a Department of Psychology , Université Catholique de Louvain , Louvain-la-Neuve , Belgium.
Cogn Emot. 2013;27(8):1378-94. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2013.787395. Epub 2013 May 13.
Spirituality has mostly been studied in psychology as implied in the process of overcoming adversity, being triggered by negative experiences, and providing positive outcomes. By reversing this pathway, we investigated whether spirituality may also be triggered by self-transcendent positive emotions, which are elicited by stimuli appraised as demonstrating higher good and beauty. In two studies, elevation and/or admiration were induced using different methods. These emotions were compared to two control groups, a neutral state and a positive emotion (mirth). Self-transcendent positive emotions increased participants' spirituality (Studies 1 and 2), especially for the non-religious participants (Study 1). Two basic world assumptions, i.e., belief in life as meaningful (Study 1) and in the benevolence of others and the world (Study 2) mediated the effect of these emotions on spirituality. Spirituality should be understood not only as a coping strategy, but also as an upward spiralling pathway to and from self-transcendent positive emotions.
灵性在心理学中主要被研究为克服逆境、由负面经历引发并提供积极结果的过程。通过扭转这种途径，我们研究了灵性是否也可以由自我超越的积极情绪触发，这些情绪是由被评价为展示更高的善和美的刺激引起的。在两项研究中，使用不同的方法诱导了提升和/或钦佩。将这些情绪与两个对照组（中性状态和积极情绪（欢笑））进行了比较。自我超越的积极情绪增加了参与者的灵性（研究 1 和 2），特别是对于非宗教参与者（研究 1）。两个基本的世界观假设，即相信生命有意义（研究 1）和相信他人和世界的仁慈（研究 2），调解了这些情绪对灵性的影响。灵性不仅应该被理解为一种应对策略，还应该被理解为一种从自我超越的积极情绪出发并通向自我超越的积极情绪的上升螺旋路径。
