A sense of personal insignificance in relation to something greater is a central feature of spiritual experiences for both religious and non-religious people, according to a new study.
A study involving 1,064 adults suggests that the meaning of spiritual experience is not unique to religious individuals. Memories of spiritual experiences evoked awe and "little me" in people, regardless of their religiosity.
Unsurprisingly, religious and non-religious people reported different sources of spiritual experience. For religious people, spiritual experiences were often associated with God or something divine, while non-religious people found spiritual experiences in things like nature, yoga, and science.
The study was published in the journal Experimental Social Psychology. PsyPost asked study author Jesse L. Preston of the University of Warwick about the study's findings:
Why are you interested in this topic?
I was interested in what characterizes spiritual experience. Spirituality is often associated with religion, but they are not the same thing. Many people describe themselves as “spiritual,” but they are not religious, but it is often difficult to define spirituality. I expected that when people think about spirituality, it has to do with the sensations they experience: a sense of connection with other people and the universe, a feeling of something more. And so I wondered about the feeling of awe - the feeling of surprise and weakness in relation to something great.
What should the average person take away from your research?
First, spirituality and religiosity are different, but related, and an important part of what they have in common is awe. Second, non-religious people also have spiritual experiences, but the types of spiritual experiences they report are different from religious ones. While religious people most often report feelings of spirituality from their experiences in religion (such as reading the Bible or feeling connected with God), non-religious people are more likely to refer to experiences with nature, meditation, and science. But what all these experiences have in common is that they evoke a deep sense of awe and a sense of a "small self" in relation to something great and deep.
Promotional video:
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