Identity and Spirituality: Conventional and Transpersonal Perspectives

Though the relation of spirituality to self has long been recognized in established spiritual and religious systems, serious scientific interest in spirituality and its relation to identity has only started to grow in the past 20 years. This paper overviews the literature on spirituality and identity. Particular attention is given to describing and critiquing conventional and transpersonal perspectives with emphasis given to empirically testable theories. Using MacDonald’s (1997, 2000) five dimensional model of spirituality, a structural model of spirituality is proposed as is a model of spiritual identity formation

Editors’ Introduction

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Statement of Transition - Editor\u27s Introduction

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An Integral Approach to Depression

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Editors’ Introduction

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Editors’ Introduction

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Syncretism in Transpersonal Studies: Introduction to this Issue’s Special Topics Section

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Gebser\u27s Integral Consciousness and Living in the Real World: Facilitating its Emergence Using A Course In Miracles

This paper discusses certain parallels between the work of Jean Gebser, the European philosopher and student of consciousness, and A Course in Miracles (ACIM), a contemporary spiritual system. More specifically, it 1) establishes parallels between Gebser’s conception of the ego, especially its basis in anger, and the ego according to ACIM, and 2) shows how a forgiveness exercise may lead to a time-free present, called in ACIM, “The Holy Instant.

Transpersonal Psychology, Parapsychology, and Neurobiology: Clarifying their Relations

Neurobiological advances have resulted in growing interest in many psychological phenomena heretofore resistant to scientific scrutiny, including within transpersonal psychology and parapsychology. These advances perhaps can resolve longstanding tensions between these two psychological subdisciplines, which have generally been treated as disparate. To implement such a rapprochement requires more than just additional empirical findings, as theoretical development is also needed. Consequently, we identify some important theoretical problems, such as conventional assumptions about scientific naturalism and materialism that potentially undermine substantive advances in further understanding such phenomena through neurobiology. We also discuss links between parapsychology and transpersonal psychology that can be forged through neurobiology (e.g., identifying specific brain regions that can serve as candidates for future investigations in parapsychology and transpersonal psychology)

The Measurement of Spirituality in Children: An Evaluation of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory–Revised (ESI–R) with a Sample of Peruvian School Children

Using a sample of 263 male Peruvian school children of ages ranging from 11 to 16 years, a Spanish translation of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory- Revised (ESI-R; MacDonald, 2000a, 2000b) was evaluated in terms of its reliability and factorial validity. Examination of the internal consistency of the five ESI-R dimensions revealed somewhat mediocre reliability with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .56 to .73 across all dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) also provided somewhat mixed support for the ESI-R; while all but one of the items produced significant loadings on their intended factors, fit indices indicated problems with model fit for both four and five factor models. In post-hoc exploratory principal axis factor analyses, a discernable three factor structure was found which emulated higher order factors found by MacDonald (2000b). Additional statistical analyses were completed to determine if a short-form of the ESI-R could be developed that would be suitable for research with youth. This resulted in the creation of a 12 item scale designed to tap two factors. This scale demonstrated adequate reliability and good factorial validity. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of the findings and suggestions for future research