and spiritual development, examine Maslow's (1971) and Chickering and Reisser's (1993) work through a spiritual lens, and suggest directions for future practice and research.

Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students Coming Out at the Intersection of Spirituality and Sexual Identity

“…It is clear that the personal relationship that participants experienced with a powerful essence was commonplace. This coincides with Love and Talbot's (1999) notion of spiritual development that involves the exploration of a relationship with "an intangible and pervasive power or essence." Additionally, nature was a recurring theme throughout participant transcripts.…”

“…Sixth, the researcher was cognizant of spiritual identity development, sexual identity development, and the interaction of the two identities evident in the raw data, therefore the eight major themes and 34 subthemes were organized from least identity interaction to most identity interaction. Additionally, Love and Talbot's (1999) 5-point framework for spirituality and the "Statement of Spirituality" developed at the first Gay Spirituality Summit in 2004 (Helminiak, 2006) were used as a framework to organize common emerging themes from the data to construct meaning.…”

“…All of these terms have been used interchangeably since the establishment of American colonial colleges to the present day (Dalton, Eberhardt, & Echols, 2006) to describe college students' meaning-making and belief formation processes. Love and Talbot (1999) proposed a framework of spiritual development meant to portray spirituality and spiritual development as relevant beyond organized religious traditions. Love and Talbot's framework identified spiritual development as having the following five characteristics involving (a) an internal process of seeking personal authenticity, genuineness, and wholeness as an aspect of identity development; (b) the process of continually transcending one's current locus of centricity; (c) developing a greater connectedness to self and others through relationships and union with community; (d) deriving meaning, purpose, and direction in one's life; and (e) an increasing openness to exploring a relationship with an intangible and pervasive power or essence that exists beyond human existence and rational human knowing (pp.…”

Dimensions of Spirituality Fostered through the PULSE Program for Service Learning

“…Based upon a review of the literature, spirituality was conceptualized as including the following dimensions: a) being engaged in a dynamic process of inner reflection to better understand oneself and the meaning and purpose of one's life; b) belief in the interconnectedness of humanity and a related desire to be of service to others c) living one's personal philosophy of life with authenticity and integrity; and d) seeking a connection/relationship with a higher power (Astin et al, 2011b;Braskamp, Trautvetter, & Ward, 2006;Love & Talbot, 1999;Roehlkepartain, Benson, Scales, Kimball, & Ebstyne-King, 2008). Guided by this conceptualization of spirituality, specific variables and scales from Astin et al's (2011a;2011b) Spiritual Quest scale (α =.834) refers to whether one is engaged in a dynamic process of inner reflection to better understand oneself and one's meaning and purpose in life.…”

Conceptualizations of Spirituality, Religion, and Faith: Comparing Biblical Notions with the Perspectives of Protestant Christian Students at a Lutheran College

“…Estanek (2006) provided a more thorough summary after analyzing the meaning given to spirituality in the higher education literature. Five themes emerged from her analysis: understanding spirituality as a new discourse; spirituality defined as spiritual development (see Love & Talbot, 1999); spirituality used as critique to be distinguished from mainstream traditions; spirituality as an empty container for individual meaning; spirituality as a common ground or field that "connects all religions" (p. 277); and spirituality as quasi-religion. Additionally, Parks' (2000) conceptualization of spirituality as a personal search for meaning, transcendence, wholeness, purpose, and "apprehension of spirit (or Spirit) as the animating essence at the core of life" (p. 16) is often cited in the higher education literature.…”