Personality and the Narration of Spiritual Experiences

among African American and White Adults

Ahmadu Simpson | Department of Psychology

Narrative Themes: Results

Why Study Spiritual Experiences? Spirituality and Personality
Religion refers to “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as Narrator Agency (NA) 1. Extraversion positively predicted and emphasis on Narrator Agency. It was the only personality trait
they apprehend themselves so far as they stand in relation to whatever they may consider the How much does the narrator emphasize their own goals, actions, independently related to this theme and the strongest predictor of NA overall.
divine” responsibility, and empowerment?
-William James, 1902 2. Openness to Experience negatively predicted of themes of Spiritual Action/Intent. It was the only
Most people are religious or report having some sort of religious or spiritual experiences in their Low NA: High NA: personality trait independent related to this theme, and the second strongest predictor of this theme overall.
lifetimes.1 Previously, psychologists have sought to study the qualities of religious belief and Few themes of empowerment. Unable to enact the Successfully able to bring about desired change in one’s life.
practice by considering levels of adherence to religious doctrines, and how this relates intrinsic or change wanted without help. (score of 0) Themes of empowerment. 3. Despite the initial hypothesis that Openness to Experience would predict themes of Spiritual Proximity, it
extrinsic motivations for religious practice. Religious beliefs impact how people understand causes (score of 4) turned out that no personality variables independently related to Spiritual Proximity.
in their lives, which is linked to mental, emotional, and physical benefits.2 “I think it says that I have a number of “Well, I'm a happy person, basically, and when
Objective: To investigate differences in how individuals discuss spiritual events in their lives and barriers that inhibit me from feeling that I'm not happy there's something wrong and I'm Spirituality and Gender
how the inclusion of certain themes regarding personal efficacy and spiritual influence relate to under natural circumstances. I'm a rational responsible for that. So, for me I have to make
personality amongst Black and White adults. guy. I'm an intellectual guy. I love deeply, but sure that I'm still happy and if it's toxic it has to Gender Differences in the Narration of Spiritual Experience
that spiritual piece always leave a little bit go. I can’t afford it. That's what it means.”
empty. And so, what it says is you know, I 4
wasn't joking. I mean, I need something to Women Men
3
Method help me get there.”

Scores on Coding Systems

2
Participants & Data
Spiritual Action/Intent (SA)
Data from the Foley Longitudinal Study of Adulthood (FLSA) was used for this study. For the How much does the narrator describe spiritual forces as being active 1
FLSA, participants completed the Life Story Interview (LSI) three times over nine years, in and having intention or infinite agency?
which they discussed significant life experiences. As part of this interview, participants 0
described an experience that was “religious, spiritual, or mystical” in nature. All transcribed Low SA: High SA: Narrator Agency* Spiritual Action/Intent* Spiritual Proximity
responses to this section of the LSI were analyzed in this study. Participants also completed a Spiritual forces described as unreliable or unable to Spiritual forces actively contribute to the to the life of the
personality questionnaire indicating their levels of the Big 5 personality traits, which was impact life events. protagonist, extending beyond protagonist’s own influence. Narrative Theme
(score of 0) (score of 4) *Represents that the difference between male and female scores were statistically significant at the p < .05 level of significance.
used in this study.
Gender was a strong predictor of Narrator Agency and Spiritual Action/Intent. Men were more
Gender makeup of the sample Racial makeup of the sample
“You know, I mean, sure there's times when “I learned that everything I have is by the grace likely to narrate spiritual experiences in ways that emphasized their own goals and actions while
A Total of 159 adults, you're really about to -- the s***'s hitting the of God, by his grace and his mercy he's taking women were more likely to emphasize the active and intentional interference of spiritual forces
aged 55/56 at the Black/African- fan and you're going oh, God, save me from care of me. I understand it now […] -- and now, on their lives.
Men
start of the study, American this. But that's just rhetoric. You know, it's I thought it was so horrible that my mother left,
Women
completed the LSI White/Caucasian like I don't really believe there's anything
there to save me or do anything for me.”
but I, I do see it now that he was strengthening
me. He made me -- strengthened me. He Spirituality and Race
made me a better person to reach back and
help my brothers and sisters and let them stay Racial Differences in the Narration of Spiritual Experience
Coding the Narratives focused in school.”
1. 400+ Life Story Interview excerpts dealing with religious/spiritual experiences were
analyzed for common narrative themes. 4

Scores on Coding Systems

2. Three narrative themes were identified for further study: Narrator Agency, Spiritual Black White
Action/Intent, and Spiritual Proximity. Spiritual Proximity (SP) 3
3. Coding systems were developed for each narrative theme in order to codify its How much does the narrator describe spiritual forces as omnipresent
prevalence in each participant’s story on a five-point scale (0-4). and directly accessible to her/himself? 2
4. Scores from all three administrations of the LSI were combined with scores provided by
an independent coder. The average of all scores represented the participant’s overall Low SP: High SP:
score for each theme. Spiritual beings or forces are not physically manifested. Spiritual beings or forces are physically manifested. Or they 1
5. Final scores from each participants were compared to personality and demographic They rarely if ever interact with the physical world. frequently and directly interact with the physical world.

variables. (score of 0) (score of 4)

0
“Okay, let me see. Wow, oh boy, 'cause these “God sent this person, this angel, and literally Narrator Agency Spiritual Action/Intent* Spiritual Proximity*
don't happen all the time, don't happen all the took care of us. And there was -- there is a -- a Narrative Theme
time with me anyway…You know what? I -- story in the Bible about the Good Samaritan,
The Big 5 Personality Traits
*Represents that the difference between Black and white scores were statistically significant at the p < .05 level of significance.
'cause I don't feel the spirit all the time. All the and it kind of reminded me of the Good
time, you can't feel the spirit, but I'm trying to Samaritan who took care of this person and Race was the strongest predictor of Spiritual Action/Intent and Spiritual Proximity, with black
think…” made provisions for that person even though participants being much more likely to describe spiritual forces as active, intentional, and
he did not know him.” omnipresent in their daily lives.
Trait Definition (high vs. low) 3
Openness to prefers routine, conventional, practical vs. curious, imaginative,
Hypotheses Conclusions
Experience creative The results of this study indicate that the ways adults narrate spiritual experiences are reflective, to
1. Participants higher in Extraversion and participants lower in Neuroticism will more strongly some degree, of their personality traits. The relationship between personality and spiritual narration
Conscientiousness impulsive, careless, disorganized vs. disciplined, organized, hard-
emphasize Narrator Agency may differ from the link between personality and the narration non-spiritual life forces, lending
working
credence to the claim that spiritual elements comprise a distinct dimension of the autobiographical
2. Participants higher in Agreeableness and participants higher in Conscientiousness will more
Extraversion quiet, reserved, withdrawn, unassertive vs. sociable, outgoing, more sense of self.
strongly emphasize Spiritual Action/Intent
inclined to positive emotionality Results related to race and gender reflect the effects of socialization on the narration of spiritual
3. Participants higher in Openness to Experience will more strongly emphasize Spiritual Proximity
experience. Previous literature that has noted that women tend to be more religious than men. This
Agreeableness suspicious, uncooperative, critical vs. trusting, cooperative, study illustrates how this difference extends to the way people narrate their spiritual experiences.4
empathetic, compassionate Results are also consistent with reports that African-Americans exhibit the highest levels of religiosity
References:
1. Labbé, E. E., & Fobes, A. (2010). Evaluating the Interplay Between Spirituality, Personality and Stress. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 35(2), 141–146.
2. Chang, E. C., Jilani, Z., Fowler, E. E., Yu, T., Chia, S. W., Yu, E. A., McCabe, H. K., & Hirsch, J. K. (2016). The relationship between multidimensional spirituality and
depressive symptoms in college students: Examining hope agency and pathways as potential mediators. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(2), 189–198. of any American racial demographic. Such findings support and illustrate the notion that members
Neuroticism emotionally stable, confident, effective stress coping vs. anxious, 3. John, O. P. (2021). History, measurement, and conceptual elaboration of the Big-Five trait taxonomy: The paradigm matures. In O. P. John and R. W. Robins (Eds.),
Handbook of personality: Theory and research (4th Ed., pp. 35-82). New York: Guilford Press. of the African diaspora tend to view spiritual forces as omnipresent and inextricable from ordinary
pessimistic, greater emotional fluctuations 4. Penny, G., Francis, L. J., & Robbins, M. (2015). Why are women more religious than men? Testing the explanatory power of personality theory among undergraduate
students in Wales. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 18(6), 492–502. experience.5
5. Jagers, R. J., & Smith, P. (1996). Further Examination of the Spirituality Scale. Journal of Black Psychology, 22(4), 429–442.