The Faith is the belief which comes from inside of a human or it is the inner state of strength which is similar to confidence while provoking a human to trust within a secular/ non secular context. The purpose of this article is to identify parallels of various stages of faith particularly as suggested by Fowler, from the person who is filled with fantasies first then has the moral rules and attitude, who moves on thereafter towards experiencing the world beyond the family, and then believes on self identity, has prejudices, and finally actualizes the spirit of an inclusive human community.Faith, Stages of Faith, Self-identity, Human Psychology

Hasan, Syed Akif

Osman, Ms. Amber

Subhani, Muhammad Imtiaz

English

Research Papers in Economics

 
Accepted in  
European Journal of Social Sciences (EJSS), (2011) 
Various stages of Faith in Human Psychology 
Muhammad Imtiaz Subhani 
Iqra University Research Centre-IURC , Iqra University- IU,  
Defence View, Shaheed-e-Millat Road (Ext.) Karachi-75500, Pakistan 
E-mail: drsubhani@yahoo.co.uk 
Tel: (92-21) 111-264-264 (Ext. 2010); Fax: (92-21) 35894806 
Syed Akif Hasan 
Office of Registrar, Iqra University- IU,  
Defence View, Shaheed-e-Millat Road (Ext.)  
Karachi-75500, Pakistan 
E-mail: drakifhasan@gmail.com 
Tel: (92-21) 111-264-264 (Ext. 1513); Fax: (92-21) 35894806 
 
Amber Osman 
Iqra University Research Centre-IURC , Iqra University- IU,  
Defence View, Shaheed-e-Millat Road (Ext.) Karachi-75500, Pakistan 
E-mail: amber.osman@yahoo.com 
Tel: (92-21) 111-264-264 (Ext. 2010); Fax: (92-21) 35894806 
 
Muhammad Ayaz  
University of Karachi, University Road, Karachi, Pakistan  
Tel: +92(21) 99261300 (Ext.2259); Fax: +92(21) 99261340  
E-mail: mayaz@yahoo.com 
 
Abstract 
The Faith is the belief which comes from inside of a human or it is the inner state of 
strength which is similar to confidence while provoking a human to trust within a secular/ 
non secular context. The purpose of this article is to identify parallels of various stages of 
faith particularly as suggested by Fowler, from the person who is filled with fantasies 
first then has the moral rules and attitude, who moves on thereafter towards experiencing 
the  world  beyond  the  family,  and  then  believes  on  self  identity,  has  prejudices,  and 
finally actualizes the spirit of an inclusive human community. 
Key words: Faith, Stages of Faith, Self-identity, Human Psychology.  
1. Introduction 
To interrogate and conclude the human faith and its possible various stages Fowler (1995) endeavored 
a venture and asked various questions, from a pool of six hundred populace. He had a word with from 
diverse segments of human population i.e. children, men and women, aging from four to righty-eight. 
It also included different religion including Protestants, Jews, Catholics, agnostics, and atheists. The 
interviews  with  the  participants  were  in  the  form  of  in-depth  conversations  that  provided  unique, unusual stances of the stages of a human’s life, having diverse implications and rationales. This paper 
is a  categorical appreciation on the possible  stages of  human  faith as  suggested by the  subject of 
psychology and its specialist Fowler (1995).  
 
 
2. Stages of Faith 
2.1 Stage 1  
This is faith is known as Intuitive-Projective faith. This stage talks about the imaginations and illusions 
phase  via  dreams’.  The  child  psychology  severely  and  considerably  gets  under  influence  by  such 
bewitching  examples,  actions,  mood  and  narrations  (even  they  are  folklores)  of  the  beliefs  of  the 
adults. The age when this stage is on its peak is three to seven years, when a child is in runniness of 
thought patterns (Atran & Sperber, 1991). In this stage the imaginative processes which are dominated 
by fantasies are informal and abandoned by logical thoughts. The forms of knowing are dominated by 
perception, idiosyncrasies, imaginations and day dreaming in this stage is exceptionally prolific of 
perpetual and ongoing metaphors (positive and negative). This is the phase of self-awareness. The 
"self-aware" child is self assertive. Atran and Norenzayan (2004) stressed that the risk in this period 
erupts from the probable  "monomania" that  is  from the child’s thoughts by  informal  imageries  of 
devastations, or on or after the conscious or unconscious victimization of her or his thoughts in the 
support of forbidden and strong philosophical prospects. 
 
2.2 Stage 2  
This  phase  is  termed  as  Mythic-Literal  faith  because  the  human  life  relates  to  the  relationships, 
associations and values that becomes his/her symbol of the community he/she belongs to. Beliefs and 
faiths  are  basically  reserved  with  actual  descriptions,  which  are  ethical  thoughts,  behaviors  and 
standards.  In  this  stage,  the  prior  thought  generation  and  interface  is  completely  controlled  and 
surrounded by this phase’s control.  Here, at times the prior faith i.e. the Intuitive-Projective faith  
makes a way for storyline and tales i.e. its quality and adds on to the union of creating experiences to 
its belief in this phase. This stage of faith is of a child at school which has progression in truthfulness. 
Stage 2 composes a world which is based on paleness. The doers are engaged in their tales that are 
humanlike, and they can be impressed deeply by emblematic and staged matters and can portray in an 
endless comprehensive narration that what has arise in their surrounding in which they live. The power 
in this stage is the increase of story and the appearance of legend as traditions of giving cohesiveness to 
the accumulation of knowledge (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun, 2009). 
 
2.3 Stage 3  
Synthetic-Conventional faith is the name, which covers the faith, which is beyond his/her family’s 
experience.  There  are  certain  members  and/or  groups  that  stipulate  courtesy  that  include  family, 
school, work, peers, public and mass medium and religion can be counted as well. Faith must offer 
consistent acts of orientating in the vicinity of that various range of interests. Stage 3 typically has its 
daylight and control in immature youth, but for most of the grown-up and mature level adults it has 
become an eternal dwelling. It forms interpersonal surroundings around. Its imagery description of 
values and control are extorted feature, which is practiced in private life. It is a "conformist" stage 
logically and that it intensely tunes the potentials and assessments. While faith and beliefs along with 
the values are deeply felt, in this stage they typically are by unexpressed manners, dwelled in the 
persons. In this Stage 3 a person has an ideology, and in this stage the principles is a more otherwise 
less coherent cluster moral values but it is not objectified. The demerits or dearth are two-fold. The 
rating  of  others  can  be  so  convincingly  internalized  that  the  self-rule  of  judgment  and  action  is 
endangered at times in different cases. 
 
2.4 Stage 4 This starts from the age of mid-thirties or forties, which can also said as young adulthood. Most of the 
adults do not raise the belief but it has been found that two types of development occur in this stage 
namely as. the oneself i.e. in the contained identity in own self and faith constitution by the social loop 
of  significant  others,  at  this  time  asserts  characterization  of  one-self  no  longer  outlined  by  the 
combination of one’s own role or significance to others. The new identity requires to be contained in 
its own conscious mind frame that has its own inner-self connections and awareness of the world 
outlook. The two developments ‘oneself’ and ‘world outlook’ are distinguished  by  itself  from  the 
others and then are counted in the recognized factors in the form of interpretations, responses and 
verdicts on self and the others (Baron-Cohen, 1995).  The instinctive know-how of clarity is expressed 
in the environment in  an open system of understandings. At this stage, the signs  are clearer as  it 
becomes more conceptual and comprehensive. Also known as the ‘demythologizing’ stage as it refers 
less to the unconscious of the self that influences the judgments and deeds. As mentioned earlier, this 
stage growing potency is in the ‘oneself’ (self) and the ‘world outlook’ (beliefs). 
 
2.5 Stage 5  
Conjunctive faith stage engages into the assimilation into self-personality This stage extends a second 
gullibility  about  the  lack  of  sophistication  or  worldliness  during  which  emblematic  influence  is 
reunified  with  abstract  and  abstract  significances  (Atran,  Medin,  Ross,  Lynch,  Vapnarsky,  Coley, 
Timura,  &  Baran,  2002).  This  stage  involves  serious  recognition  of  one's  social 
subconscious/unconscious  mythology,  prejudices  and  imagery  description  which  are  constructed 
intensely into self-pride by moral excellence of one's up bringing contained in a particular religious 
tradition, societal class and racial group. Before mid-life, this stage is aware of the rituals of frustration 
and the truths of irreversible dedication. To judge is freed from the grasp of tribe, class, religious or 
social community and nation is the commitment of this stage. Here, the mind is more serious as half of 
the life has passed and this stage nurtures the protection and controlling others i.e. gaining the sense of 
substance of oneself.  The new strength of this stage comes in the dawn of the sarcastic vision, while at 
the same time discerning the proportionality as well, overtone and without doubt contorting the anxiety 
of surpassing actuality. This stage relic are separated and confidential, It exists and behaves among an 
unchanged humanity and a changing revelation and devotion. In a few cases this distribution fruits to 
the name of the revolutionary realization as Stage 6 (Barrett 1998). 
 
2.6 Stage 6 
This stage is not much known. It explains that the individual generates faith constitutions in which the ‘sense’ 
feeling  for  an  definitive  surrounding  is  complete.  These  individuals  are  termed  as  relaizers  of  having  the 
character of containment and contended social community. They can easily outcast themselves from the social, 
economical, political and ideological ties.   Holding up with experienced involvement in a influence that merges 
and transmutes the humankind, this stage involves the individuals from corporate and matured level and they 
tend to be rebellious, inclusive of religious complex, via this personality they secure their survival and integrity. 
Many expire and don’t live up to this stage waiting for the other one to change and attempt. In this stage the 
persons are often more privileged and stay eminent after death than throughout their life. At this stage, it’s a 
rarity and is said to be a blessing in disguise and these individuals are polished enough, which make them seem 
more pellucid, simpler and somehow more amply human than the rest. In this stage, the person wishes to have 
associations with people of other stages of faith tradition (Bargh & Chartrand, 1999). 
 
3. Conclusion 
Humans are intent-seeking, cause-deducing, chronicle beings (Gazzaniga, Ivry, & Mangun., 2009), 
who from their inception have various trust and faith which vary from time to time and yes from place 
to place as concluded by this paper. A human sometimes has faith on another human, quite many times 
has a faith on stories and folklores, more often has the faith on himself/herself, sarcastically also has 
the  faith  on  his  evaluation  and  opinions  and  all  these  various  categories  of  faith involve  in  a 
willingness to control the expectant hope that his/ her needs will be met.  
 
 
 
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Various stages of faith in human psychology

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