Spirituality Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Spirituality, including details on effects in health care, religion, psychology.

Concerns about measuring "spirituality" in research.

Koenig HG

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, VA Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. koenig@geri.duke.edu

Spirituality is increasingly being examined as a construct related to mental and physical health. The definition of spirituality, however, has been changing. Traditionally, spirituality was used to describe the deeply religious person, but it has now expanded to include the superficially religious person, the religious seeker, the seeker of well-being and happiness, and the completely secular person. Instruments used to measure spirituality reflect this trend. These measures are heavily contaminated with questions assessing positive character traits or mental health: optimism, forgiveness, gratitude, meaning and purpose in life, peacefulness, harmony, and general well-being. Spirituality, measured by indicators of good mental health, is found to be correlated with good mental health. This research has been reported in some of the world's top medical journals. Such associations are meaningless and tautological. Either spirituality should be defined and measured in traditional terms as a unique, uncontaminated construct, or it should be eliminated from use in academic research.

Published 14 May 2008 in J Nerv Ment Dis, 196(5): 349-55.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Spirituality Research Today. All Rights Reserved.