The Four Types Of Spirituality

Spirituality
Worthington et. al. (2011) says historically, religiousness involved individual and institutional elements; however, now spirituality is thought of as an individual phenomenon and linked with meaningfulness, New Age beliefs, and personal transcendence. Additionally, spirituality is described in personal terms like one’s relationship with God, and as a result, spirituality is more highly regarded than religion. The authors define spirituality as a feeling of closeness and having a relationship or dedication to God or a higher power; this can be a religious experience or a nonreligious one. They state that what one considers sacred is usually related to the awareness of social influences. According to the authors, four types of spirituality have been identified based on closeness to God. First, is religious spirituality. Religious spirituality’s connectedness to God is based on one’s specific denomination and the closeness is specific to the deity identified. Second is humanistic spirituality. Humanistic spirituality involves closeness to humans. This type of spirituality fosters a loving connection with a specific group of people and a sense of selflessness and concern

According to the authors, research has shown that there is a global connection between spirituality and religion and health. The global connection involved how often a person attended church and denomination affiliation, which both provide a prediction of health-related outcomes. Further, the authors reference a meta-analysis of religious involvement and mortality that shows that 126,000 participants who scored high on the religious indices had a 29% higher odd of survival. This analysis also indicated that the involvement needed to only be basic and