Measuring Spirituality and Spiritual Emptiness: Toward Ecumenicity and Transcultural Applicability

David Y. F. Ho and Rainbow T. H. Ho University of Hong Kong

The authors review Eastern and Western conceptions of spirituality, explicate the spirituality construct and differentiate it from religiosity, propose strategies for achieving ecumenicity and transcultural applicability, and suggest innovative techniques for measuring spirituality and spiritual emptiness. The essential attributes of ecumenical spirituality are that it (a) is concerned with existential or transcendent questions; (b) belongs to the domain of cardinal values underlying all aspects of life; and (c) is self-reﬂective, and hence metacognitive, in nature. The paths to spirituality are many and are grounded in different values and beliefs across philosophical-religious traditions. However, commonalities may be extracted at a high level of abstraction and with maximal inclusiveness. Thus, the goal of ecumenicity, and hence transcultural applicability, is attainable.

Keywords: spirituality, religiosity, alienation, ecumenicity, transcultural applicability

The idea of spirituality was born when the the good life; moreover, the place of spirituality first Homo sapien stumbled on the question, in psychological well-being has been left largely “What will become of me after I am dead?” For vacant. We argue for restoring spirituality to its humanity, this question has driven the rise of rightful place in contemporary psychology, to religions, absorbed the intellectual energy of which philosophical-religious traditions remain countless thinkers, and shaped the course of its relevant. In what follows, we can mention only development. It has become the perennial ques- some of the world’s major traditions. However, tion: Like no other, it compels us to reflect on the idea of equifinality, that the same ultimate the time-limited nature of our existence. Spiri- goal may be reached from different paths, tuality, however, is concerned with much more should counter this limitation to some extent. than death and what happens after death. It Despite its vital significance and intellectual informs humanity about the meaning of life and appeal, spirituality has not been included in the ways of living one’s life. Nourished in values in agenda of researchers until recent decades. The diverse cultures, spirituality represents a distil- reason is that spirituality is an elusive concept, late of ecumenical wisdom. into which it is extremely difficult to conduct Spirituality is central to philosophical- research. The crux of the problem concerns how religious traditions that have informed concep- spirituality is defined and measured. In this ar- tions of the good life since ancient times (see ticle, we confront the elusive concept head on Ng, Ho, Wong, & Smith, 2003, for a review of by formulating strategies to measure it. We im- psychological research on the quest for the good pose the goal of transcultural applicability on life in the East and the West). In contemporary measurement. Our attempt would be a major psychology, the language of mental health and step toward overcoming problems of measure- psychological well-being has replaced that of ment that have bedeviled researchers, and thus establish the scientific study of spirituality on more solid ground; it would also give impetus to more transcultural research. David Y. F. Ho and Rainbow T. H. Ho, Centre on Behavioral Health, University of Hong Kong. Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- Spirituality East and West dressed to David Y. F. Ho, Centre on Behavioral Health, University of Hong Kong, G/F, 10 Sassoon Road, Hong The paths guided by different Eastern philo- Kong. E-mail: [email protected] sophical-religious traditions to attain spiritual-

62 MEASURING SPIRITUALITY 63 ity, or enlightenment, are many. Ho (1995) of happiness based on subjective well-being. A identifies psychological decentering as a key central issue concerns how happiness is con- idea that has contemporary relevance for the ceived and measured. We argue that happiness attainment of psychological well-being. To be is more encompassing than subjective well- decentered is to facilitate selflessness (which being. Consider the Satisfaction With Life scale does not mean absence of self). Selflessness is used to measure main components of subjective an antidote to egocentrism and fixation. We well-being, for instance. The scale favors those may glimpse into the mind of the Daoist phi- who show little inclination or capacity to learn losopher Zhuangzi: acting with spontaneity, from experience and would hence agree with freedom from fixed ideas, feeling at home in the the scale item, “If I could live my life over, I cosmos, experiencing “losing” or “forgetting” would change almost nothing” (Diener et al., oneself, contemplating the equality of all things 2002, p. 70). It does not measure life satisfac- and thinking of others as “I.” These are among tion, let alone happiness, contrary to what its the inner attributes we would expect to find in authors claim. Dissatisfaction with some as- spiritual persons. These inner attributes may be pects of life does not prevent people from feel- measured indirectly through a variety of tech- ing happy and grateful for what they already niques, such as phenomenological description have; it may even propel people to change for and behavioral observations by researchers or the better and eventually lead a happier life. significant others. Likewise, Buddhist ideas of compassion and letting go of attachments speak Eudaemonia clearly on the spirituality, and are potentially measurable. The other Western tradition is based on eu- demonism or eudaemonia, an ethical system Hedonic Psychology and Subjective that evaluates actions in terms of their capacity Well-Being to produce happiness. However, happiness is not defined in hedonic terms. Rather, eudaemo- In the West, two major traditions in concep- nia calls for living in accordance with one’s tions of the good life that inform current re- daemon or daimon (true self), as when actions search in psychology may be identified (Ng et are congruent with deeply held values. One al., 2003; Ryan & Deci, 2001). One is based on would feel intensely alive and authentic, exist- hedonism, a version of which is utilitarianism. ing as what one truly is. In psychology, empir- Hedonic psychology (Kahneman, Diener, & ical research on psychological well-being based Schwartz, 1999) and subjective well-being re- on eudaemonia (e.g., Ryff & Keyes, 1995) has search fall within this tradition. The key con- already been generated. Clearly, spirituality is struct in hedonic psychology is well-being, de- aligned with eudaemonia rather than hedonism. fined in terms of pleasure versus pain: Happi- Likewise, conceptions of spirituality in the East ness is conceived hedonically. In a similar vein, resonate with eudaemonia and are, to make a Diener, Lucas, and Oishi (2002) state: “Scien- strong claim, alien to hedonism. For instance, tists who study subjective well-being assume the Buddhist belief in the value of suffering that the essential ingredient of the good life is would fly in the face of current conceptions of that the person herself likes her life. Subjective subjective well-being. well-being is defined as a person’s cognitive Spirituality is not reducible to happiness and affective evaluations of his or her life. . .. equated with satisfaction with life or more gen- [It] is a broad concept that includes experienc- erally with subjective well-being. Rather, it is ing pleasant emotions, low levels of negative characterized by the capacity for depth of feel- moods, and high life satisfaction” (p. 63). Re- ings, both positive and negative. A spiritual search in this tradition is essentially reduction- person is not necessarily happy all or most of istic: Whereas hedonic psychology reduces the the time, and may even experience anguish at good life to well-being, Diener et al. reduce it to times. Indeed, we may consider the inability to an even narrower concept, subjective well- feel unhappiness or psychic pain (an instance of being. emotional numbing) as a symptom of spiritual Conceptual and methodological problems, as emptiness. As a Chinese adage states, “There is well as cultural biases, are discernible in studies no greater grief than the death of one’s heart.” 64 HO AND HO

The attainment of spirituality is a dynamic pro- being—regardless of the theological, dogmatic, ritual- cess in which struggle, change, and transforma- istic, liturgical, magical, or mystical aspects often as- sociated with religious life. The Sanskrit term tion are central (see Hill & Pargament, 2003, for adhya៮tmic conveys this sense of the spiritual, and is a discussion of religious and spiritual struggles essentially untranslatable into English. Yoga and Zen and their linkages to both negative and positive are spiritual in this sense, and have little to do with health outcomes). The journey in quest for per- what is called “religion” in the English language (p. sonal salvation, freedom from attachment, lib- 26) eration from self-imprisonment, new directions In a similar vein, Ho (1995) makes a distinc- to lead one’s life, enlightenment, and the like is tion between the philosophical and the religious arduous; no end may be in sight; despair may be forms of expression in Confucianism, Daoism, experienced. Along the way, however, hope in- Buddhism, and Hinduism. The philosophical vites those who take the journey to go on; refers to the system of thought contained in a tranquility, interspersed with intense feelings corpus of classical texts or scriptures and sub- such as exhilaration and ecstasy may also be sequent commentaries. The religious refers to a experienced. From this perspective, the preoc- later institutional development, avowed to be cupation with subjective well-being appears to built on the philosophical tradition bearing the be a symptom of attempting to expunge unhap- same name, and is characterized by canoniza- piness from humanity’s collective conscious- tions, elaboration of rites, and administration by ness. But true happiness includes the wisdom to organized clergies. These two forms of expres- embrace unhappiness as part of life. It comes sion may embody quite divergent, even incon- naturally when one is no longer obsessed with sistent, values. For instance, burning paper pursuing it. money for the dead by self-proclaimed Bud- dhists seems out of touch with philosophical Ecumenicity and Transcultural Buddhism, which is founded on the ontological Applicability denial of individual selves or souls. This distinction may be extended to other The goal of transcultural applicability im- traditions and serves as a starting point for dif- poses on researchers two key requirements: dif- ferentiating between religiosity and spirituality. ferentiating spirituality from religiosity, and Religiosity usually refers to beliefs, sentiments, moving toward ecumenicity. Meeting these re- and practices that are anchored in a particular quirements is a step toward achieving transcul- religion; its expression is often institutional and tural applicability. To our knowledge, they have denominational, as well as personal. Attending not been met in measures of spirituality pres- church, or going to a temple, is an example of ently available. Richards and Bergin state, “We religiosity. Spirituality has no necessary con- do not know of any objective religious or spir- nection with institutional or denominational af- itual self-report measure that is appropriate for filiation. Though not necessarily anchored in a non-Christian clients” (p. 196). For non- particular religion, spirituality embodies overar- Western populations, researchers (e.g., Shek, ching values, meanings, and principles accord- 2005) typically import measures developed in ing to which one conducts one’s life. It concerns the United States, thus raising multiple cultural enduring transcendent or existential questions and methodological questions. Accordingly, that have been raised in diverse cultures since this article is conceived with the clear intention humanity began reflecting on its own existence of transcending religious, ideological, and cul- and nonexistence. tural boundaries to achieve transcultural appli- Authors have expressed different opinions on cability. the inclusive–exclusive relation between religiosity and spirituality. Richards and Bergin Differentiation From Religiosity (1997) state: “We view religious as a subset of the spiritual....Religious expressions tend to Paranjpe (1988a) states: be denominational, external, cognitive, behavioral, ritualistic, and public. Spiritual experi- It is useful to refer to a distinction commonly made in India between “spiritual” as opposed to “religious” ences tend to be universal, ecumenical, internal, pursuits.... The word “spiritual” refers to a deeply affective, spontaneous, and private. It is possi- personal concern about psychological and moral well- ble to be religious without being spiritual and MEASURING SPIRITUALITY 65 spiritual without being religious” (p. 13). This Richards and Bergin (1997) argue that “a quotation contains logically inconsistent state- viable spiritual strategy must be ecumenical ... ments, because to “view religious as a subset of as much as possible” (p. 15). However, their the spiritual” negates the possibility of being conception of ecumenicity is much narrower in religious without being spiritual. Hill and scope than ours. They based their strategy on a Pargament (2003) state that “spirituality can be theistic worldview, the most important assump- understood as a search for the sacred . . . This tions of which are that God exists, that human search takes place in a larger religious context” beings are the creations of God, that human (p. 65). This statement implies that religiosity is beings have a spirit or soul, and that there are more inclusive than spirituality—a reversal of unseen spiritual processes by which the link the position taken by Richards and Bergin. Ar- between God and humanity is maintained. This guing from the standpoint of secular spirituality, is essentially a monotheistic worldview, held by Van Ness (1996) states: “Being religious is not followers of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity a necessary condition for being spiritual” (p. 1). (cf. Burke, Chauvin, & Miranti, 2005, chaps. We view religiosity and spirituality as two 13–15). We content that a theistic (monotheis- overlapping constructs: Logically, this implies tic, polytheistic, or pantheistic), or atheistic, that neither is a necessary or sufficient condition worldview is neither necessary nor sufficient for for the other. Accordingly, it is possible to be spirituality. religious without being spiritual or spiritual Van Ness (1996) articulates the case for sec- without being religious, be both, or be neither. ular spirituality, without which any claim to More critically, religiosity may carry with it universality would be incomplete. However, the potential perils of dogmatism, cultism, extrem- idea of atheistic spirituality is likely to arouse ism or, worse, fanaticism (see Stern, 2004, for a strong opposition, rooted in the view that reli- study of religious militants who kill in the name gion and atheism, Marxist atheism in particular, of God). In contrast, spirituality has inherent are natural, reciprocal anathemas. Revisiting immunity to guard itself against these perils, historical Marxism, is necessary to counter this because of its propensity toward humility, con- opposition. As an atheist, Marx assaults religion templativeness, and self-reflection. Exemplars as the opium of the people, but he never denies of spirituality (e.g., prophets, mystics, and ar- the spiritual dimension of human existence hats) may be tormented by self-doubt or guilt; (Page, 1993). they may be given to self-denial—but not to Marx contributes to our understanding of suicide bombing or other forms of wanton out- spirituality via his description of fetishism and bound aggression. alienation, a concept that has deep roots in the Judeo-Christian tradition. By fetishism, Marx means attributing a “fantastic” quality to com- Ecumenicity as Universality modities, inanimate objects that have been pro- duced by none other than their producer; labor, Our conceptualization of spirituality is ecu- which can be bought or sold, is also a commod- menical in orientation, not biased toward or ity. This occurs in capitalist societies, where anchored in a particular Christian denomination, use-value (the usefulness of an object or labor) or even in a particular religion. By ecumenicity, is separated from exchange-value (the market- we mean universality, more than merely tran- place value of an object or labor). Commodity scending denominational or religious bound- fetishism obscures social relations, making aries. We mean to identify core values and them appear as relations between inanimate ob- beliefs common to the world’s main philosoph- jects instead of between people. In his classic ical-religious traditions that promise to inform statement of alienation, Marx (1932/1964) de- research on spirituality. These values and be- scribes the human condition of self-estrange- liefs include the capacity to forbear, even ac- ment. Devoid of a sense of communality, mod- cept, suffering or misfortune; to forgive; to con- ern individuals are estranged from one another struct and reconstruct meaning; to maintain and from oneself; from their labor and products peace of mind, spirit, and sense of direction, of their labor; and from nature. Powerlessness even in the face of misfortune or harsh external in the face of impersonal and inhuman forces circumstances; love of humanity; and so forth. dominating their lives, they do not experience 66 HO AND HO themselves as agents acting in control of their erhood of humankind) that goes beyond any for life-activity. Lack of self-worth and meaning- the individual. Common to these beliefs is the lessness characterize their existence. Moreover, acknowledgment of human imperfection or lim- alienation is fundamentally self-alienation, be- itation and of the existence of some higher cause it is human creative activity itself that has being or principle. Spiritual persons, both reli- created the conditions, economic in particular, gious believers and nonbelievers, invest emo- for impersonal (e.g., market) forces over which tional or intellectual energy and attach great humanity is powerless to control. Thus, human- significance to values and beliefs from which ity is estranged from its own creativity, from its springs their spirituality. own essence or nature, because collectively human beings are deprived of actualizing their Strategies for Ecumenicity and nature. The Marxist diagnosis of this human Transcultural Applicability condition locates the cause in historical- economic forces independent of people’s col- We propose to adopt two strategies for lective will, particularly social injustice in the achieving ecumenicity and transcultural appli- form of oppression and exploitation. Therefore, cability: (a) extracting commonalities at a high it calls for action to defeat social injustice. level of abstraction across philosophical- Alienation and fetishism may be viewed as religious traditions, and (b) maximal inclusive- negations of spirituality. Marx’s concern with ness (or minimal exclusiveness). These strate- these symptoms of spiritual emptiness is as rel- gies have been used in the construction of the evant in the 21st as it was in the 19th century. Body-Mind-Spirit Well-Being Inventory (Ng, Witness, for instance, the commodity fetishism Yau, Chan, Chan, & Ho, 2005). intensified by commercialization and consum- Extracting commonalities. The strategy of erism in contemporary societies. No wonder, extracting commonalities begins with taking then, debates concerning Marxism and spiritu- note of the ecumenical significance of some of ality continue to excite intellectual and aca- the world’s great philosophical-religious teach- demic communities (e.g., Birnbaum, 1993, Part ings. For instance, the idea that Buddha nature 2; Gottlieb, 1992, pp. 197–222; Page, 1993; is inherent in all humankind is ecumenical in Pettman, 2004, Part 3). Restoring Marx to his orientation. Similarly, the idea of all-embracing rightful place in the great spiritual traditions is a Dao serves to transcend barriers both between step toward ecumenicity. It serves to advance and within cultures. Thus, attaining spiritual humanistic, action-oriented spirituality, to well-being inspired by these teachings is a step which the universal ideal of justice for all is toward the eventual realization of ecumenical inseparable from the individual quest for the ideals. No less strong a case can be made for meaning of life. It provides a perspective essen- teachings in the West. tial for understanding and meeting the spiritual This strategy presupposes the existence of needs of people in Mainland China and post- core values and precepts shared by different communist Russia and Eastern Europe, who philosophical-religious traditions, although have experienced unprecedented tumultuous so- their concrete expressions may take different ciopolitical changes in the last century (see forms. It entails the identification of these core Epstein, Genis, & Vladiv-Glover, 1999, Part 5, values and precepts at a high level of abstrac- for a postmodern account of Russian spirituality tion. To illustrate, we may take the case of the in post-Soviet culture). Buddhist belief that suffering ceases through In sum, the paths to spirituality are many and selflessness; the moral implication is that, lik- are grounded in different beliefs: in self- ening others to oneself, one should reduce suf- cultivation, as in Confucianism; in some higher, fering in others. Its counterpart in Christianity, sacred, or divine objects or beings; in a supreme though not identical, may be discerned. Suffer- being (Allah, God); in ultimate reality (e.g., ing presents opportunities for acts of courage, Brahman in Hinduism); in salvation through forbearance, or kindness, as well as for strength- enlightenment, as in Buddhism; in the Dao (the ening one’s faith. The exemplar is the suffering “Way”). Some beliefs are agnostic, atheistic, or of Jesus for the salvation of all humankind. nontheistic in orientation, and are based on hu- Extraction then results in affirming the spiritual manism, such as a universal ideal (e.g., broth- value of suffering, but leaving open what that MEASURING SPIRITUALITY 67 value may contain or entail. For health care tance of human ignorance and limitations. workers, this spiritual value has clear implica- Again, extraction affirms acceptance and humil- tions for how suffering, even as grave as that ity as spiritual values, which one may interpret caused by an incurable disease, may be trans- in various ways according to one’s cultural ori- formed into a positive force (for evidence on entation and ideological or religious persuasion. linkages between religiosity/spirituality and Maximal inclusiveness. This strategy states health, see Ho, 2005; Ng et al., 2005; Powell, that a core value or belief originating from one Shahabi, & Thoresen, 2003; Seeman, Dubin, & of the world’s main philosophical-religious tra- Seeman, 2003). ditions may be accepted into the fold of ecu- Apophasis found across philosophical- menical spirituality, if it is not absent, negated, religious traditions may serve as another illus- or disavowed in any other. Thus, maintaining tration. We begin with an exposition on the inner peace, pursuing truth, striving to reach Islamic worldview in the light of modern cos- higher goals, valuing human life, love of hu- mology by physicist Guiderdoni (2002); in par- manity, and so forth qualify as spirituality, be- ticular, the apophatic nature of spiritual knowl- cause to our knowledge they are upheld in all edge: “The believer discovers that any state- traditions. Universal love is the lodestone of ment upon God’s essence is impossible, ecumenicity. It finds expression in the Greek according to the Prophetic saying: ‘Reflect upon idea of agape, the Confucian idea of ren (be- all things, but reflect not upon God’s Essence’” nevolence), the Buddhist idea of daiai (“large (p. 146). As are other Islamic beliefs, this apo- love”), the Christian ideas of caritas and love- phatic nature of spiritual knowledge is not feast. At root, it champions the intrinsic value of unique to Islam. In Christianity, a well-known human life and cherishing care for one’s fellow- medieval legend about St. Augustine conveys men. In contrast, the extension of the regard for the message that attempting to fathom the mys- human life to all living creatures is specific to tery of the Holy Trinity is as futile as trying to Buddhism; atonement for original sin is specific empty the sea by pouring water into a hole in to Christianity. Therefore, these do not qualify the sand along the seashore. Epstein (1999) for inclusion. makes the point that, “Ever since the Byzantine An implication of maximal inclusiveness is period, Eastern Christianity has been home to that we would not limit spirituality to a theistic the tradition of apophatic or negative theology” worldview, which would exclude large portions (p. 347). Apophasis or negation is prominent in of humanity, including those who hold nonthe- Buddhist thought, particularly that of Ch’an istic (e.g., Confucian), atheistic, or agnostic (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism; that the Dao can- worldviews (cf. Pettman, 2004, Part 3). Kier not be named or expressed in words is central to and Davenport (2004) deplore the lack of re- Daoism; in Hinduism, the Advaita monistic search attention to atheists. Who is to say that doctrine states that Brahman, the one and only espousing a theistic worldview is sufficient for one reality, is without attributes and hence in- spirituality, or that spiritual experiences are be- effable (Ho, 1995; Paranjpe, 1988b, 1998; cf. yond the reach of atheists or agnostics? In a Epstein, 1999, pp. 353–354). survey on spirituality in Mainland China, Zhang Extracting commonalities underlying these and Ho (2004) obtained written responses from apophatic traditions at a high level of abstrac- university instructors who taught compulsory tion results in an insight into the insuperable courses in Marxism-Leninism and were ex- limitations of the human mind and, ultimately, pected to be atheists. The responses indicated the impossibility of comprehending the infinite that the overwhelming majority considered spir- by the finite. This insight is metacognitive in ituality a meaningful, positive value. Interpreta- nature: “I know my inherent limitations.” It tions of spirituality varied widely. Only 44% of activates the wisdom to accept human limita- respondents flatly denied that there was a relations; it is the mother of humility in a deeply tion between spirituality and religion. The im- spiritual sense, which extends beyond religious portant point is that professed atheists do not into secular spirituality. Thus, we arrive at a reject spirituality. formulation that should have high transcultural Another group that also demands greater re- acceptability: Spiritual growth parallels depth search attention is Muslims. In the United of humility following the discovery and accep- States, Muslims will number second only to 68 HO AND HO

Christians as a religious group by the year 2010 would dilute the construct’s utility. The meta- (Melton, 1993). Islam is the second largest and theoretical propositions are stated as follows: the fastest growing religion in the world (Esposito, 1999). The upsurge of terrorism and counterter- 1. Spirituality addresses existential or tran- rorism following September 11, 2001, height- scendent questions, such as those concern- ens the urgency of ecumenical understanding ing the meaning and purpose of life. Con- and dialogues. Between the Islamic and the viction that life is meaningful and pur- non-Islamic worlds, mutual misperceptions are poseful is essential to spirituality. rife. It is ironic that the name Islam is derived from the Arabic root word salaama, which 2. Spirituality belongs to the domain of su- means submission, obedience, peace, and pu- praordinate or cardinal values underlying rity. In his cultural psychological study of the all aspects of life. Middle East, Gregg (2005) attempts to dispel 3. Spirituality is self-reflective, and hence some prominent misunderstandings, for in- metacognitive, in nature. stance: “Islamic ‘fatalism’ breeds inaction and stalls development,” and “Terrorism springs from a vein of fanaticism in Arab culture and Existential-Transcendent Quest the Arab psyche” (p. 13). Religious and spiritual issues in counseling for Muslims are discussed Spirituality entails an existential quest for a in Burke et al. (2005, Chap. 15) and Kobeisy sense of direction; to answer questions about (2004); information on native healing in Arab- life and death, being and nonbeing: “What is the Islamic societies may be found in Al-Issa and meaning of life, where was I before I was born, Al-Subaie (2004). what becomes of me after I am dead? What makes a good life?” Such a quest precludes Construct Explication: Metatheoretical automatic falling back on superstitious beliefs, Propositions blind faith, religious dogmata for a ready answer; or engaging in religious rituals without Preceding discussions illustrate that meeting examination or reflection. Often, existential the challenge of measuring spirituality must be- quest is characterized by doubt and struggle. gin with construct clarification. Accordingly, Alienation follows from failures of existen- we formulate a number of metatheoretical prop- tial quest: feeling that life is meaningless, pur- ositions to explicate the spirituality construct. poseless; that questions about life and death are Collectively, these propositions make clear that “a waste of time.” A symptom is estrangement: all phenomena pertaining to spirituality are psy- An alienated person feels estranged from the chological phenomena, but that the converse world, from others, or from God; a self- does not hold; that is, spirituality is a subset of alienated person feels estranged from himself. psychological phenomena. Ideally, spirituality The estranged self feels enslaved; it has no should be manifest in thought and action iden- sense of agency. Work, love, and activity stand tifiable as distinct from those pertaining to phe- as masters of the enslaved self, because they nomena outside the subset. Unavoidably, how- seem meaningless. Another symptom of alien- ever, the boundary of the spirituality subset is ation is disorientation, or loss of direction. Dis- fuzzy. The propositions only render it less orientation emerged as one of three factors in a fuzzy, but they do provide some guidelines for study of spirituality (Ng et al., 2005). measurement. They form a basis for delineating Transcendence defines one’s relationships the defining or essential attributes of ecumeni- with oneself, others, society, humanity, nature, cal spirituality. This is a necessary step toward and cosmos, and (to religious believers) some defining a set of inclusion-exclusion criteria, higher, divine, sacred, or supreme being or be- which direct researchers’ attention to appropri- ings. It means understanding the self in a larger ate target patterns of thought and action. context (e.g., self-in-cosmos, personal relation- Equally important, they spell out the conditions ship with God), thus conferring meaning and for a candidate item to qualify as measuring purpose to one’s life. Transcendent experiences spirituality, or at least a component of it. This may be at once personal and universal. They do helps to constrain overinclusiveness, which not necessarily embody religiosity. The antith- MEASURING SPIRITUALITY 69 esis of transcendence is self-encapsulation, in awareness of that awareness does. A spiritual which the self derives meaning and purpose person is aware of not only his existence, but from its own individual existence, without ref- also aware that he is aware of it; he is, further- erence to any larger context (for a discussion, more, capable of contemplating the frightful see Ho, 1995; Ho, Peng, Lai, & Chan, 2001). consequences of losing his self-awareness or Self-encapsulation is a form of egoism or self- even his being. Such awareness belongs to contained individualism. metacognition, a higher and more complex domain of cognition. Cardinal Values Metacognition is thus vital to the development of spirituality. It enables the self to be Spirituality lies at the core of a person’s value aware of its place in the world and to engage in system. It belongs to the domain of supraordi- internal dialogues about its relations with both nate or cardinal values underlying all aspects of itself and nonself. A self so empowered is what life. A cardinal value may be conceived as a Ho, Chan, Peng, and Ng (2001) term dialogical metavalue, that is, a value of values. We may self. Metacognition is instrumental for the dia- illustrate this idea with the following state- logical self to be cognizant of its limitations. ments, each of which expresses a metavalue: “I That is the mother of humility. Metacognition is hold the defense of liberty as supreme in my also essential for the dialogical self to be aware scale of political values,” “Spiritual fulfillment of its self-awareness, or its nonbeing. (We is more important to me than sensual or material would argue that awareness of one’s self- gratification,” and “Nothing is more valuable awareness is a necessary, but not sufficient, than human life.” It may be seen that each condition for awareness of one’s nonbeing, statement asserts a priority among different val- which is more cognitively demanding.) It en- ues. ables the dialogical self to reflect upon the As a transcendent value, spirituality defines meaning and purpose of its existence; to enter- one’s relationships with oneself, others, human- tain possibilities of what it may become, never ity, society, nature, cosmos, and (to believers) experienced before, in the future. It renders new the divine, God, or Ultimate Reality. (Thinking forms of thought and action possible, and thus about these relationships does not necessarily confers transformational capabilities upon the quality as spirituality; only when the thinking dialogical self. In sum, it drives the spiritual self entails the core of one’s value system does it to be engaged in internal dialogues and thus to qualify.) Viewed in this light, spirituality is the participate in its own re-creation. wellspring from which selfhood and identity As to its place in the world, the dialogical self grow into maturity; it guides the formation of has to be aware of a bidirectional process: per- worldviews; it confers meaning and adds color ceiving how it has been treated by the world and to life. committing itself to actions, reactive or proac- An implication is that manifest spirituality is tive, directed toward the world. It must also deal best conceived as a pattern of patterns, or with tensions that may arise from discrepancies metapattern, of thought and action in diverse in this bidirectional process (Ho, Peng et al., domains of life. Spirituality should be manifest 2001). People react in different ways to percep- in not just a compartmentalized domain but in tions of ill fortune or misfortunes. Some remain diverse domains of life, such as work, family, bitter for life, feeling that the world owes them and civic performance. We sense inherent irony a better deal. Others commit themselves to in describing a person as spiritual on Sundays make the world a better place. Still others, who but not weekdays, at home but not at work, or in have been treated with gross injustice by others, treating friends but not strangers. let go of their anger and forgive. Therefore, we have reason to say that forgiveness is a compo- Self-Reflective Metacognition nent of spirituality. We may index cognitive complexity in terms The capacity for self-consciousness is a nec- of degrees of cognitive construal. Following essary, but not sufficient, condition for spiritu- Ho, Peng et al. (2001), cognitive construals ality. Thus, awareness of one’s existence does about an object (e.g., oneself) are first-degree not qualify as an essential aspect of spirituality; construals; metacognitive construals (metacog- 70 HO AND HO nition) are second-degree construals; construals tinuum. For instance, Spiritual Fulfillment and of metacognitive construals (metametacogni- Alienation are not construed as merely oppo- tion) are third-degree construals; and so forth ad sites of each other along the same bipolar con- infinitum. In short, any construal may be itself tinuum; rather, they are better represented on the object of the next higher degree construal. two unipolar continua. This representation al- Examples are “I live from day to day; I don’t lows for the coexistence of spiritual fulfillment think about tomorrow” (1st degree); “That and alienation. Again, the methodological ad- means a lack of purpose in life” (2nd degree); vantage is that it facilitates studying spirituality “When I realize I lack purpose in life, I become as a dynamic process in which struggle, ups and unhappy” (3rd degree). Higher degrees of con- downs, are reflected. strual are indicative of greater cognitive com- Components of spirituality and spiritual emp- plexity, and hence capability. This provides an tiness, once identified and accepted as candidate operational scheme to delineate more precisely items, should be formulated in ways that allow the cognitive characteristics of spirituality. To for interpretation and expression in various be explicit, we say that spirituality is character- ways according to one’s cultural orientation and ized by higher degree construals. ideological or religious persuasion. As empha- sized throughout this article, our approach to Meeting the Challenges of measurement allows for variation in the Operationalization and Measurement grounds of belief and the chosen path in the individual’s existential-transcendent quest. Although spirituality is not directly observ- However, dismissing the quest as useless or able, its effects on a person’s life in different meaningless, refusing to engage in self- domains are accessible to observation. These reflection, failure to take action, being uncom- effects may be subjectively felt and self- mitted to anything, and the like would be re- reported and may be manifest in words and garded as manifestations of spiritual emptiness. actions noticeable by others, in different domains of life. Different component ideas of spir- Overcoming Barriers to Observation ituality may be identified, thus calling for multidimensional measures. Similarly, the lack or Barriers to observation, and hence measure- absence of spirituality and, worse, spiritual ment, pose a formidable challenge to research- emptiness are no less measurable (in our view, ers. Spiritual experiences (as are those of alien- probably easier). A methodological implication ation) are not easily articulated verbally; they is that we may use construct pairs (e.g., Exis- may not even be labeled as spiritual by the tential Quest vs. Alienation, Transcendence vs. experiencing person. Many varieties of spiritual Self-Encapsulation), with one construct pertain- experience are esthetically felt in the visual, ing to a component of spirituality and the other kinesthetic, or musical, rather than the linguis- to a corresponding component of spiritual emp- tic, modality. That is why it is often inadvisable tiness. This would reduce bias both in looking not to ask directly and explicitly people to de- for something where there is little to be found scribe their “spiritual experiences.” Viewed in and in failing to look for something where this light, paper-and-pencil self-report question- something can be found. “Spiritual” individuals naires are particularly suspect. who meet stringent criteria for spirituality may In any case, spirituality (or spiritual empti- not be found in abundance; using construct pairs ness) is privately experienced, as are other psy- would circumvent this problem. More impor- chological phenomena (Ho, in press); to many, tant, it would facilitate the study of spirituality it is highly personal, not to be revealed to others and its negation as a dynamic process. easily. If spirituality is known only to the pri- It is important to distinguish between dimen- vate self, then logically it is excluded from the sion and polarity. We view spirituality and spir- public domain. As Ho, Fu, and Ng (2004) argue, itual emptiness as multidimensional constructs. however, private experiences are not entirely However, we do not view these two constructs private. The circumstances that induce private as reducible to merely opposites of each other; experiences, the ways in which they are con- similarly, across components each construct strued and expressed, and the consequences that pair is not viewed as polar opposites on a con- follow from their expression may not be private MEASURING SPIRITUALITY 71 at all. There is no necessity for the composition overcome difficulties inherent in measuring the of “others” to remain constant. Furthermore, the spirituality construct. Researchers have relied private self changes as a function of the quality almost exclusively on paper-and-pencil self- of self-other relations. Thus, given the right report measures (Hill & Pargament, 2003, p. conditions, private spiritual experiences may be 70). We have serious doubts about whether such revealed to or perceived by others. measures are capable of reflecting the richness Eastern philosophical-religious traditions and complexity of spirituality. Self-report mea- speak of transcendent consciousness, achieved sures are especially problematic in Asian cul- through negating the dichotomy between self- tures that put a premium on modesty and hu- as-subject and self-as-object in different ways mility, which would inhibit respondents against (Ho, 1995; Ho, Peng et al., 2001; Paranjpe, 1988b, attributing to themselves socially desirable 1998). We encounter here what appears to be an characteristics (Chiu & Yang, 1987). Such mea- insurmountable barrier to external observation: surement problems are by no means limited to Transcendent consciousness is privately experi- Asian cultures, however. As Peterson and Park enced and cannot be publicly demonstrated. How- (2004), who favor self-report measures, noted, ever, physiological correlates of transcendent con- “Almost by definition, strengths such as authen- sciousness are publicly demonstrable (see Seeman ticity and bravery are not the sort of traits indi- et al., 2003, for a review of the evidence). Tran- viduals usually attribute to themselves . . . Mod- scendent experiences may be reported to a public esty and humility have eluded reliable assess- audience. Their effects, if any, on the lives of ment” (p. 429). Not surprisingly, the Values in people who experience them are potentially mea- Action Inventory of Strengths developed by surable. Dreams too offer an opportunity to Peterson and Park (2004), a self-report measure glimpse, if only indirectly, into the elusive self-as- of strengths of character, has rather low corre- subject (Ho, Chan, et al., 2001; Ho, Peng, et al., lations (around 0.3), with nomination of 2001). In short, although the workings of the pro- strengths by friends or family members (p. 442). cess in which consciousness, transcendent or oth- Another limitation of self-report measures is erwise, is experienced elude direct observation, their inability to assess heightened esthetic sen- the products of this process are accessible to ex- sibilities that are deeply felt but defy verbal ternal observation. A challenge to investigators is description—especially if they are experienced to differentiate “levels of transcendent conscious- in nonlinguistic modalities, visual, kinesthetic, ness” and their correlates, physiological, psycho- musical. Heightened esthetic sensibilities in a logical, and behavioral. But even a successful spiritual experience touch the core of one’s be- demonstration does not validate the claim that the ing: The majesty of nature, the vastness of the subject-object duality vanishes at a high level of cosmos, artistic expressions, and beauty in all transcendent consciousness. The idea that “only a its variegated forms are esthetically felt; deep Buddha knows a Buddha” suggests a plausible emotions are evoked. Lowen (1990) speaks of approach: comparing notes among accomplished the spirituality of the body: a harmony of body, meditators who claim to have experienced nondu- mind, and emotions that he calls the “state of ality; or, better still, examination of each meditator grace.” The challenge to measurement is to cap- by a panel of other meditators. This approach may ture nonlinguistic spiritual experiences (for a be generalized to render public what would oth- coverage of music and spirituality, see Lewis, erwise be private experiential verification: Claims 2002, Chap. 10, “Spirituality, Music, and of heightened, unusual spiritual experiences by an Laughter”; Lipe, 2002). Using nonverbal mea- individual may be subject to examination as to sures, such as drawings (e.g., Pendleton, Cavilli, their authenticity or inauthenticity by a panel of Pargament, & Nasr, 2002), is especially suitable judges who are publicly acknowledged as having for children. had such experiences. Given the formidable challenges to measurement already discussed, we argue for relying Need for Innovative Techniques more on (a) qualitative, open-ended, experience-near techniques (see Hodge, 2001, for a Methodological implications follow from review of qualitative methods of assessment); these considerations. We need to spell out how personal diaries, phenomenological accounts innovative techniques may be developed to (e.g., Ho, in press); (b) nonverbal, expressive 72 HO AND HO measures (e.g., music appreciation, drawings, ness; (c) items that allow for interpretation movement analysis); (c) life histories, clinical and expression in various ways according or observational data, peer reports, reports by to one’s cultural, ideological, or religious significant others; and (d) videotaped informa- persuasion; and (d) innovative (e.g., qual- tion, narrative analysis, thematic categorization itative, open-ended, experience-near, non- and coding for content analysis. Physical corre- verbal, expressive) techniques to reduce lates or effects of spirituality may be measured the current overreliance on self-report by physiological data (e.g., salivary cortisol, as measures. in the study by Ho, 2005), indices of brain function, physical health status, and medical Measuring spirituality is difficult; measuring records. spirituality with transcultural applicability is even more so. In the article, we have endeav- Conclusions ored to show how it may be done. We have also identified serious lacunae of knowledge. Psy- Our major conclusions may be summarized chological research on spirituality involving as follows: two groups, Muslims and atheists, is virtually nonexistent. The case of Muslims highlights the 1. Both Eastern and Western conceptions of urgent need to counter biases against specific spirituality are aligned with eudaemonia groups, cultural, ethnic, or religious, and for rather than hedonism. interfaith dialogues. The case of atheists compels us to engage in a thorough reexamination 2. Spirituality and religiosity are overlapping of the theistic foundation of spirituality that has constructs; accordingly, it is possible for a dominated research. More generally, the person to be religious without being spir- amount of research conducted across cultural, itual or spiritual without being religious, religious, or ethnic groups is uneven, to say the be both, or be neither. Differentiation be- least: The bulk of research has involved Chris- tween the two constructs is essential to tians, leaving most of the rest untouched. This transcultural applicability. state of affairs is inexcusable at a time when psychologists have been subject to the siren 3. A theistic or atheistic worldview is neither calls for greater sensitivity to gender, ethnic, necessary nor sufficient for spirituality. and cultural issues. 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