The Positive Impacts Of Spirituality

Spirituality is a broad concept, often met with skepticism, but for those who believe in spirituality, it is something real and can have positive effects. Spirituality is difficult to operationalize because it is defined and understood in multiple ways. Participants in studies have described spirituality from experiencing a connection with God or a higher power, to believing something exists that is beyond oneself, to being a search for inner peace and supporting core values to become an ideal human (Hodge & McGrew, 2006). For this paper, spirituality will be defined as an inclusive, multidimensional phenomenon (Starks, Vakalahi & McPhatter, 2014). As well, for this paper belief in spirituality, belief in something bigger than oneself, whether

a sample of employees from the U.S. military, a city government, a law enforcement agency supports this claim, for having a racial minority status (specifically being African American) was associated with an increased risk for uncivil treatment, but only when combined with the female gender in the military (Cortina, Kabat-Farr, Leskinen, Huerta & Magley, 2013). Uncivil treatment was defined as an ambiguous intent to harm, (Cortina et al.) where the behaviour would violate workplace norms, such as being disrespectful or intentionally rude to other employees. Because uncivil treatment is often ambiguous, it can be difficult to pinpoint its motivators, for a harsh tone may be because someone is having a difficult day, or they just have a bad attitude, however; it is due to the constant uncivil treatment people of colour faced that showed this harassment was targeted. Ethnic harassment at work can negatively affect women physically and psychologically (Schneider, Hitlan & Radhakrishnan, 2000). The effects of discrimination can range anywhere from feelings of sadness, humiliation, to trauma. Often this discrimination results in dissatisfaction, and greater psychological distress (Cortina et al.). Physical effects include a negative relation to well-being, such as lower life satisfaction, higher posttraumatic stress, and prevalence of health conditions (Schneider et al.). This suggest the effects of

Unfair treatment in the workplace has increasingly been recognized as a stressor among racial minority groups and it can lead to poor mental health, especially when it becomes a chronic stressor (Maddox, 2013) and spirituality has been identified as an important sustaining and protective factor for women of colour (Starks et al., 2014). Some women of colour find spirituality necessary to survive racism (Beagan & Etowa, 2011), through prayers, the church, or faith. Women can receive support through meditation, prayer, but the social support that is present in church, or any other social support system for spiritual beliefs is most important. Belief in spirituality allows for women of colour to be placed in a collective, and simply knowing there are others in the same situation can be comforting as it can make one not feel victimized and alone. Resilience through spirituality and cultural support have been recognized as protective factors buffering the effects of adversity (Elm, Lewis, Walters & Self 2016). For example, the Black church has served a critical role in Black women's lives since the time of slavery (Musgrave, Allen & Allen, 2002). Moreover, Zorn and Johnson (1997) found a significant positive correlation between religious well-being and social support and hope. Seeing and knowing others are experiencing the same discrimination as you, but them still