Klaipėdos universitetas

The current study (N = 514) explores the relationship between humanistic spirituality as it is conceptualised in the proposed Humanistic Spirituality Model and parenting experiences defined herein as authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, parental behavioural and psychological control as well as secure and insecure parental and adult attachment styles. The study has found that of the three parenting styles, only the authoritative style is a significant positive predictor of spirituality, though secure attachment in adulthood and the two demographic variables, age and female gender, serve as even more salient predictors. Both parents’ behavioural and psychological control forms do not predict humanistic spirituality, whereas secure attachment to the mother furthers spirituality indirectly as it is a significant predictor of one of the most important determinants of spirituality, secure attachment in adulthood.

Spirituality is a basic human drive with diverse forms of expression that make for unique patterns of thinking consonant with an advanced level of cognition and integration of information. The paper features the Humanistic Spirituality Model, which captures the essential dimensions of humanistic spirituality through three components: self-actualisation, transcendence and ultimate meaning in life. The Humanistic Spirituality Inventory (HSI), a measure of spirituality developed on the basis of the Humanistic Spirituality Model, contains three scales corresponding to the three model components. According to the results of the HSI validation study (N = 331), the instrument has good psychometric properties, i.e. adequate content and construct validity as well as satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities, which makes it a proper spirituality research measure.