Spirituality, Society & Psychology

Humanistic psychology, with foreground figures such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers?, arose, among other things, as a reaction against reductionism in both psychoanalysis and behaviourism. The view of things like "spiritual experiences" was one of the areas where contemporary psychology was perceived to have too narrow a framework.

Abraham Maslow was interested in people's so-called "highlights", which possibly overlap with things that respondents tell about and think about. Maslow claimed to be able to distinguish a category of individuals he called "self-realization":

"In a brief summary, the most important characteristics of self-realization people can be said to be as follows: A more precise conception and acceptance of reality, including human nature; spontaneity, a healthy appreciation and creativity in everyday activities; relative seclusion from the immediate physical and social environment and from the culture at large; deeper, more satisfying personal relationships, most likely with a small number of other self-realization people; strong feelings of identification and sympathy with all other people; democratic (non-authoritarian) character structure; non-hostile, philosophical humor; centering around problems outside themselves that reflect a broad set of values; clear moral and ethical principles that are applied consistently as well as an experience of having dissolved prominent dichotomies and opposite pairs." (from Maslow, 1970; ref in Wulff, p.521)

This branch of humanistic psychology has now been transferred to what is now called Transpersonal Psychology (yyy?). As the name suggests, representatives of this branch of psychology envision a higher instance in the psyche, "beyond personality."

Lukoff & Co

Some believe that there are experiences that are at risk of being assessed such as psychotic reactions or such illness, which have a different etiology and often another (more favorable) prognosis. Prior to working on the DSM-4, psychiatrist Lukoff and more put forward arguments that an upcoming version of the manual should be able to differentiate these experiences. And mixed forms (Lukoff).

(Lukoff, ?) More pathologizing or dismissive in the DSM-3. Better in the DSM-4 (who writes about it? Rizzuto?) Lukoff and colleagues worked to introduce a "Spiritual emergency" category into the DSM-4, and partially succeeded

Assagioli.

An early representative of such a view was the Italian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Alberto Assagioli, who, like Carl Gustav Jung, early on taught Sigmund Freud but eventually, partly because of a lack of consensus on spiritual issues, broke with him. In an interview in Psychology Today (December 1974), with a Sam Keen, Assagioli explains how his approach differs from Freud's:

"We pay more attention to the higher unconscious and to the development of the transpersonal self. Freud said, "I am interested only in the basement of the human being." Psychosynthesis is interested in the whole building. We try to build an elevator which will allow a person access to every level of his personality. After all, a building with only a basement is very limited. We want to open up the terrace where you can sun-bathe or look at the stars. Our concern is the synthesis of all areas of the personality. That means psychosynthesis is holistic, global and inclusive"

(http://synthesiscenter.org/articles/0303.pdf, page visited 2014-12-19).

Freud & the First Psychoanalysts (Rizzuto)

Sigmund Freud.

Freud has had a great influence on the view of human religiosity. In the nearly 100 years since his death, many things have happened, in theory and practice, but that it was not so easy for the first generations of psychoanalysts writes Ana-Maria Rizzuto, herself an analyst:

"Freud himself […] insisted that people should not need religion, called it a cultural neurosis, and set himself up as an example of those who could do without it. Intentionally or unintentionally, he gave the world several generations of psychoanalysts who, coming to him from all walks of life, dropped whatever religion they had at the doors of their institutes. If they refused to do so, they managed to dissociate their beliefs from their analytic training and practice, with the sad effect of having an important area of their lives untouched by their training. If they dealt with religion during their own analyses, that was the beginning of the end of it" (Rizzuto, yyyy?, p4).

Winnicott.

(Winnicott, 1981/2003) "It [the object of transition] originates from external reality from our point of view, but not from the child's. Nor does it come from internal reality; "It's not a hallucination," he said. 25

(Jemstedt, 1993, in the foreword to Winnicott) "The child's relationship to the object of transition is an incipient ability to maintain a dialectical process, between union and seclusion, between the symbol and what it symbolizes, between inner and outer, etc., and this dialectic creates mental space."

The subject of paradoxicality appears in Winnicott when he deals with the transition area and the transition object. He calls on the adult world to be careful as they approach the child's relationship with the paradoxical. "I would like to draw attention to the paradox that is part of the child's use of what I have called transitional objects. My contribution is to call for this paradox to be accepted, tolerated and respected, and not to try to resolve it. By resorting to a destified intellectual function, it is possible to solve the paradox, but the price of this solution is the loss of value of the paradox itself." (Winnicott, 1981/2003, p16) Elsewhere in the same writing, he elaborates on the theme further: "It [the object of transition] originates from external reality from our point of view, but not from the child's. Nor does it come from internal reality; it is not a hallucination" (p. 25)

Winnicott really makes himself a spokesman for the paradox. In his book Play and Reality, he returns to the subject time and time again. There is more already in the foreword, and the very last sentences in the afterword address this subject. That the paradox of the child's experience must be respected.

), I am content to point out that – regardless of how our childhood has been – an emphasis on the concrete, the simple, in the way we view life, should be able to tempt the psyche so that certain inconveniences arise reminiscent of an unfortunately established "true and false self-structure" in childhood. I think this may be relevant when discussing a thought system like NA and the attitude to existence that this can stimulate.

Limitations of objectivity.

"Moreover, there are a large number of adults who never attain a reliable capacity for objectivity, and those who are most reliably objective often have poor contact with the wealth of their own inner world" (Winnicott, 2004, p.69)

The bio about "precision", etc…

"Negative capability."

"The negative capability" which is an ability to endure that one does not know, to be insecure (Stiller, 2007).

Emails that came on the day we went up to Valsan. From Jules Evans' blog, about Joyce and Keats. About negative capability

"John Keats, who suggested the poet needs a negative capability in which they can experience the Sublime without 'an irritable reaching after fact and reason'" (Jules Evans blog, see ref!!)

"The Mystery" in Psychoanalysis

Wilfred Bion has a term he calls "O", which seems to be his attempt to reserve or isolate a deepest aspect of the psyche.

Hans Reiland (yy?) writes about "the object berore the objects" as an instance, a deepest reference point, which is beyond the inner objects (e.g. guardians and others) that were added later.

Bollas is yet another psychoanalyst who, based on object relation theory, tries to discern a reference point that should be beyond the "inner objects" established primarily in relation to the nursing persons. He talks about this deeper foundation as "the transformative object" (yyy?)

Deep religiosity in psychoanalytic light.

Atheist's "Relationship of God"

(Jones, 1991) Jones, about how even the atheist has a relationship with God. When he asks his students, they can always answer how that God is "that they don't believe in." How is the new god when comparing? It may not even be a living "anti-god."

Psychoanalysis can provide a deeper understanding of religion/atheism.

PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION

"An individual's basic personality structure can only be understood if two specific and interacting psychological dimensions are taken into account: the personality structure of the level of development and the type of defense that dominates at this level of development. The first dimension indicates the extent of the individual, or the type of pathology that predominates in the person (psychotic, borderline, neurotic, 'normal'). The second indicates his or her personality type (paranoid, depressive, schizoid, etc.)" (McWilliams, p67)

McWilliams (1994/2005) indicates four levels of personality structure: psychotic, borderline, neurotic, and "normal" (p. 67)

See DSM-4. Does it have four levels? "Mature"?

Other models settle for three levels, with neurotic level being the highest. But of course it is possible to differentiate even at such a level, one should be able to talk about a higher and a lower level of neuroticism. Neurotic and "mature neurotic"? A person with severe neurotic problems, who seeks help, and after a longer psychotherapeutic contact has gained access to greater internal mobility, gained a greater ability to reflect on himself and been freed from bothersome symptoms, can in any case be said to have reached a higher neurotic level.

PDM (2006) defines personality as: "relatively stable ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, and relating to others". (p17)

PDM refers to "not only one's belief systems and ways of making sense of self and others, but also one's moral values and ideals" (p17)

"[A] continuum of severity, from a relatively healthy to a very disturbed level of personality structure. This continuum is conventionally, if arbitrarily, divided into healthy, neurotic, and borderline ranges of personality organization, the borderline range extending from the border of neurotic character organization to the border of psychotic conditions." It is important to point out that "borderline" in a psychiatric context, "Borderline Personality Disorder" (DSM) refers to a certain type of borderline, namely a more outgoing, dramatic form, which was originally delimited for research purposes (p.21). The psychodynamic concept is broader and, if you will, more universally human. It stems from a time in our lives when it was actually normal to perceive and interact with the world in this characteristic, often simplistic way, and which remains as a capacity even in adulthood.

PDM does not include psychotic in its P-axis , as the research situation is unclear.However, it differentiates between borderline at a higher level and a lower level, which in some cases occurs together with psychotic or psychosis-like symptoms, such as conret or overgeneralized thinking (p. 26). "Toward the Psychotic End of the Borderline Spectrum" (p.29)

In addition to this, PDM states "neurotic" and "healthy" (p.27)

It is important to understand that "Psychotic" refers to a kind of preparedness, weakness or fragility, which means that the person in difficult situations will have a greater propensity to react with psychotic symptoms. Not that the person has manifest psychotic symptoms. As I said, it is a level of personality structure.

Personality is what one IS rather than what one HAS. It certainly comprises more than one can see by scrutinizing a person's behaviour" (p17)

PDM points out that we can all exhibit borderline or psychosis-like symptoms during severe stress (p20)

The term "borderline" was coined or conceptualized in the 1950s, for those patients who were too bothered to really fit into the neurotic diagnosis, but were too entrenched in reality to fit in with the psychosis diagnosis (p21)

Psychodynamically based research has come up with three types of borderline, one that is closer to the psychotic, with the risk of psychosis breakthrough, a form similar to that referred to by the DSM, and a third that PDM describes as "over-ideational, characterized by social isolation and withdrawal, more likely to recive the DSM diagnosis of paranoid, schizoid, or obsessive personality disorder". (p21).

PDM describes this as "a person's center of psychological gravity", although it is emphasized that the other levels may be there as well (p23)

Psychoanalytic and other concepts

Sources

Buxant

Buxant and colleagues (Buxant, et al, 2007, 2008, 2010) argue that although supporters exhibit a greater sensitivity, a greater fragility, which may be understood against the background of their attachment experiences, this does not have to mean greater mental illness.

Eckblad & Chapman (1983)

Magical Ideation Scale (Eckblad&chapman, 1983) measures magical and paranormal ideas and experiences. High results on this test have also correlated with the fact that the subjects have easy to make connections between words that really have nothing to do with each other.

Farias, M., Lalljee, M. (2008). Holistic Individualism in the Age of Aquarius: Measuring Individualism/Collectivism in New Age, Catholic, and Atheist/Agnostic Groups. Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion. 47(2):277-289

??

Such an orientation is characterized by precisely a holistic worldview where "entities and events are connected in a way that defies modern rationalistic notions of causality" (Farias &lalljee, 2008)

Magical thinking (new age doctrine can explain)

Farias and Lalljee (2008) point out that such a orientation for magical thinking can also be something that is emphasized and encouraged within a particular culture, such as the New Age, and that this can also explain results.

"I Am a Bridge": Farias and L (2008)

In a study by Farias and Lalljee (2008), the testpesons were asked to give twenty descriptions of themselves based on the question "Who am I?". New age followers then described themselves in an extremely individualistic and abstract way (e.g., "I am a bridge," "I am united," "I am an illusion"). The authors summarize this part of the study:

QUOTATION!

(From the same study? Individuals with a collectivist orientation usually, asked to describe themselves, do this with judgments that in a concrete way relate to their social reality (e.g., "I am a daughter", "I am a baker", etc),while those with a more individualistic orientation use more abstract judgments about themselves (e.g., "I am cheerful"). )

Universialim/collectivism, Meta-analysis (Saroglou et al), 8000 persons, different rel,

A meta-analysis (by Saroglou, Delpierre and Dernelle, 2004, referenced in Farias & Lalljee, 2008) brought together studies from 15 countries, which included more than 8,000 test subjects, from different religious backgrounds, and the results showed that traditional religiosity correlates positively with different measures of collectivism. However, there was no connection between religiosity and universalism, which may seem strange given that this may seem close to religious ideals. The authors try to explain this by saying that a collectivist orientation may be limited to the well-being of one's own ingroup in the first place (Farias &lalljee, 2008).

Universialism = Harmony

In the survey of Farias and Lalljee (2008), New Age supporters scored higher than the other two groups on "Universialism." This concept emphasizes things like harmony and equality (Farias &lalljee, 2008)

Labexp by 100 points

Collectivism, Ind, Universalism: Farias and Lalljee (2008)

Individuals with a collectivist orientation usually, asked to describe themselves, do this with judgments that in a concrete way relate to their social reality (e.g., "I am a daughter", "I am a baker", etc),while those with a more individualistic orientation use more abstract judgments about themselves (e.g., "I am cheerful").

Self-transcendens

In a study by Farias and Lalljee (2008), 159 people who were either Catholics, New Age followers or agnostics/atheists (53 from each group) were tested. The aim was to investigate whether the New Age was really about an interest in self-transcendence or whether it is more a reinforcement of common individualistic and secular values and behaviors.

New Age adherents, like the non-religious, proved to be both more individualistic and egocentric in their choices and motives compared to the religious ones, while at the same time having a universalist orientation with new age orientation. They shared certain characteristics with the traditionally religious, and some with the non-religious in the survey (Farias &amp. Lalljee, 2008).

Individualism/Universalism

Why, then, is it individualism and not collectivism that is associated with such radical equality, as in this survey of Catholics and New Age followers, among others, ask Farias and Lalljee? (2008).

Farias, M & Granqvist, P. (2007). The Psychology of the New Age [in Handbook of New Age]

Both started with hypotheses.

Granqvist and Farias focus on social psychology, personality psychology and developmental psychology of the new age (Farias&granqvist; i Kemp, 2007). They describe how they both began their research with the hypothesis that this group of spirituals would differ from traditional religiosity.

Schizotypi, etc., may be adaptive

Farias and Granqvist (2007) point out that although some of the personality traits exhibited by supporters may also be adaptive, such as absorption, schizotypia, etc.

New age – equal rel & atheists

Gave abstract answers

"Holistic Individualism"

Research done by Farias in the past has shown that New Ageers in some respects have more in common with atheists, in a test group, than practicing Catholics. For example, degree of individualistic orientation. Most striking were the answers that came to light when doing a social-cognitive analysis of how the people described themselves. They were asked to give twenty descriptions of themselves based on the question "Who am I?" The answers were analyzed according to how abstract repsektive concrete they were, on the concrete side things that had with physical and social descriptions. On the abstract side, things that had to do with psychedetric qualities. New ageists gave many more abstract answers than the other two groups. To the point that they described themselves as a process, a metaphor, or as part of a universal force. The term "holistic individualism" was coined as a term for this. (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

Agile psyche

It refers to a lot of interesting research relevant to the subject. But all in all, it can be said that it is a kind of agile psyche, creativity, which in some respects can be understood as along a scale from normality to psychosis. (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007). That a psyche that works in this way can also be linked to a tendency to or openness to magical or paranormal experiences.

Translimity

Different models have been presented to try to explain these results. "Translimity" which is about thoughts and feelings being able to wander between what is pre-conscious or revetturous, to being noticed by the conscious. A high degree of this has been shown to be correlated with psychic experiences and a belief in paranormal experiences. Different concepts that more or less seem to address the same thing: translimity, skinlessness, and walliness (thin and thick).. The later Hartmann-91. One consequence of this type of sensitivity summarizes the authors as: "This sense of connectedness is of a cognitive and emotive kind but does not extend into the interpersonal domain, as people with thin boundaries typically find it difficult to feel part of a group" s.131 (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007) This stutters with the individualistic trait of new age spirituality, I mean pref.

Thin boundaries

Everyday stories/"The Same Energies"

"The association between New Age practices and thin boundaries is particularly interesting, as this latter scale taps into a sense of social alienation, of not belonging to any particular group, a particulary associative thinking style, but also an emotional vulnerability or hypersensitivity" (Farias &Granqvist, 2007). Sid?

In a survey by Farias and Lalljee (2006, referenced in Farias &granqvist, 2007), the test participants were asked to comment on some stories with everyday events based on the question: "How would you interpret this situation?" For example, the stories could describe a meeting with a person who felt very familiar. Instead of suggesting that it was someone the test subject might have encountered in the store some day, or even that "God wanted us to meet," people with New Age orientation explained situations like this using paranormal or supernatural arguments: "Our souls have probably met before," or "We have the same energies that make us feel drawn to each other.".

"This sense of connectedness is of a cognitive and emotive kind but does not extend into the interpersonal domain, as people with thin boundaries typically find it difficult to feel part of a group" (Farias &Granqvist, 2007).

Cognitive loseness

"Leakage from the pre-conscious" or impaired barriers against things coming to consciousness, has been called "cognitive loseness" (Farias &granqvist, 2007).

Words instead of dots.

The same researchers have conducted surveys with words instead of dots and new age followers have then shown stronger semantic connections (Farias, Claridge &lalljee?, yyy?, ref in Farias &granqvist, 2007).

"Dots"

The NCAA has also been able to confirm these findings in its own research. An interesting test is about the degree to which the person perceives patterns and figures on a screen where a hundred dots are projected in random order. New Age interested perceive more complex figures, simply. People with a more traditional religious orientation did not distinguish themselves in this regard. (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007). The results indicate "presence of underlying structures which may dispose of the individual to experience unususal perceptions and magical/paranormal beliefs and experiences" (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007).

Holistic individualism: Faras & Gr 2007

Research done by Farias in the past has shown that New Ageers in some respects have more in common with atheists, in a test group, than practicing Catholics. For example, degree of individualistic orientation. Most striking were the answers that came to light when doing a social-cognitive analysis of how the people described themselves. They were asked to give twenty descriptions of themselves based on the question "Who am I?" The answers were analyzed according to how abstract repsektive concrete they were, on the concrete side things that had with physical and social descriptions. On the abstract side, things that had to do with psychedetric qualities. New ageists gave many more abstract answers than the other two groups. To the point that they described themselves as a process, a metaphor, or as part of a universal force. The term "holistic individualism" was coined as a term for this. (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

Everyday Stories, "The Same Energies": Farias and Gr (2007)

Granqvist and Farias (2007) have focused on social psychology, personality psychology and developmental psychology asses of the New Age. They describe how they separately began their research with the hypothesis that followers of the New Age differ from adherents of more traditional religiosity or spirituality.

Magical thinking

They felt united with "a larger universe of being" and yet this connection was vastly private and abstract, rather than "socially embedded". Another part of the investigation then allowed the test subjects to describe a "highlight" of their lives, which was interpreted as either as an independent individual, or socially in collaboration. The New Age reported twice as many "agency" as the collaborative group. More of these stories were "ideas and feelings of being magically or paranormally empowered by a non-material force or entity". (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

Universialism

A survey (Farias, 2004; ref in Farias & Gr, 2007) examined collectivist and individualistic ideals of Catholics, atheists and New Age-interested people. It turned out that New Age followers emphasized individualism as highly as atheists, and then distinguished themselves from the Catholics in the survey. The former emphasized such things as independence and hedonism. New age adherents also emphasized a universalism, which can be interpreted as tolerance, a concern for humanity and nature, p125 (Farias &granqvist, 2007).

"Unending Connections"

The new ageist has a "their concern with the existence of an intimate connectedness between all things, visible and invisible." Karma and syncronicity, enl Jung, create "a virtually unending network of connections. In this way, every little trivial detail seems filled with meaning. (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

"There is no coincidence"

The claim "there is no coincidence" leads the New Age to seek magical connections between much in his everyday life. New age followers not only share certain beliefs, they seem to share a special cognitive trait and personality orientation that makes them urged to seek meaningful connections between seemingly distant and unrelated things and events" (Farias&granqvist; i Kemp, 2007)

Schizotypi, how to understand?

"Schizotypi" – distinguished by magical thinking and unusual experiences. But how should schizotypi be understood? As a diagnosis, or as a spectrum from normal to pathology? It seems to have found the latter model most fruitful in its own research. (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

Healty psychotism

Spiritual experiences. In 2001, Claridge developed thoughts on healthy psychotism. Like creativity… "spiritual experience which, like creativity, are an example of 'healthy psychotism', in e a form of schizotypal personality which lies on the healthy side of the psychotic spectrum" (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007)

Absorption ("schizotypi light")

Light schizotypia, as well as a lighter form of dissociation called "absorption", to be able to become engulfed. (Far & Granqv, 2007)

Many change groups

Farias and Granqvist (2007) see a connection between the special cognitive traits of the NA supporter, and the fact that many people change groups and activities without getting stuck or bonding with a close network, as in traditional religious contexts (Farias &granqvist, 2007).

Meet stranger

Faced with a story, a hypothetical situation to consider, for example, whether they met a foreign person who still felt familiar, the New Age gave more magical answers than the atheist, but also than the Christian. The hypothesis was that the New Age would give several magical answers ("Our souls have probably met before", "we have similar energies"), and that was true. The New Age gave twice as many magical answers as everyday, natural answers ("We've probably met in town before") This leads the authors to articulate that new agare often has a

"Highly associative cognitive style, which made them percive events in therir life in a tightly connected way (via supernatural forces or entities". (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

CONNECTION

Invisible agents, 6-year-olds

Kaplan (ref i Farias &Granqvist, 2007) has found that infants classified with disorganized attachment, at the age of six, tell of child-parent separations with elements of "invisible agents". Mothers with disorganized attachment tend to attribute such things as "psycic powers" and the ability to stand in touch with those who have died (George &amp. Solomon, 1999, ref in Farias &granqvist, 2007).

Mothers, children "psycic powers"

Mothers with disorganized attachment tend to attribute such things as "psycic powers" and the ability to stand in touch with those who have died (George &amp. Solomon, 1999, ref in Farias &granqvist, 2007).

Care, astrology, notice

Researchers have also found that a so-called "disorganized speech" in AAI interviews correlates with the interviewee reporting a variety of experiences and beliefs that are also found within the New Age, such as astrology, notice, contact with the dead, obsession, telepathy and reincarnation (Hesse, 1999, ref in Farias &granqvist, 2007).

Desorg prata, childhood

Farias & Granqvist (2007) refers to phenomena that could all be linked to a readiness to enter different degrees of dissociative states, namely disorganized attachment in a young age, disorganized talk in adulthood, and high values on the NAOS scale (see above).

Privacy of thought, 6-year-olds

Research on 6-year-olds with an ambivalent attachment (Main, 1991, referenced in Farias &amp. Granqvist, 2007) has shown that these have difficulty understanding the "privacy of thought", just as they had an elevated belief in paranormal phenomena and context.

Esoteric litt

In a Belgian survey (NN??, In 2003 ref in Farias &granqvist, 2007), the researchers concluded that individuals with an ambivalence/pre-occupied attachment style enjoy reading spiritual esoteric literature more.

HYPOTHESES

Background to andl not the same!

The authors caution against believing that the underlying factors for different types of spirituality are the same. This does not seem to be the case, but even the other way around. (Far&gran, 2007) (Comp vs corr, for example)

New age = comp-hyp

The authors note that the studies conducted on the New Age and affiliation up to it (Farias &Granqvist, 2007), have "uniformly and strongly supported the compensation hypothesis. Individuals who, according to self-reports or independent judges, have experienced parental insensitivity while growing up are particulary inclined to endorse the New Age".

It is a world of thought that exhibits certain characteristics that are assumed to be familiar to those who have been accused of psychological and/or physical abuse, neglect, etc., during the formative years of childhood.

Magical thinking, trol becomes intr of the new age

A person with a disposition for magical thinking does not need to be interested in the new age, even if the probability is greater (Farias &Granqvist, 2007). Personality traits and cognitive dispositions are largely genetic, which is why this is likely to come into play as well. When people tell us that their spiritual search has begun in adulthood, it is probably not true, but it is based on a certain cognitive predisposition that has been there before (Farias & Granqvist, 2007).

Personality traits also PGA new age-intr

Although things like personality traits have a genetic component, the authors do not want to rule out that the findings they have made can also arise as an effect of being interested in and involved in the New Age (Farias & Granqvist, 2007).

Because of the lack of longitudinal studies, it cannot be ruled out that it is the new age interest itself that shapes the individual, rather than that it is a certain orientation that draws him or her to this type of phenomenon. (Farias&Granqvist, I Kemp, 2007)

Forf points out that although the New Age supporter himself often talks about a search that began in his late teens, for example, it is based on shaping experiences made much earlier in life.

Biology and attachment experiences

Farias & Granqvist (2007) suggests that it is a combination of biology and attachment experiences that leads to a commitment to the new age: "[B]asic underlying processes of cognition and emotion, related to a particular pattern of personality traits and attachment organization, which may make some individiual more likely to report such unusual experiences and participate in the New Age" (p124).

Suggests that it is a combination of biology (cognitive and personality factors, constitution, cognitive style) together with early experiences of parents etc that is behind the new age interest, p124 (Farias &granqvist, 2007)

Farias and Granqvist (2007) write that the time has now come to seek the biological correlates for the New Age interest.

Toxic parenting

It is believed to be attracted to the popular psychological view that is common in the New Age, with talk of "toxic parenting" (Far & Gr, 2007?)

 

Farias, M., Claridge, G., Lalljee, M. (2005). Personality and cognitive predictors of New Age practices and beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences. 39: 979-989

Magical thinking/"walls", different rel, 99 people

Farias, Claridge & Lalljee (2005) recruited 99 people to a survey to measure the tendency to magical thinking, as well as thin and thick " walls, respectively. The test subjects would have no history of psychiatric illness. Participants were tested with a battery of instruments, partly to determine the type of spiritual or religious orientation, and partly to test the personality dimensions above. People with new age orientation scored high on both of these scales, while those who had a traditional religious orientation did not excel in either of these respects.

"The thin boundaries construct accounts for some characteristics of the New Age religiosity, such as the sense of 'connectedness' and 'holism', as well as a particulary associative thinking style, and an emotional vulnerability or hypersensitivity" (Hartmann, 1991; ref i Farias, Claridge &lalljee, 2005).

Borderline (thin wall/schizotypia)

In several surveys, people with Borderline personality disorder, as well as those with Schizotype dito, have distinguished themselves for having particularly thin walls (Farias, Claridge &lalljee, 2005)

Thin Walls/Clairvoyance

A person with "thin walls" stands out for things like mixing emotions and thoughts together, that he or she more often reports or believes in things like clirvoyance (Farias, Claridge &lalljee, 2005)

Holism/Magical Thinking

Holism in the New Age can perhaps also be explained by a penchant for "magical thinking" that research has shown (Farias, Claridge and Lalljee, 2005). Such an orientation is characterized by precisely a holistic worldview where "entities and events are connected in a way that defies modern rationalistic notions of causality" (Farias &lalljee, 2008).

100 points

A laboratory experiment where the test subject was allowed to sit in front of a computer screen in a dimly lit room. 100 points that shifted at high speed in a random way were shown to the test subject for ten minutes. The instruction was that subjects would switch with random images, and that they would tell when something came to be recognized. Newage followers saw significantly more motifs (e.g., animal motifs, dancing people, angels, etc.). People with a traditional religious orientation saw no more than average (Farias, Claridge & Lalljee, 2005).

Schizotypi has been studied based on two different models.

One sees schizotypia more as a delimited disease or problem, or something close to schizophrenia and psychosis, while the other regards schizotypia as something found along a spectrum from adaptive or harmless, to potentially problematic. It may even be conceivable that an elevated value of this variable may be of benefit to the individual, to imagination and spirituality. Here, schizotypia is seen as a personality dimension and not as pathology (Farias, Claridge &amp. Lalljee, 2005).

Schizotypia, magically conceived, cognitive loseness (jmfr trad rel)

One experiment showed that people with a new age orientation scored higher on schizotypal personality traits, magical thinking, cognitive loseness, and high sensitivity ("emotional hypersensitivity"). These characteristics were not found in those in the group who had a traditional religious orientation (Farias, Claridge &amp Lalljee, 2005).

Thin walledness, magical thinking: Farias et al (2005)

A group of people psychologically

A group of its own also psychologically

At the group level, newage followers stand out for certain cognitive traits. In terms of certain cognitive and personality traits, there are significant differences between regular religious individuals and those engaged in the New Age (Farias, Claridge &amp. Lalljee, 2005).

 

Granqvist, P. et al. (2007). Examining Relations Among Attachment, Religiosity, and New Age Spirituality Using the Adult Attachment Interview Developmental Psychology. Vol 43. No 3

"Role reversals" – High on NAOS

Granqvist and colleagues (2007) have also been used by adult attachment interview (AAI). A survey asked a group of adults (n=84) recruited from different religious contexts to answer NAOS and interviewed with AAI. The results showed, among other things, that those who responded highly to NAOS were also judged to have had a significantly less loving upbringing, with more of such things as rejection and role reversals than those who received low scores.

 

Granqvist, P. (2004). The myth of openness and tolerance. The Psychology Journal (7)

Underdiagnosed suffering

Granqvist (2004) writes that supporters of the New Age are at risk of living with "underdiagnosed suffering" and that it is important to increase knowledge about this area.

Granqvist, P. The Psychology of Newness. Article. Retrieved from: http://www.troochvetande.se/artiklar.php?id=105 (2010-08-17)…?

 

Granqvist, P; Hagekull, B. (2001) Seeking Security in the New Age: On Attachment and Emotional Compensation. Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion. (40:3) 527-545.

Spec extension

The main focus has been on disorganized and preoccupied/ambivalent attachment style that is generally associated with a large amount of suffering and inconvenience in the normal population, such as borderline personality disorder, disassociaton and anxiety (Granqvist &amp. Hagekull, 2001? Look!)

High scores on NAOS, and AAI, Romantic attach sc

From AAI interviews with new age followers, in which he demonstrated similarities with people with disorganized affiliations. People with high scores on the NAOS scale also scored high on romantic attachment disorganisation, which includes things like the individual withdrawing from proximity (more def!) (Granqvist & Hagekull, 2001).

 

Houtman, D., Aupers S. (2007) The Spiritual Turn and the Decline of Tradition: The Spread of Post-Christian Spirituality in 14 Western Countries, 1981-2000. Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion. 46(3):305-320

Psychological research

One question that can be asked is whether people who embrace or are interested in this newer spirituality also share certain personality traits? Research has been done on followers of the New Age, especially from a cognitive psychology and attachment theoretic point of view, which suggests this.

Research on the group of New Age followers has shown the existence of such things as "thin-walledness" (Hartmann, yy; NN, yy), magical thinking (ref), schizotypal personality traits (ref), cognitive loseness (Brugger et al, 1993, referenced in Farias, Claridge &amp Lalljee, 2005), emotional hypersensitivity, dissociation light/absorption, and "thin-walledness".

Thin walls: Hartmann, Farias and others

A person with "thin walls" stands out for things like mixing emotions and thoughts together, that he or she more often reports or believes in things like clärvojans. (Hartmann, see art!).

Magical thinking

Cognitive loseness/Leakage from the pre-conscious

Saroglou, Delpierre and Dernelle, 2004

"Self-trauma" or individualism

Schizotypi

Absorption

Light schizotypia, as well as a lighter form of dissociation called "absorption", to be able to become engulfed. (Far & Granqv, 2007)

How cognitive traits affect

Many change groups, loose bands: Farias and Granqvist (2007)

Why this universality and not "check" equality? Farias (2008)

Own group also psychologically

Unusual but sound minds? Farias

However, opinions differ as to whether these findings indicate greater ill health or poor feeling at group level.

Different, but don't have to feel worse

"Unusual but sound minds" (Farias, 2012? See OneN!)

Schizotypi

Farias and G also ref to research done to test correlation between new age interest and schizophtypal traits. It is not difficult to see parallels when reading DSM-4 about the diagnosis. (Farias&granqvist; in Kemp, 2007)

Cognitive findings

Thin walling

Magical thinking

Attachment theoretic findings

Briefly about attachment theory

Attachment patterns

6-year-olds

Jews and "God"

How spirituality is chosen

Correspondence

Compensation

Third…

Summary

What explains interest in new age etc?

What explains common features?

Genetically

Attachmenterf

The doctrine itself

Do followers feel worse

Against

Buxant

Farias (2012/2013)

BPS (2011)

Peters et al (1999)

For

G

Kirkpatrick

Finally, I would like to thank my respondents for sharing their thoughts and thoughts about their own lives and life in general so generously and trustingly. At first glance and reading, this study may seem disparaging and critical, and I understand if anyone can feel betrayed or left out. But I want to make sure that my interest in the area is genuine.

More than messing up what is potentially problematic about new age/newness, I actually find the question of a possible continuum much more interesting.

It is possible to understand NA's popularity in light of moods in our time. But it is also possible to understand something more general about our present and living conditions based on studies in NA. The stresses to which followers are exposed, from the environment as well as from their own interior, have much in common with the challenge of living and maturing in perhaps above all the Western Cultural Sphere. NA makes certain mental processes more visible.

Conclusion. Our situation has something in common with NA. The denial of basic presumptuous conditions is related. This is something natural to resist, which goes incrementally through life – children, teens, young adults, etc. – and concerns personal maturity. But one could argue that the people of our time are making extra resistance to aging, weakness, fragility. It is our habit denial for the longest, but reinforced or alloyed. So NA can be an aggravating factor for regular life maturity. So be at the group level. Farias o Gr worries worth taking seriously.

An argument for trying to meet NA. Within NA, one imagines that man evolves over a long period of time to become ready to live in/return to the spiritual world. What takes such time? We are on earth learning to think and create yet. The goal is to become completely loving individuals.

It is only in the heavy earthly matter that such learning is possible. Here we get a response to our actions. In the spiritual world, everything "takes place on the commandments of thought" and learning and maturity are not possible.

Even if guilt is "an illusion", perhaps the ability to feel guilty is included in this education?

"A wounded refugee between two kingdoms." Does anyone in the material take up that idea?

This study has had two entrances to the phenomenon. On the one hand, it has focused on the impact of doctrine on the individual. Much more can be done here. An in-depth psychodynamic-psychoanalytic examination. "Good" and "bad" religion. On the one hand, it has taken up an old track from religious psychology that deals with things like that.

I have suggested in this study that the phenomenon should be understood psychodynamically. It is probably the case that some spirituality exposes the individual to greater pressure/temptation to function "below his level". But this will have different effects on different individuals, probably depending on several different factors: the "compelling coherence" of the doctrine, the personality structure of the individual, etc.

Longitudinal studies.

To do longitudinal studies to gain a greater understanding of how an interest in new age/newness may arise remains to be done (Granqvist, et al). But it bears pointing out that even if these findings were to point to a causality with upbringing factors, these results would not be convincing from a new age/new age perspective, as it is assumed that the individual has with him his own personality from a previous life that is only "activated" by contact with nursing subjects and early environmental factors.

Philosophical analysis.

The philosophical or theological objectings made naturally come mainly from the Christian side (Adel…, etc.). It would be interesting if a philosopher wanted to try to describe what is characteristic of new age or newness, in relation to, for example, atheism/agnosticism and Christianity. What if it can be captured? Equation, conditional clauses. Philosophically speaking, the new world declaration may seem watertight. It explains

Differentiate, new age/newness "type 1", "type 2", etc.

New Age has been accused of lacking common worldview, common ideology, common organization, p17

New age is of a nebulös nature, s21 Chryssides 2007. The research that has been done has been on "new age" interested (Granqvist). The popular notion that the New Age is a smorgasbord is put into question by several researchers.

New age and newness are generally perceived as very heterogeneous groups. Instead of arguing that this phenomenon is actually more homogeneous than one usually imagines, you can approach it all from the other side. To specify a few criteria that may constitute one's group. You can call it what you want. The call for the call that expired stated "new age". This may also apply in this study. Here after called NA, which should be seen as a kind of mix of the two.

I find that it is heterogeneous, not so much for all its exotic practices and beliefs, and that there are so many different kinds of healing, for example – with strange names and claims – that the individual can shift between, but that the width is along a kind of axis, which has to do with rationality versus feeling.

Everyone in NA embraces an acceptance of basically the same things. They differ — and can possibly be distributed on that basis to a few groups — according to what is at the center of their attention, and what is peripheral: For some, experience is the primary, metaphysics secondary. For others, it is the opposite. Just like any other religious context. Often, these individuals don't have much to say to each other, because their perceptions are so undeveloped in the department that isn't in their focus. In a survey, the group will appear more homogeneous than it actually is! And when an inventory of the supply in a new-age bookstore etc. it will appear more heterogeneous and fickle than it really is. Both perspectives are true.

Here is the research done in cognitive psychology, which indicates that in some aspects traditional Christianity and atheism have more in common, compared to new age/newness, both enigmatic and fruitful.

Gender aspects.

It would be interesting to investigate more in depth gender aspects of new age/newness. Some have been done (Löwenadler, et al. This material suggests that there could be gender-specific differences here, for example in how women and men perceive and/or even use things like separations in light of new age/newness. This is probably not different from emancipatory aspects in other research, but what makes it particularly interesting in this group is that the very interest itself is so much about emancipation, personal self-realization, experiencing oneself strong and free, agency, independence, individualism, etc.

Another gender aspect is how new age/newness encourages the individual to develop or emphasize more classically female ideals, to be loving, understanding, ally and so on. How does this work for men and women? For women, this could mean strengthening something that is already expected of them. Partly to live up to a classic female ideal, and partly to take care of yourself, free yourself, put your foot down. At the same time, there are individualist imperatives, to self-realization, emancipation.

Is it the case that the emancipation for women in NA can become a trap or an overwhelming project? (What have I been thinking here?)

Parallels to contemporary thinking.

It is clear that typical new-age beliefs have great acceptance among the public. What does that mean? To investigate differences between magical thinking or superstition and new age/newness as a philosophy of life. To further differentiate in this. Benign and malignant.

"Pseudo" phenomenon

There are examples everywhere in the literature of how accepted diagnoses are used in the "light" sense. "Imposed aneroxia" in a sect context, a kind of "psychopathy" or iniocuousness that can follow drug use, hare crisis monks who may seem "psychotic", adolescents who may exhibit a "borderline-like" personality on the threshold of adulthood, etc.

Healthy supporters of new age/newness

To examine in more detail the group that seems to be able to encompass this worldview without any negative consequences whatsoever. Individuals who may have their own experiences of such "enlightenment" that occur anecdotally in the material, which the interviewees believe can be confused with psychotic phenomena. This will be a research that crosses the line into transpersonal psychology, in the wake of Abraham Maslow.

Many great scientists are and have also throughout history been deeply religious, and superstitious, by today's standards. Newton, et al. Why? Out of habit? The norm of the outside world? What so about us today, what norm are we easily falling back on, or may need to raise awareness of? Synchronistic ideas, about astrology.

Due to the nature of the interview subject, that the interviewees are asked to open up about something both personal and potentially sensitive, in addition to a researcher in the subject of psychology who could be assumed to be critical of things like religiosity, the interviewer had to make an effort to create a good atmosphere.

An interview situation where you have to give answers about your innermost thoughts, in a research context, together with a person who does not share so much, cannot be said to be a "normal" situation. A person can be assumed to perform at a lower level than otherwise. That would be understandable.

The interviewer made it effort for the interviewee to understand that the interviewer, if anything, actually had a positive bias. In other cases, it felt extra justified to highlight a critically researching stance.

On a few occasions during the interviews, for example when the respondent came in on how questioning academics have been to things like the New Age, it was felt justified to further highlight that the interviewer himself had a certain understanding and sympathy for the phenomenon. It could also be that the interviewer in vague terms told about his own background and commitment.

Representativeness.

It is not possible to say to what extent the participants in the survey were representative of the population. This is also not the purpose of a qualitative interview study (ref). The informants exhibit both similarity and variation, which can say something interesting about the phenomenon. The fact that the proportions are fair is not decisive for this.

In the call "Alternative answers to the eternal questions" is leading? Mm… See the search

In this study, I have tried to put a psychodynamic-psychoanalytic break over the phenomenon of new age/newness. To theorize about "a continuum" in how followers are able to manage and live with this world of imagination.

It has been my desire to broaden the psychological perspective of new age/newness. To consider and acknowledge, and try to explain, some of the difficulties or challenges that lie in this world of imagination and that are probably true at the group level. But that depending on different factors, "personal maturity", it does not have to be problematic for the individual.

Personality is put under extra high pressure from the doctrine, but the outcome is still not given. Freud's critique of religiosity is still relevant to describe the potentially problematic aspects of religion and spirituality. Later psychoanalysts have nuanced the picture and been able to shed light on even the other end of this continuum.

The question of new age/newness is a heterogeneous phenomenon, "a smorgasbord", or whether, despite the many different expressions, it is, after all, a homogeneous phenomenon? Maybe both are right.

Is new age/newness a danger to public health, as Granqvist (ref)claims? At the group level, that's probably true, but it's valuable to emphasize and try to deepen understanding of the individual level. Because these observations are probably not true.

The current man's situation has a lot in common with the new age/ newness. The denial of basic human conditions is akin. This is something natural to resist, which goes incrementally through life – children, teens, young adults, etc. – and concerns personal maturity. But one could argue that the people of our time are making extra resistance to aging, weakness, fragility. That's our usual denial for the longest. With the typical new age/new-age notions "reinforced" these defenses can become an aggravating factor for ordinary life maturity. Farias &granqvist's findings are worth taking seriously.

It is possible to understand the popularity of newness in light of the moods of our time. But it is also possible to understand something more generally about our present and our living conditions based on studies in newness. The stresses to which followers are exposed, from the environment as well as from their own interior, have much in common with the challenge of living and maturing in perhaps above all the Western Cultural Sphere. Newness makes certain mental processes more visible.

"Tolerance of ambiguity" is an important marker.

Why does new age/newness upset?

Some of the resistance to the new age may be well founded. There is something about its elitism and criticismlessness that viewers can, for good reason, encounter.

Other things probably have to do with habituation. Some of the traditionally Christian beliefs are hardly less startling or less in conflict with science's view of what is possible or real. However, they have been a part of our culture for so long that they rarely attract attention.

An important finding from the research is, of course, how widespread the typical New Age beliefs actually are in the population. 20-25% etc perceive reincarnation as either true or not unlikely. Telepathy, contact with deceased relatives, etc.

(Hammer, 2004) The concern some feel about New Age supporters, and criticism, may be misguided. "Concerned secular rationalists exaggerate the risks of a New Age engagement simply because they overestimate the distance between themselves and those interested in the New Age" (Hammer, 2004, p. 348).

A few words for the new age/newness defense

Out of respect for the subject and my respondents, I would like to point out that it is impossible to rule out that new age/newness does not in itself have an explanatory power, which in a way can be stronger than the usual religion and natural sciences and which actually accounts for a larger or lesser part of its attraction to the supporter. But it is, of course, outside this study to examine how things are in this matter, if it can even be done in a systematic way. This discussion section has been limited to certain psychological aspects.

A description of the new age/newness's own premises.

In the New Age, one imagines that man evolves over a long period of time to become ready to live in/return to the spiritual world. What takes such time? We are on earth to learn to think and create purposefully. The goal is to become completely loving individuals. It is only in the heavy earthly matter that such learning is possible. Here we get a response to our actions. In the spiritual world, everything "takes place on the commandments of thought" and learning and maturity are not possible. Even if guilt is "an illusion", perhaps the ability to feel guilty is included in this education? "A wounded refugee between two kingdoms." Does anyone in the material take up that idea?

That Christian ethics are so consistent with psychoanalysis

New age/ newness – a high-risk project?

Perhaps new age/newness is a high-risk project. All kinds of spirituality provide ideals to live up to and visions of the future. Normally, this is organized around, and moderated by, the individual's godly relationship. Within a spirituality that lacks a vision of God, or in which this image of God is unclear or arcane — and even more so if some of the divine attributes are placed with the individual, the individual is exposed to more than he or she can bear.

Increased regression pressure. Different individuals will be affected differently, depending on the resources at his or her disposal.

What is it like to live with full responsibility for your destiny and how to reconcile it with "god's love"? The reasoning in the data material may remind me of the reasoning: "I only get what I deserve." What to think about this? Even if you have a coherent, "logical" worldview where these contexts are explained, is it possible to keep apart, so that one does not feel abandoned or neglected?

Thoughts of karma and reincarnation are found in other religious directions. But as Hammer argues, these thoughts are still understood in a slightly different way in, for example, popular Hinduism. Fate is not something that the individual himself must bear. Relatives and survivors are involved in another way, sacrificing to the gods on behalf of the deceased, etc.

If one were to try to subdout the New Age into the usual Christian dichotomy, between man's salvation being due to God's "grace" or because it is due to his own deeds, the New Age clearly joins the latter. The New Age can be perceived here as more radical than even the most radical Reformed Christian movements, such as the Word of Life. She really gets away with it.

Granqvist and the AAI interviews.

Both sides are right. I believe that the pathology is higher than what followers of the New Age/New Age themselves think. Granqvist and others are right. And their argument is correct: those with shaky upbringing and experience will feel at home in na's 1) general tolerance for differences, 2) the propensity to misinterpret and value actual difficulties into signs of superiority, even, 3) the doctrine suits the relationship experiences one has, role reversals, etc. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that more people there actually feel worse.

But at the same time, one can imagine that too much that is judged and labeled, for its similarity to accepted patterns and symptoms, should get a "pseudo-" before it or "-like" at the end. The NA culture is not as slippery as they seem, people are not. On the one hand, some are misinterpreted, overreacting, on the basis of cultural norms (Hammer).

God.

Although I am not a Christian myself, or have any faith in God to speak of, these stories make a distressing impression on me.

Perhaps even the atheist may have a more satisfying relationship with his non-god (Jones) than a supporter of new age/newness might have for his version. This could be investigated using psychodynamic theory.

I am inclined to believe that of the three relationships of God, the Christian, the atheistic and the God embraced by the New Age,the latter is the least successful from a health perspective.

Debt.

If NA is viewed from a psychoanalytic perspective, the issue of debt comes up. The feeling of guilt, and the willingness to repair what one has broken — and ask for forgiveness, grace — is central to psychoanalysis. Even for those who look at NA from a Christian point of view, the debt issue comes up.

Within NA, the issue of debt is central, but one comes to a completely different conclusion than both the Christians and psychoanalysts. Isn't that interesting? Psychoanalysts and Christians view man from a similar point of view.

To live up to a certain standard, etc. "Many people are afraid that evil thoughts and feelings will come out when you let go of control. And of course it could be. We are not called to save ourselves. It's God's job" (Persson, 2007, how ref lecture script for the web?)

New Age and Jung.

Several of the informants mention Jung as a source of inspiration. The fact that NA fits in with and has taken strong impressions of Jungian psychology is also evident from the literature (Hammer?). Jung is sometimes pitted against Freud and psychoanalysis, and the latter often comes up short. But this is partly based on a misconception. In some issues or aspects, the two giants were far apart, but in other aspects they were strikingly similar and perhaps children of the same time. Their view of humanity was individualistic. And while the psychoanalytic movement has had to adapt to and take an impression of relational and interpersonal perspectives (Bowlby, Stern, etc., even Kohut) – and reconcile these with the legacy of Freud – it is rather the NA that can make an archaic impression, regardless of the Jungian concepts superficially appearing to be about things that are also shared with others, etc.

Is the New Age a "religion" among others?

Is the New Age common religion, or is it a particular atypical phenomenon, requiring special theories? Both, I would argue. It deals with the same questions, solves pretty much the same problems, has similarities in many ways, provides answers to similar eternal questions. In this sense, it is religion. But then there are the things that are particularly sad. That's what I wanted to show with this study, or what this study landed in. It is a spirituality with higher psychological interventions. Freud's criticism of religion is in some respects more apt for the New Age/Neohamdity than it is, and was, for religion. If Freud had not been so driven by what he was deiven, he might have wanted to make n separate between adaptive, harmless, even enriching, religiosity, and aspects of such occultism that existed even in his day.

The public who pulled the shortest straw – again?

The scientists moved on. The public pulled the shortest straw. If religion has served the prevailing order in periods, caused people to behave in a way that has been system preservation, then something similar may apply to secularization today. A basis for consumerism? Poverty, missing.

Our time, parallels to new age/newness

It is possible to understand the popularity of new age/newness in light of currents in our time. But it is also possible to understand something more general about our present and living conditions based on studies in new age/newness. The stresses to which followers are exposed, from the environment as well as from their own interior, have much in common with the challenge of living and maturing in perhaps above all the Western Cultural Sphere. NA makes certain mental processes more visible.

The denial of basic human conditions is related. It is something natural to resist, which goes incrementally through life – children, teenage years, young adult, etc . One could argue that modern man makes extra resistance to aging, weakness, fragility. That's our usual denial for the longest. The concern about new age/newness is that with this worldview the "normal" resistance (defense) becomes "reinforced" or "alloyed". So new age/newness can be an aggravating factor for ordinary life maturity. This is probably true at the group level. (Farias o Granqvist's thoughts worth taking seriously.)

Is new age/newness "bad religion"?

How's the new age? New Age provides answers. This is common to more fundamentalist religious systems. Concrete answers at the level of detail. Risk of the sensible invading areas that in adulthood would be allowed to remain a play area? (see ref Igra, at Jemstedt about "leakage" between levels that psychoanalysis aims to help with, if necessary!)

Rotstein on "gap" (Hammer, ref). Deta also connects to a variety of sayings and proverbs from folk psychology: "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is too", "The road to ragnarok is lined with good intentions", "When the best becomes the enemy of the good", etc.

At Wilfred Bion (Bion, ref?) there is the expression "negative capability", simply being able to put up with not knowing. "[P]recision' is too often a distortion of the reality, 'imprecision' too often indistinguishable from confusion" (Bion, 1977).

Kallifatides (2004) writes about the travails of translation. Painful experiences have led him to the conclusion that "a complete accuracy is the dream of the dead."

Conformist (E4)

"Most children around school age… Progress to the next stage, conformity'. [19] Persons begin to view themselves and other as conforming to socially approved codes or norms. [20] Teaching education as adult development. Theory into Practice, 17(3), p. 231 Loevinger describes this stage of having 'the greatest cognitive simplicity. There is a right way and a wrong way and it is the same for everyone… Or broad classes of people. [21] One example of groups conforming together at this age is by gender—boys and girls. Here persons are very much invested in belonging to and obtaining the approval of groups. [22] Behaviour is judged externally, not by intentions, and this concept of 'belonging to the group (family or peers) is most valued'. [23] 'the child starts to identify his welfare with that of the group', though for the stage 'to be consolidated, there must be a strong element of trust'. [17] An ability to take in rules of the group appears, and another's disapproval becomes a sanction, not only fear of punishment. However rules and norms are not yet distinguished.

"While the Conformist likes and trusts other people within his own group, he may define that group narrowly and reject any or all outgroups," and stereotypes roles on the principle of 'social desirability: people are what they ought to be'. [22] Behaviour is judged externally, not by intentions, and the concept of 'belonging to the group (family or peers) is most valued'. [23]

Self-Aware (E5)[edit]

Loevinger considered the Self-Aware (also known as 'Conscientious-Conformist') Transitional Stage to be 'model for adults in our society',[24] and thought that few pass the stage before at least the age of twenty-five.

The stage is largely characterized by two characteristics: 'an increase in self-awareness and the capacity to imagine multiple possibilities in situations'… [25] [was] a stable position in mature life', one marked by the development of 'rudimentary self-awareness and self-criticism': however the closeness of the self to norms and expectations 'reveal the transitional nature of these conceptions, midway between the group stereotypes of the Conformist and the appreciation for individual differences at higher levels'. [26] Loevinger also considered the level to produce 'a deepened interest in interpersonal relations'. [27]

Conscientious (E6)

At progression to 'the conscientious stage… individuals at this level, and even more often at higher levels, refer spontaneously to psychological development'. [28]

By this stage, 'the internalisation of rules is completed', although at the same time 'exceptions and contingencies are recognised'. [29] Goals and ideals are acknowledged, and there is a new sense of responsibility, with guilt triggered by hurting another, rather than by breaking rules. 'The tendency to look at things in a broader social context' was offset by a self seen as apart from the group, but also from the other's point of view; as a result 'descriptions of people are more realistic… [with] more complexities'. [30] Standards are self-chosen, and distinguished from manners, just as people are seen in terms of their motives and not just their actions.

The Conscientious subject 'sees life as presenting choices; [s]he holds the origin of his own destiny… aspires to achievement, ad astra per aspera '[31] but by his or her own standards.

Individualistic (E7)

During this stage, persons demonstrate both a respect for individuality and interpersonal ties. [32] Loevinger explains'To proceed beyond the Conscientious Stage a person must become more tolerant of himself and of others… out of the recognition of individual differences and of complexities of circumstances'[33] developed at the previous level. The individualistic ego shows a broad-minded tolerance of and respect for the autonomy of both self and others. With a new distancing from role identities, 'moralism begins to be replaced by an awareness of inner conflict', while the new stage is also "marked by a heightened sense of individuality and a concern for emotional dependence". Subjective experience is opposed to objective reality, inner reality to outward appearance; and 'vivid and personal versions of ideas presented as cliches at lower levels'[34] may emerge.

A growing concern for psychological causality and development will typically go hand in hand with 'greater complexity in conceptions of interpersonal interaction'. [34]

Autonomous (E8)

Loevinger described this stage as marked by the freeing of the person from oppressive demands of conscience in the preceding stage'. [35] People at this stage are synthesizers and are able to conceptually integrate ideas. [36] The autonomous person also 'recognizes the limitations to autonomy, that emotional interdependence is inevitable'. [35] The stage might also see a 'confrontation with the limitations of abilities and roles as part of deepening self-acceptance'. [37]

'Self-fulfillment becomes a frequent goal, partly supplanting achievement', while there may well be a wider 'capacity to acknowledge and to cope with inner conflicts',[35] such as between needs and duties.

A high toleration for ambiguity. [and ] conceptual complexity'[35] – the capacity to embrace Polarity, Complexity, Multiple Facets, and to integrate ideas – is a further feature of the Autonomous Stage, as too is the expression of 'respect for other people's need for autonomy in clear terms'. [38]

Integrated (E9)

According to Loevinger, this is a rarely attained stage. At the Integrated stage,"'learning is understood as unavoidable… The unattainable is renounced." [37] The ego shows wisdom, broad empathy towards oneself and others, and a capacity to not just be aware of inner conflicts like the individualistic ego or tolerate inner conflicts like the autonomous ego, but reconcile and make peace with those issues. [39] This 'Reconciling inner conflicts… cherishing of individuality'[40] are key elements of its Self-Actualizing nature, along with a fully worked-out identity which includes 'reconciliation to one's destiny'. [41]

Possible tenth stage[edit]

As differentiation increases, the model of ego development has found broader acceptance amongst international researchers. Therefore, a new stage E10 has been mentioned in reference to "Ich-Entwicklung", the German equivalent of Loevinger's stages. [citation needed]

Critical response[edit]

Susanne Cook-Greuter has further refined both Loevinger's sentence-completion test instrument as well as definitions and distinctions among the stages of ego development. [42] [self-published source?]

Some have maintained that 'in general, Loevinger's model suffers from a lack of clinical grounding', and that arguably 'like Kohlberg's theory… it confuses content and structure.' [43] Based as her research was on the assessment of verbalised material, because 'the measure focuses so heavily on conscious verbal responses, it does not discriminate intelligent, liberal people with severe ego defects from those who are actually quite integrated'. [44]

Nevertheless the wide extent of her research must give a certain weight to her findings. 'Loevinger's (1976) model of development is derived entirely from empirical research using her sentence completion test… The manuals contain hundreds of actual completions, organized by exemplary categories'. [45]

James Fowler's Stages of Faith

In his book 1981 book Stages of Faith by James W. Fowler developed a theory of six stages that people go through as their faith matures based on the Piaget stages and Kohlberg stages. The basic theory can be applied, not only to those in traditional faiths, but those who follow alternative spiritualities or secular worldviews as well. In his 1987 book A Different Drum, M. Scott Peck offered a simplified version focusing only on the four most common stages. See also: Erikson stages

	Stage	Description	Simplified version by M. Scott Peck
Stage 1	Intuitive-Projective	This is the stage of preschool children in which fantasy and reality often get mixed together. However, during this stage, our most basic ideas about God are usually picked up from our parents and/or society.	In. Chaotic-Antisocial	People stuck at this stage are usually self-centered and often find themselves in trouble due to their unprincipled living. If they do end up converting to the next stage, it often occurs in a very dramatic way.
Stage 2	Mythic-Literal	When children become school-age, they start understanding the world in more logical ways. They generally accept the stories told to them by their faith community but tend to understand them in very literal ways. [A few people remain in this stage through adulthood.]
Stage 3	Synthetic-Conventional	Most people move on to this stage as teenagers. At this point, their life has grown to include several different social circles and there is a need to pull it all together. When this happens, a person usually adopts some sort of all-encompassing belief system. However, at this stage, people tend to have a hard time seeing outside their box and don't recognize that they are "inside" a belief system. At this stage, authority is usually placed in individuals or groups that represent one's beliefs. [This is the stage in which many people remain.]	II. Formal-Institutional	At this stage people rely on some sort of institution (such as a church) to give them stability. They become attached to the forms of their religion and get extremely upset when these are called into question.
Stage 4	Individuative-Reflective	This is the tough stage, often begun in young adulthood, when people start seeing outside the box and realizing that there are other "boxes". They begin to critically examine their beliefs on their own and often become disillusioned with their former faith. Ironically, the Stage 3 people usually think that Stage 4 people have become "backsliders" when in reality they have actually moved forward.	III. Skeptic-Individual	Those who break out of the previous stage usually do so when they start seriously questioning things on their own. A lot of the time, this stage ends up being very non-religious and some people stay in it permanently
Stage 5	Conjunctive Faith	It's rare for people to reach this stage before mid-life. This is the point when people begin to realize the limits of logic and start to accept the paradoxes in life. They begin to see life as a mystery and often return to sacred stories and symbols but this time without being stuck in a theological box.	IV. Mystical-Communal	People who reach this stage start to realize that there is truth to be found in both the previous two stages and that life can be paradoxical and full of mystery. Emphasis is placed more on community than on individual concerns.
Stage 6	Universalizing Faith	Few people reach this stage. Those who do live their lives to the full in service of others without any real worries or doubts.

http://factnet.org/stages-spiritual-growth-m-scott-peck-abridged-richard-schwartz