Spirituality 1

Running Head: SPIRITUALITY AND POSITIVE DECISION MAKING

Does Spirituality Help Create Happiness Through Positive Behavioral Decision Making?

November 30, 2010

Psychology 458

Professor Josh Weller

University of Oregon
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Abstract

Spirituality and how it relates to behavioral decision making is a topic rarely explored in

psychological research. The concept of spirituality is somewhat new to mainstream United

States, and is still marked with the stigma of affiliation with organized religion. This review

article focuses on some of the current empirical research looking at how spirituality effects

human judgment, behavior, decision, and action. Paired with research studies performed on

behavioral science and decision making, this article attempts to answer questions such as, does

spiritual advice help create positive¹ decision making and therefore happier people? Do those

who adopt Buddhist, Tao, or Confucian beliefs, which are considered more spiritual than other

religions, make “better” decisions than those who do not? Many experts hypothesize people do

make “smarter” choices and take more positive actions when they hold with them a strong sense

of spiritual connectedness (Bergsma, 2008).

¹I chose to use the term positive in this article to describe what many people would call good
choices. I do this because considering something as good or bad can change depending on the
person and the culture. I feel that using positive and negative is more universal since a negative
can easily become a positive and visa versa. It is difficult to consider something as being good if
you once considered it to be bad. This is also why I have placed quotations around the words
better and smarter.
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Introduction

Defining Spirituality

Spirituality is a mysterious psychological phenomenon. Many people view spirituality

and religiousness as being one in the same, but this is not always the case. One does not need to

be religious in order to be spiritual and visa versa (Rican & Janosova, 2010). To most of the

psychological world, the concept of the spirituality is still shrouded in mystery. With little

empirical research in existence, there are many unanswered questions regarding spirituality. One

important question asks, how does spirituality effect behavioral decision making?

Firstly, how do we define spirituality? Spirituality is a very broad term and, depending

on which spiritual leader or expert one asks, has many definitions. Some view spirituality as a

search for what is sacred (Pargament, 1999). Others see spirituality from a humanistic

standpoint which is based on pure love (Elkins, 2001). A general, somewhat universal definition

for this review article will be, the discovery of one’s self and one’s place in the world. In other

words, a sense of inner peace and acceptance.

Nevertheless, different philosophers have different theories of what spirituality is, how

one becomes spiritual, and how spirituality can create self-awareness and happiness in one’s life.

Unfortunately, because of this, very few empirical studies have been conducted focusing on the

effects of spiritual beliefs on behavior (Bergsma, 2008). It is quite difficult to perform

qualitative research studies on a idea that is considered so mystical and mysterious. Also, it

seems as though many experts in the psychological field do not take the concept of spirituality

seriously. This could be because it is still a new idea in Western culture compared to Eastern
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culture. The majority of empirical findings exist through correlational analyses and survey

questionnaires or interviews.

Current Research

What little there is on how spirituality effects behavioral decision making, the majority of

research focuses on the human pursuit for happiness (Bergsma, 2008). Naturally, the idea that

better decision making creates more happiness in one’s life is simple enough. Yet, as we can

clearly see by watching the news, reading the news paper, talking to friends and family, or even

reflecting on our own decisions, reaching that point of true happiness and contentment is not

nearly as easy as it sounds. What is stopping humans from finding inner peace and balance?

Why do we continue to make poor decisions that cause us suffering? Why do we dwell on and

long for what we do not have? A growing number of psychologists, including this author,

believe that “mindfulness¹” is the key to making correct decisions and obtaining happiness with

oneself (Rungreamgkulkij & Wongtakee, 2008).

Many researchers focus on how spirituality can help combat certain symptoms of mental

disorders such as anxiety (Shapiro & Zifferblatt, 1976), depression, and personality disorders,

which in turn, creates better decision makers and greater happiness. Others are curious if

personality plays a role in the level of a person’s spiritual beliefs (Piedmont, 1999; Rican &

Janosova, 2010). Some psychologists are working to see if spirituality can help dissolve away

faulty beliefs and thoughts, which inhibit us from making wise choices leading to greater

¹Mindfulness is defined as an experience of total mind and body awareness of reality (Teasdale,
Segal, Williams, & Mark, 1995). Mindfulness is looking at the world and at oneself with
unbiased and accepting eyes.
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fulfillment (Boatwright & McIntosh, 2008). Most of the research on the effects of living a

spiritual life focuses on specific components that make up spirituality, or aspects of religions

based on spirituality (Sweet & Johnson, 1990).

Religion and Spirituality

It can be easy to think of spirituality and religion as going hand in hand. In many cases,

they do¹. Eastern religions such as, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are considered highly

spiritual, with great focus on inner peace and balance in one’s life. All three religions date back

prior to 500 B.C. and view life from a humanist standpoint (Bergsma, 2008).

Confucianism teaches people to live a pure life and help others. Confucians focus on

friendship, family, obligations, learning, acceptance, communication, and self-reflection

(Bergsma, 2008). Taoism teaches one to focus on the self and how to balance one’s life with

others and with nature. Central themes of Taoism include adapting to and following the natural

order of the world and change (Bergsma, 2008). Buddhism also focuses on the self and

acceptance of one’s life and situation. Though their point of view is slightly more pessimistic.

Buddhists see the world as a place of endless suffering, but learn to accept this and take in the

world as it is (Guoqing & Veenhoven, 2006), an outlook this author and probably many others

call, “Being the leaf.”

¹As stated earlier, spirituality does not have to come from religion though. Any member of any
population can live a spiritual life. Spirituality is about one’s outlook on their own life and the
lives of others. It is about appreciation and acceptance.

Review
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Piedmont’s Research

Ralph Piedmont is perhaps best known for his studies on personality and how personality

relates to spirituality. As a previous leader of Big Five research, Piedmont expanded on the Five

Factor Model¹ by producing several spirituality questionnaires. Piedmont felt that spirituality

carried with it certain components that were separate from the Big Five factors. Using the

questionnaires he developed, Piedmont conducted several self-report surveys, eventually naming

spirituality as the “big sixth” personality trait (Piedmont, 1999).

Piedmont’s research findings confirmed his hypothesis that participants who were rated

as more spiritual had distinct features which stood out from the Five Factor Model. Those who

rated as less or not-at-all spiritual did not express these features. After performing a series of

factor analyses, Piedmont formulated three new factors, separate from the original Five Factors:

Prayer Fulfillment, Universality, and Connectedness. Piedmont also used these findings to

develop the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS) (Piedmont, 1999).

Piedmont was able to implement the Spiritual Transcendence Scale in predicting certain

choices and behaviors such as levels of stress and anxiety, and pro-social and antisocial behavior.

Participants who had lower levels stress and anxiety, and those who had more pro-social traits

were rated as more spiritual than those who had higher levels of stress and anxiety, and who were

rated as more antisocial (Piedmont, 1999). Piedmont (2004) was later able to use the Spiritual

Transcendence Scale to predict possible outcomes of drug recovery centers and programs

(Piedmont, 2004).

¹As a reminder, the Big Five personality traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion,
Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
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Piedmont’s work on the unique topic of spiritual psychology provides examples of how

spirituality can effect behavioral decision making. Through his various surveys and

observations, Piedmont (1999) found that spiritual ─ connected, accepting, and inner peace ─

people make “better” decisions and are therefore happier than non-spiritual people. He found

that spirituality can have a positive effect on the success of a drug program, by helping addicts

look within oneself, becoming aware of oneself, and make more positive decisions in one’s life

(Piedmont, 2004). In short, Piedmont found evidence to support his main argument that

spirituality is a very important factor to consider when looking at human personality and decision

making.

Cross-cultural Research

By studying whether or not concepts of spirituality are universal, Pavel and Janosova

(2010) expanded on Piedmont’s (1999) previous research findings. Piedmont found supporting

evidence in which measures of spirituality are independent of the Big Five scale of personality.

These individual personality traits which make up spirituality, can therefore create certain

outlooks, judgments, decisions, and actions (Piedmont, 1999). Pavel and Janosova hypothesized

that the same measures of spirituality Piedmont found in the United States were generalizable

across cultures (Pavel & Janosova, 2010).

Studying a sample group of adolescents and young adults from the Czech Republic, Pavel

and Janosova found cross-cultural evidence supporting Piedmont’s construct of spirituality as

made up of particular individual personality traits (Pavel & Janosova, 2010). The team

conducted a survey using the Big Five questionnaire and the Prague Spirituality Questionnaire
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(PSQ) (PSQ; Pavel & Janosova, 2005). The survey identified six traits which, like Piedmont,

were independent of the Big Five. Together, these five traits made up the sixth factor:

spirituality. The five traits were called Mysticism, Deep Ecology, Togetherness, Moral Solitude,

and Latent Monotheism. Each of these attributes were somewhat saturated by at least two of the

Five Factor Model personality traits, but none did solidly fit into one personality trait or another.

The team concluded that spirituality is a universal concept with universal personality traits

independent of the Big Five (Rican & Janosova, 2010).

Buddhism

Bergsma (2008) argues that humans cannot obtain happiness through luck or

circumstance, or by simply making the correct decisions. Instead, they must seek the wisdom of

others (Bergsma, 2008). Yet, couldn’t the argument be made that choosing simple decisions that

benefit oneself is exactly how one finds contentment and joy? The decision to seek advice,

either from a professional or lay person, is possible for everyone. The problems rises in actively

making that decision. As in, actually asking someone for advice.

A person must first make the choice to seek advice from a professional or spiritual leader

before any kind of individual growth can be made. He or she must actively seek help, and follow

through with appointments and meetings. Finally, he or she must make the choice and take

action in order to change. The person must make choices between what words of wisdom to take

with them and what to leave behind. He or she must do the work and follow the advice given,

and continue to work and follow the advice.

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The work itself one must do to better his or her life can be exhausting, mentally and

emotionally. To fight against such primal emotions such as fear and jealousy can prove to be

very difficult for people. The process of seeking advise from others may take a series of simple

judgments, rationales, decisions, and behaviors, but to truly grow into spirituality requires many

important decisions that can alter our perceptions of, and introduce greater happiness in our lives

(Sweet & Johnson, 1990).

Buddhist teachings offer much advice about how one can choose to live his or her life

free of suffering and greed (Rungreangkulkij & Wongtakee, 2008). Shapiro and Zifferblatt

(1976) conducted a study in which they compared the practice of Zen meditation with behavioral

self-management. The findings concluded that the participants who were taught informal and

formal Zen meditation along with behavioral self-control techniques reported gaining greater

awareness of themselves, their own behavior, their environment, and other people around them

than those who received only self-control techniques (Shapiro & Zifferblatt, 1976).

In contrast, Boatwright and McIntosh (2008) found a positive correlation between

mindfulness and self-enhancement. The participants who tested as more mindful also carried

more grandiose ideas of themselves. The researchers went on the hypothesize why this

surprising correlation came to be. One possible rationale was that this may be true for western

culture. The western population chooses to focus on material possessions and physical

appearance more than many eastern cultures. We behave in ways that make us look appealing to

others. We look for ways to attract others and gain attention (Boatwright & McIntosh, 2008).
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Another explanation could have been that the participants spoke more highly of

themselves in order to present themselves in a more positive light to the researchers. This is

common for research participants to do, usually completely unaware that they are doing so.

Outwardly, they may appear mindful of themselves and their surroundings, but internally they do

not realize that they are hyping themselves up for no apparent reason (Boatwright & McIntosh,

2008).

Perhaps because the participants were not practicing Buddhists or Zen meditators they

did not grasp the concept of mindfulness from a Buddhist’s or a spiritual point of view. Proper

meditation takes much practice. One must learn to clear his or her mind of all thoughts and

focus only on breathing. They must let go of past experiences and intruding thoughts and

concerns of the future. This is not always easy for the average non-practicing Buddhist or

meditator, and can take a great deal more commitment and effort and practicing Buddhists

(Boatwright & McIntosh, 2008).

Buddhism Across Cultures

In many other cultures outside of Northern America mental disorders take on more

physiological symptoms than psychological. Anxiety and depression tend to cause insomnia,

headaches, nausea, and chronic pain among other symptoms. In a cross-cultural study in

Thailand, Rungreangkulkij and Wongtakee (2008) found that counseling using a Buddhist

perspective helped patients lessen symptoms of anxiety. Patients entered the counseling program

and were taught mindfulness, mediation, and the concept of impermanence (Rungreangkulkij &

Wongtakee, 2008).
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Over a matter of three months Buddhist counseling had significantly lowered the majority

of patient’s anxiety. The remaining patients showed some sign of improvement from their

condition. Patients reported being more accepting of their situations, appreciative of what they

already had, and recognizing that nothing is forever, so dwelling was pointless. They also

reported having less physical symptoms of anxiety and were able to function more easily in

everyday life. This study concluded that choosing to seek help and work to gain a more spiritual

perspective helps reduce not only physiological symptoms of anxiety but psychological

symptoms as well (Rungreangkulkij & Wongtakee, 2008).

Discussion

Study 1

The special topic of spirituality and behavioral decision making has endless room for

research. Not only is there a lack of empirical research, much of the research that exists leaves

just as many unanswered questions, if not more on how one can make more positive decisions

through living a spiritual life. Detailed studies need to be conducted in the United States ─ both

with Buddhists (or other denominations of eastern religions) and non-Buddhist participants ─ to

gain a greater understanding of which choices lead to a happy life.

In order to expand on Boatwright’s and McIntosh’s findings Buddhists need to be tested

on mindfulness and self-promoting illusions. Would Buddhists rate similar to non-Buddhists in

their levels of self-enhancement? This is an important comparison to make because if the

concept of mindfulness is different for non-Buddhists, the operational definition for mindfulness
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needs to change or be altered. Another option is participants need to first be taught aspects of

Buddhist, Confucian, or Tao mindfulness before testing their self attributes.

A study could still hypothesize that mindfulness equals lower self-promoting illusions

using a pre-test/post-test. Van Nuys (1971) conducted studies to test various techniques for

focusing during meditation. These techniques included breathing practicing certain thought

training techniques (Van Nuys, 1971). In this study, non-Buddhist subjects would be tested on

their mindfulness and their self attributes in a pretest. The participants would then enter an

experimental program meant to teach them spiritual mindfulness through Buddhist, Confucian,

and Tao teachings. Also similar to Van Nuys (1971), subjects could be taught various techniques

for distraction-free meditation. The participants would be blind to the fact that these lessons are

based on religious teachings to ward off bias.

After a month of weekly sessions the participants would be given a posttest of the same

questions only reorganized. The two tests would then be compared and analyzed. The hope

would be that after a month of mindfulness training the participants would show lowered self-

enhancing illusionary traits than before the sessions. If their self-attribute scores are lower, then

it is conceivable to assume spiritual mindfulness can dissolve faulting, illusionary thinking and

help create more humble people. People can choose a more mindful point of view and therefore

make positive decisions that improve their lives.

Study 2

Another potential study could be collecting data from practicing Buddhists, Confucians,

or Taoists to find out if eastern religions can create “better” decision makers. This is an
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important dimension to look at because behaviors and choices are rarely studied from a spiritual

point of view. Those who have adopted these religions appear to have something figured out that

others have yet to find. They seem more at peace with their lives and with the world around

them. They appear to act more kindly to others have infinite patience. In a way, people of these

religions seem to still possess the outlook and wonder of a child. It is important to find out what

kind of decisions spiritual people and people of the Buddhist, Confucian, or Taoist religions

make that creates so much peace and contentment in their lives.

For this study, researchers ask Buddhist participants to fill out a questionnaire regarding

their lives and decision making. The questionnaire will cover both past and present experiences

to find out what lead them to Buddhism, if they were not born Buddhist, to find out what kind of

choices they made in order to compare past and current decisions and actions, and to get an idea

of their overall happiness with their lives.

This study could help researchers gain a greater knowledge of the behaviors and

decisions of members of spiritual religious groups. If indeed spiritual people make more positive

decisions than non-spiritual people and therefore live happier, healthier lives, then the

psychological world could look towards ways of creating programs that help people become

more self-aware, mindful, and spiritual. In turn, this could create a whole new population of

accepting, patient, and caring people. If the psychological world would look at the mind more as

a spiritual, mystical place where any freedom is possible, they may be able to teach people to

open themselves up to the endless possibilities their minds can hold.

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References

Bergsma, A. (2008). The advice of the wise: Introduction to the special issue on advice for a

happy life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 331-340.

Boatwright, R.A., & McIntosh, W.D. (2008). The relationship between mindfulness and

self-promoting illusions. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 11(6), 561-566.

Boudreau, L. (1972). Transcendental meditation and yoga as reciprocal inhibitors. Journal of

Behavioral Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 3, 97-98.

Elkins, D.N. (2001). Beyond religion: Toward a humanistic spirituality. The handbook of

humanistic psychology, 1, 201-212.

Guoqing, Z., & Veenhoven, R. (2006). Ancient Chinese philosophical advice: Can it help us find

happiness today? Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, ?-?.

Piedmont, R. (1999). Does spirituality represent the sixth factor of personality? Spiritual

transcendence and the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 67(6), 985-1014.

Rican, P., & Janovosa, P., (2010). Spirituality as a basic aspect of personality: A cross-cultural

verification of Piedmont’s model. The International Journal for the Psychology of

Religion, 20, 2-13.

Pargament, K.I., (1999). The psychology of religion and spirituality? Yes and no. The

International Journal for the psychology of religion, 9(1), 3-16.

Sweet, M.J., & Johnson, C.G. (1990). Enhancing empathy: The interpersonal implications of a

Buddhist meditation technique. Psychotherapy, 27, 19-29.
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Van Nuys, D. (1971). A novel technique for studying attention during meditation. Journal of

Transpersonal Psychology, 3, 125-133.