One of the things that we often hear when we tell folks that we are working on a project that is studying the growing number of nones in the United States is something along the lines of, “Oh, I’m not that religious, but I consider myself highly spiritual.” It’s a concept that we talk about a lot in social science.
For those interested the Dutch Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, a government agency here, did an extensive study into spiritual practices among Dutch who are not in organized religion.
The study was from 2022. Currently we have >55% not in (organized) religion. In 2022 it was only slightly lower.
The study can be found below. It's in Dutch but has an extensive English summary which also talks about the previous 2 reports as the study was part 3 in a series of 3.
Engaging in regular spiritual practice takes discipline and commitment. Heck, I struggle with that a lot of times! I wonder if “choice paralysis” plays a role in self-directed spirituality? There are so many ways to go that I wonder if some of the Nones wind up not choosing any.
I think this post shows the limitations of quantitative research and why it sometimes needs to be paired with qualitative research. It would be useful to talk to folks who say they are spiritual but not religious to get a better sense of how that manifests itself. I once had a Catholic girl friend who believed they she could sometimes but not always sense the future (not exactly see it). Its what some traditions might call the 3rd eye though she did not use such language. She often thought of it as a curse that she could be aware of things that others around her were blind to.
I understand the need for observable, quantifiable, measures. I generally use the definition of spirituality offered by Zinnbauer and Pargament (2005)("Spirituality has come to represent individual's efforts at reaching a variety of sacred or existential goals in life, such as finding meaning, wholeness, inner potential, and interconnections with others"). Such activity is hard to quantify. However, I wonder how much time both religious and nonreligious people spend trying to unravel these mysteries in their lives without considering it a spiritual activity. Using that definition, I think that more of us are spiritual than we realize. Appreciate and follow your work.
I can't think of very many people I personally know who can clearly differentiate between the terms "spiritual" and "religious", especially if describing their own selves.
I'm not sure if it matters what the person thinks the definition is; someone claiming spirituality is making a measure of "belonging" but the actions that Ryan outlined (yoga, meditation) are the measures of "behavior." It's harder to get the belief measurement for spirituality but I'm sure that kind of analysis is coming in a future Saturday post.
Fascinating, this not what I expected the data to show at all. As you said not a lot of social scientists are looking at this population, so there is a lot of superficial takes based on surface level engagement with the data. Looking forward to future posts as you continue your work.
The data is sobering, but I also see opportunity here. If so many people are living in a spiritual desert, then authentic practices of faith and community become all the more compelling when they’re actually lived out. Thanks for taking the time to share the research!!
I am curious about the categories used to designate and graph spiritual practice. Could you point to those? Many of us gather around practices that were once claimed by religion. The birthright practices of music, song, dance, storytelling, and stillness offer participants experiences similar to those of religion. Other categories might also include regularly eating meals together as family or friends, sports, book clubs, art, time in nature, and even political work. Many people are out on trails and gardening. Special interest groups and charitable work also provide meaning and ignite a profound sense of community. Women's circles are rampant. I believe spiritual intelligence isn't based only on a belief system or structured practice. It results from all forms of intelligence interplaying cooperatively with each other (Kinesthetic, visual, cognitive, auditory, etc.) Lacking the fullness and space for all forms of intelligence to be honored and to interplay makes religion restrictive and boring. Are we more able to tap into something greater outside of religion? If spiritual intelligence is evident in our informal lives, how would we graph that?
A great note. We did a follow-up survey of 850 non-religious respondents and included an expanded battery of possible spiritual practices. One new option was:
Spent time in nature for the purpose of enlightenment
In this sample, it was selected by 13% of respondents.
“One would assume that people who say that they are highly spiritual are doing yoga or meditation or astrology, right?”
I think this is a problematic assumption. Spirituality is a concept that encompasses far more than traditional New Age practices. It’s about the pursuit of transcendent meaning, and that pursuit varies depending on context.
Consider a None who is a huge Ray Kurzweil fan. He believes the Singularity is right around the corner. He spends a long time talking to ChatGPT about the future, and he looks forward to the day he can use cybernetic enhancements.
I would hesitate to say this individual is without spirituality. His futurism is his spirituality. He may not believe in magic, but he believes in technology that is about as good as magic. He lives in an enchanted world, no less than a religious person or a New Age practitioner. And I don’t know if he would appear as spiritual on this survey.
I would think that SBNR and religious people mean different things by the word “spirituality” so I’m not sure how the comparison works between those two groups. But it’s interesting how few people who aren’t religious say that “spirituality” is meaningful to them.
I guess I’m agnostic/atheist and wasn’t raised religious at all so I definitely fit in the category of doing nothing spiritual and spirituality not really being meaningful to me, but when you look at how few people call themselves atheist/agnostic I’m surprised by this result. Maybe I shouldn’t be because not religious and not spiritual seems to match most people I know who I talk about religion with.
I understand the need for observable, quantifiable, measures. I generally use the definition of spirituality offerred by Zinnbauer and Pargament (2005)("Spirituality has come to represent individual's efforts at reaching a variety of sacred or existential goals in life, such as finding meaning, wholeness, inner potential, and interconnections with others"). Such activity is hard to quantify. However, I wonder how much time both religious and nonreligious people spend trying to unravel these mysteries in their lives without considering it a spiritual activity. Using that definition, I think that more of us are spiritual than we realize. Appreciate and follow your work.
For those interested the Dutch Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, a government agency here, did an extensive study into spiritual practices among Dutch who are not in organized religion.
The study was from 2022. Currently we have >55% not in (organized) religion. In 2022 it was only slightly lower.
The study can be found below. It's in Dutch but has an extensive English summary which also talks about the previous 2 reports as the study was part 3 in a series of 3.
https://www.scp.nl/publicaties/publicaties/2022/03/24/buiten-kerk-en-moskee
I like how ending a sentence in "..., folks." is Ryan's way of using an exclamation point.
Engaging in regular spiritual practice takes discipline and commitment. Heck, I struggle with that a lot of times! I wonder if “choice paralysis” plays a role in self-directed spirituality? There are so many ways to go that I wonder if some of the Nones wind up not choosing any.
I think this post shows the limitations of quantitative research and why it sometimes needs to be paired with qualitative research. It would be useful to talk to folks who say they are spiritual but not religious to get a better sense of how that manifests itself. I once had a Catholic girl friend who believed they she could sometimes but not always sense the future (not exactly see it). Its what some traditions might call the 3rd eye though she did not use such language. She often thought of it as a curse that she could be aware of things that others around her were blind to.
Prayer is a spiritual activity, and should have been included in the choices listed.
I understand the need for observable, quantifiable, measures. I generally use the definition of spirituality offered by Zinnbauer and Pargament (2005)("Spirituality has come to represent individual's efforts at reaching a variety of sacred or existential goals in life, such as finding meaning, wholeness, inner potential, and interconnections with others"). Such activity is hard to quantify. However, I wonder how much time both religious and nonreligious people spend trying to unravel these mysteries in their lives without considering it a spiritual activity. Using that definition, I think that more of us are spiritual than we realize. Appreciate and follow your work.
I can't think of very many people I personally know who can clearly differentiate between the terms "spiritual" and "religious", especially if describing their own selves.
I'm not sure if it matters what the person thinks the definition is; someone claiming spirituality is making a measure of "belonging" but the actions that Ryan outlined (yoga, meditation) are the measures of "behavior." It's harder to get the belief measurement for spirituality but I'm sure that kind of analysis is coming in a future Saturday post.
My foundational assumption in doing survey research is this: it's a mistake to try and define terms.
1. For most terms: there is not a definition that will satisfy a majority of respondents.
2. If you try to define things, the question will become so long and cumbersome that the quality of answers will fall to an unacceptable level.
Instead I take this approach: When people tell you what they are -- believe them.
If I ask, "Are you spiritual?" And you say, "no" - that's good enough for me.
Yep, but in fairness I don't think there are clear, agreed upon definitions even among people that think about this stuff a lot.
Fascinating, this not what I expected the data to show at all. As you said not a lot of social scientists are looking at this population, so there is a lot of superficial takes based on surface level engagement with the data. Looking forward to future posts as you continue your work.
The data is sobering, but I also see opportunity here. If so many people are living in a spiritual desert, then authentic practices of faith and community become all the more compelling when they’re actually lived out. Thanks for taking the time to share the research!!
I am curious about the categories used to designate and graph spiritual practice. Could you point to those? Many of us gather around practices that were once claimed by religion. The birthright practices of music, song, dance, storytelling, and stillness offer participants experiences similar to those of religion. Other categories might also include regularly eating meals together as family or friends, sports, book clubs, art, time in nature, and even political work. Many people are out on trails and gardening. Special interest groups and charitable work also provide meaning and ignite a profound sense of community. Women's circles are rampant. I believe spiritual intelligence isn't based only on a belief system or structured practice. It results from all forms of intelligence interplaying cooperatively with each other (Kinesthetic, visual, cognitive, auditory, etc.) Lacking the fullness and space for all forms of intelligence to be honored and to interplay makes religion restrictive and boring. Are we more able to tap into something greater outside of religion? If spiritual intelligence is evident in our informal lives, how would we graph that?
Yes. Graph 3 above.
One of the biggest activities or behaviors of SBNR people is engaging with nature. Not an option in this questionnaire.
Another might be reading/studying philosophy or even science (awe of the unknown).
Gardening (though a subset of nature engagement) is more akin to meditation, but a distinct behavioral approach.
I could come up with others that should be ahead of tarot cards and psychic experience.
A great note. We did a follow-up survey of 850 non-religious respondents and included an expanded battery of possible spiritual practices. One new option was:
Spent time in nature for the purpose of enlightenment
In this sample, it was selected by 13% of respondents.
Mediation was 17%
None of the above was 33%.
“One would assume that people who say that they are highly spiritual are doing yoga or meditation or astrology, right?”
I think this is a problematic assumption. Spirituality is a concept that encompasses far more than traditional New Age practices. It’s about the pursuit of transcendent meaning, and that pursuit varies depending on context.
Consider a None who is a huge Ray Kurzweil fan. He believes the Singularity is right around the corner. He spends a long time talking to ChatGPT about the future, and he looks forward to the day he can use cybernetic enhancements.
I would hesitate to say this individual is without spirituality. His futurism is his spirituality. He may not believe in magic, but he believes in technology that is about as good as magic. He lives in an enchanted world, no less than a religious person or a New Age practitioner. And I don’t know if he would appear as spiritual on this survey.
But when we ask people, "how important is spirituality to you?"
Non-religious: 27% not at all
Religious: 4% not at all
How do you square that?
I just don't buy the assumption here that if we would have included 100 different possible items, that the results would be fundamentally different.
I would think that SBNR and religious people mean different things by the word “spirituality” so I’m not sure how the comparison works between those two groups. But it’s interesting how few people who aren’t religious say that “spirituality” is meaningful to them.
I guess I’m agnostic/atheist and wasn’t raised religious at all so I definitely fit in the category of doing nothing spiritual and spirituality not really being meaningful to me, but when you look at how few people call themselves atheist/agnostic I’m surprised by this result. Maybe I shouldn’t be because not religious and not spiritual seems to match most people I know who I talk about religion with.
I understand the need for observable, quantifiable, measures. I generally use the definition of spirituality offerred by Zinnbauer and Pargament (2005)("Spirituality has come to represent individual's efforts at reaching a variety of sacred or existential goals in life, such as finding meaning, wholeness, inner potential, and interconnections with others"). Such activity is hard to quantify. However, I wonder how much time both religious and nonreligious people spend trying to unravel these mysteries in their lives without considering it a spiritual activity. Using that definition, I think that more of us are spiritual than we realize. Appreciate and follow your work.