ISSN: 2578-5095
Authors: Gabriel S Dy-Liacco* and Mary Beth Werdel
Psychological studies on the spiritual experience of religiously committed individuals have typically focused on positive spiritual experiences and their impact on psychological flourishing. This study examined two structural equation models of the potential short-term impact of negative spiritual experiences on the psychological flourishing of religiously committed individuals. Modeling results were: a) negative and positive spiritual experiences together emerged as the underlying cause of psychological flourishing, rather than the reverse, and, b) when taken together with positive spiritual experiences, negative spiritual experiences had a significant immediate negative association with psychological flourishing whereas positive spiritual experiences did not have a statistically significant association. These modeling results were discussed in light of the “bad stronger than good†theory of the greater immediate impact of negative events on psychological outcomes. Negative spiritual experiences appear to have similar salience to non-spiritual negative events.
Keywords: Spirituality; Spiritual Struggles; Negative Spiritual Experience; Psychological Flourishing; Subjective Well Being; Structural Equation Model
