Research topic: SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOSITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Description: The increasing interest in research on spirituality results to a great extent from social changes occurring in the area of religious life, e.g., progressing individualization and secularization, growing faith in the possibility of achieving well-being in earthly life, and the emergence of new spiritual paths (Charzyńska, 2015). Nevertheless, spirituality is not the opposite of religiosity; it can reasonably be assumed that these terms include both common and separate fields (Paloutzian & Park, 2005). For instance, more than 90% of Poles declare themselves to be religious, with most identifying as Roman Catholic (Central Statistical Office, 2018; Zarzycka, 2009). Thus, in our country spirituality usually manifests in a traditional religious form. However, religious life is not the only way to deepen own spirituality. People know various ways to develop their spiritual life, e.g., by practicing yoga or mindfulness, contemplating nature or art, strengthening own relationships with other people, or achieving self-transcendence through combating one’s own limitations (Fisher, 2011; Hill et al., 2000).
Our project aims at exploring the daily relationships between spiritual and religious experiences, and daily health and psychosocial functioning. We will test the complex models that involve mediation (i.e., mechanisms through which one variable affect the other variable) and moderation (i.e., conditions that influence the direction or the strength of the relationship between variables). In addition, we will examine day-to-day variability in spiritual and religious experiences, and look for its predictors and consequences. To gather data, we will use the intensive longitudinal methods, primarily diary studies and the experience sampling method.
Keywords: spirituality; religiosity; health; well-being; diary study
Research team: Edyta Charzyńska, Agata Olszanecka-Marmola, Magdalena Sitko-Dominik, Ewa Wysocka
Contact: edyta.charzynska@us.edu.pl