Dimensions of "spirituality": the semantics of subjective definitions

As part of the semantic analyses in the Bielefeld-based Cross-cultural Study of “Spirituality,” this chapter presents the analysis of 1039 English and 740 German subjective free-text-entry definitions of “spirituality” in response to the question: “How would you define the term ‘spirituality’?” The...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Eisenmann, Clemens (Author) ; Klein, Constantin 1977- (Author) ; Swhajor-Biesemann, Anne (Author) ; Drexelius, Uwe (Author) ; Keller, Barbara (Author) ; Streib, Heinz 1951- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer 2016
In: Semantics and psychology of spirituality
Year: 2016, Pages: 125-151
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:As part of the semantic analyses in the Bielefeld-based Cross-cultural Study of “Spirituality,” this chapter presents the analysis of 1039 English and 740 German subjective free-text-entry definitions of “spirituality” in response to the question: “How would you define the term ‘spirituality’?” The entire corpus of 1779 cases was rated using 44 categories which have been inductively developed from the material, leaning on Content analysis , Ethnosemantics and Grounded Theory methodology, and validated inter-subjectively in group sessions. Besides testing frequency distributions with the χ2-Test, Principal Component Analyses were performed for dimension reduction, from which we regard the solution with 10 components explaining 42.11 % of the variance as optimal. Thus 10 semantic dimensions of “spirituality” emerge from this analysis. Results from a second-order PCA suggest three components of the semantics of “spirituality”: mystical vs. humanistic transcending, theistic versus non-theistic transcendence, and individual “lived” religion versus dogmatism. Thus this chapter demonstrates that a wide range as well as clear differences in understanding “spirituality” emerge when analysed in a decisively idiographic approach.
ISBN:3319212451
Contains:Enthalten in: Semantics and psychology of spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-21245-6_9