As increasingly more people are seeking transcendent and spiritual connection outside of traditional religion, research should address how those not served by traditional religion—including religious dones, nones, and the spiritual but not religious—find meaning and address existential concerns. The central purpose of this project is to begin to explore the existential and meaning-making landscape of individuals for whom religion is not or no longer important yet still seek a serious engagement with existential questions and conceptualizations of the transcendent.
We conceptualize spiritual yearning as a multidimensional psychological state consisting of two dimensions of spiritual/existential dissatisfaction and striving. We plan to conduct a series of ten empirical studies designed to (a) develop a reliable assessment of spiritual yearning that will permit us to (b) clarify the psychological nature (e.g., features, dimensions, state vs. trait) and consequences (e.g., associations with spiritual struggles, existential meaning-making, well-being correlates) of spiritual yearning, and (c) better understand those who are underserved by traditional religion and situate the trajectory of such individuals over time.
Our proposed research will establish and catalyze an empirical science of spiritual yearning, breaking new ground in this frontier of spirituality, through strong collaborative relationships, presentations at national and international conferences, and publications in high-visibility outlets. Specifically, this project will result in five papers submitted to high-impact, high-visibility and specialty journals, six presentations at national and international academic conferences, and development of novel collaborative relationships. Moreover, this work will build toward an empirical science of, and launch a new line of research on, spiritual yearning.
