Order of the Red Grail
Nebraska Community


Religiosity and Spirituality in Christians and
Non-Christians

Jason J. Blodgett-McDeavitt
University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Purpose of the Study


Most studies on religion and spirituality combine these two areas into one unit. It is assumed that a religious person is spiritual, and that a spiritual person is religious. This study separates these two as separate considerations. Religion and religiosity, for the purposes of this study, are defined as, "a system of belief and practice based on recognizing the sacred. Religiosity is the importance of religion in a person's life". Spirituality, for purposes of this study, was defined as "the recognition of the interconnectedness of all Creation, and the responsibility of human beings to use their intelligence in protecting that interconnectedness."

Studies before this one have focused primarily on Christian denominations for levels of religiosity and spirituality. This ignores many elements of society which are increasing at a very rapid pace, specifically, the Earth-Based religions, many of which are Goddess worshipping.
My purpose in this study was to explore the differences in religiosity and spirituality between males and females, but also between these differing populations of Christians and non-Christians. It was anticipated that Christians would have the highest levels of religiosity, while Earth-Based worshipers would have a higher spirituality level. As a side note, it was anticipated that women would have higher scores in both religiosity and spirituality.

Method


Subjects

A total of 165 participants filled out surveys for this study. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 54. There were 51 men and 114 women involved in this study. Subjects were solicited from two university classes, a "new age" bookstore, and two Wiccan events, one a class, the other a full moon circle. Subjects identified as Christian were primarily Methodist, Lutheran, or Catholic. Earth-Based respondents were primarily Wiccan or Goddess worshippers. Subjects identified as Other were agnostic, Baha'I, or identified themselves as seekers or with no religion.

Materials

A survey was designed, called the Religiosity and Spirituality Survey. The first questions were the subjects age, gender, current religion, religion raised in, and whether they had attended a religious school for a year or more. The remainders of the questions were rated on a Likert scale. These included rating importance of education, family, career, and ecology, level of religiosity, influence of religiosity on education, family, career, and ecology, level of spirituality, and level of influence of spirituality on education, family, career, and ecology. For this particular study, only the self reports of religiosity and spirituality were used. The surveys included operational definitions of religion, religiosity, and spirituality. Religion and religiosity were defined as "a system of belief and practice based on recognizing the sacred" and "religiosity is the importance of religion in a person's life." Spirituality was defined as "the recognition of the interconnectedness of all Creation, and the responsibility of human beings to use their intelligence in protecting that interconnectedness."

Procedure

The survey was administered to the subjects at various times and locations. Most were filled out in groups, though a few were filled out on an individual basis. The surveys were then coded and entered into a spreadsheet. They were then marked as entered and placed in an envelope. No names or identifications of any sort were included on the survey to ensure anonymity.

Discussion


The results suggest that there is a difference in religiosity and spirituality for gender, and for different religions.

For gender, it was found that females tended to have higher scores in both religiosity and spirituality than males. This may be due to the nurturing nature of females. Connectedness, both to the sacred (religiosity) and to the universe (spirituality) might be much more natural for a woman than for a man due to the generative nature of womankind. Men would feel less connection to the world around them and the sacred, perhaps, because they do not have the connectedness of birth. Additional studies in this gender difference would need to be examined before any definite statements could be made.

Differences between religiosity and spirituality were noted for the different religion types. Christians showed the highest level of religiosity and the lowest level of spirituality. Earth-Based religions showed the highest level of spirituality, but their level of religiosity was very close to that of Christians, with no significant difference showing. Those recorded as other had a very low religiosity level, but a moderately high level of spirituality, higher than that of Christians.
The possible reasons for the higher level of religiosity for Christians might stem from the organized nature of their faith. Earth-Based religions tend to be highly individualistic, resulting in a personal connection as opposed to a community connection. The personal connection would be indicative of spirituality, while the community connection would reflect religiosity. Data from the others speaks of the questioning which these subjects experience, especially those who answered "none", "seeker", or "agnostic".

References

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    • Table 1: Religiosity and Spirituality Across Gender.
    Gender
    Male
    (n=51)         		Female
    (n=114)
    Religiosity 2.88*
    (SD=1.46)         		3.34*
    (SD=1.14)
    Spirituality 3.24**
    (SD=1.41)         		3.79**
    (SD=1.18)
    Note: * p=.0299 ** p=.0095


    Table 2: Religiosity and Spirituality Across Current Religion.
    Current Religion
    Christian
    (N=96)         		Earth-Based
    (N=27)         		Other
    (N=42)
    Religiosity 3.41*
    (SD=1.12)         		3.33*
    (SD=1.60)
    		 2.64*
    (SD=1.19)
    Spirituality 3.38**
    (SD=1.25)         		4.44**
    (SD=0.97)         		3.64**
    (SD=1.30)
    Note: * p=.0035 ** p=.0005