Reference Groups and Role Strains Related to Spiritual Well-Being

Abstract

This paper is a prolegomenon to the development of a theoretical construct of spiritual well-being. The fundamental assumption undergirding this interpretation holds that spiritual health represents one dimension of a tole-set for persons occupying the status position of member within a reli~ous organization. Thu~~, the paper treat, the interaction processes whereby believers strive to esta£ a viable definition of healthy religion in relation to three reference grou[o perspectives. These proce.~ses include the selj's interaction with the local religious fellowship, encounters with deity, and the ongoing relationships integrating a religious actor with the "official model of religiosity" carried by a denominational tradition. The central conclusion asserts that spiritual well-being represents a negotiated formula whose legitimacy is confirmed for individual actors by some coalition of reference groups operative within the religious institution.The interchangeable concepts of spiritual well-being or healthy religion are employed in this discussion in analogia to somatic health, in much the same manner as mental health serves asa metaphorical construct for conceptualizing psychological stability in relation to physical well-being. Indeed, the physical, social-psychological, and religious realms constitute three dimensions of human existence wherein the dynamics of health or illness are relevant evaluative categories. Although each of these domains mutually interpenetrate, they nonetheless remain aspects of individual biographies susceptible to analytical differentiation. The empiricaI flow of causative influence among the members of tbis triad evidences a lively reciprocity, since any one variable may function as a triggering mechanism for activating responses in the other sectors of experience.Identifying a healthy orientation among the complex interactions linking the organic, social-psychological, and spiritual dimensions of life is complicated for social scientists by virtue of the differing criteria indicative of well-being operative in each sphere. Our intent in this investigation is not to delineate in normative terms the substance of healthy religion, but rather to illuminate the social processes through which actors are able to clarify for themselves the content of appropriate religious roles. Accordingly, this analysis will treat the negotiation process internal to religious communities whereby the notion of legitimate and healthy religion is established. To flesh out the full implications of this line of analysis some consideration of the impact exerted by secular reference groups would need to be undertaken, but that enterprise falls outside the scope of this project and must be reserved for another occasion. 43