Striving for the Sacred: Personal Goals, Life Meaning, and Religion

Abstract

Religion invests human existence with meaning by establishing goals and value systems that potentially pertain to all aspects of a persons' life.A goals approach provides a general unifying framework to capture the dynamic aspect of religion in people's lives. Empirical research on the measurement of spirituality and religion through personal goals is described. To illustrate the application of the goals framework, data from the author's research program on personal goals and quality of life in persons with neuromuscular diseases are described. Framing subjective quality-of-life outcomes in terms of goals can lead to new possibilities for understanding adaptation to physical disabilities and in particular, the understanding of the religious and spiritual dimensions of disability and rehabilitation.Faith, classically understood, is not a separate dimension of life, a compartmentalized specialty. Faith is an orientation of the total person, giving purpose and goal to one's hopes and strivings, thoughts and actions. . .as such, faith is an integral part of one's character or personality (Fowler, 1981, pp. 14 & 92).The recent completion of the sequencing of the human genome has rekindled interest in the degree to which human beings are both similar to and distinct from other species. Though in fact anthropologists and primatologists regularly remind us that approximately 98% of our DNA is identical with our nearest phylogenetic cousin, as far as we know humans are the only meaning-seeking species on the planet. Meaning-making is an activity that is distinctly human, a function of how the human brain is organized (Rue, 2000). The many ways in which humans conceptualize, create, and search for meaning has become a recent focus of behavioral science research on quality of life and subjective well-being (Wong & Fry, 1998).

Meaning as inter-connectedness: theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence

“…Meaning in life refers to a sense of coherence in one's life (Battista & Almond, 1973;Baumeister, 1991;Reker & Wong, 1988), goal directedness or purposefulness (Emmons, 2005;Frankl, 1963;Ryff & Singer, 2008), and the ontological significance of life (Crumbaugh & Maholick, 1964). It encompasses beliefs (Park, 2010), values (Baumeister, 1991) and goals (Emmons, 1999), and serves as an integrating factor giving a sense of identity, and fostering attainment of purposes beyond individuals' present and solitary selves (Steger & Kashdan, 2009).…”

Psychometric properties of the life meaning subscale from the Brief Stress and Coping Inventory (BSCI-LM)

“…A családi állapot és az élet értelmessége közti összefüggéssel kapcsolatos adataink azt mutatják, hogy az elváltak és az özvegyek, vagyis általáno-sabban fogalmazva: azok, akik valamilyen veszteség következtében váltak egyedülállókká, az élet értelmessége tekintetében rosszabb helyzetben vannak azoknál, akik családi állapotából nem következtethetünk veszteségre (azaz a házasoknál, de egyúttal az egyedülállóknál is). Számos vizsgálat mutatja, hogy az életben átélt értelmesség fokának egyik kulcsfontosságú meghatározója az emberi kapcsolatok megléte és minôsége (Emmons 2005;O'Connor és Chamberlain 1996;Schnell és Becker 2006;Wong 1998). Ezen eredményeink azt sejtetik, hogy a kapcsolatok elvesztése még puszta hiá-nyuknál is károsabban befolyásolhatja az életben talált értelmesség fokát.…”

The Influence of Self-Regard on Response of Belief in God and Awareness of Prophetic Teaching

“…The second category called "spiritual striving" refers to the self and consists of two categories; "self-striving and self-regard" (see review by Tekke & Ismail, in press). Self-striving represents the intrinsic nature of one's being and refers to the typical goals that a person characteristically tries to accomplish, according to Emmons (2005). Self-regard refers to the ability of self-worth and strength (Somers, 1989), and is initiated by actualizing tendency, according to Rogers (1954).…”