Relational Spirituality Profiles and Flourishing among Emerging Religious Leaders

DESCRIPTION: We advanced an integrative trend examining religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and flourishing using person-centered data analyses. Specifically, we tested a relational spirituality model (RSM) proposition that a latent profile comprised balanced dwelling (e.g. R/S commitment) and seeking (e.g. R/S exploration) would emerge and display greater flourishing, relative to the other subgroups, and we did so using a diverse sample of emerging religious leaders attending 17 graduate theological schools across North America (N = 580; Mage = 31.56; SD = 11.13; range = 19–71; 47.8% female; 62.7% White). A 5-profile model best fit the data, which included an Integrated profile that depicted a balanced relational spirituality that displayed flourishing. Findings suggested that an RSM theoretical framing of R/S indicators provided a distinct relational characterization and contextual lens to offer guidance on promoting flourishing, and specifically, by intervening into the dwelling–seeking dialectic, and self- and relational regulation.

KEYWORDS: flourishing; latent profile analysis; relational spirituality; well-being

CITATION: Jankowski, Peter J., Steven J. Sandage, David C. Wang, and Peter Hill. 2022. "Relational Spirituality Profiles and Flourishing among Emerging Religious Leaders." The Journal of Positive Psychology 17 (5): 665–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1913637.