Spirit at work: spiritual typologies as theory builders.

Twigg, Nicholas W. ; Parayitam, Satyanarayana

ABSTRACT

This article is an examination of the concept of spirituality with a focus on the workplace. It examines how the concept has been often confused and intertwined with specific religious ideas over the years. It also looks at the current, newfound emphasis on spirit in the work setting. This article offers a framework for spiritual typologies. Finally, the paper provides a two-fold definition of spirituality, which will assist researchers in a variety of disciplines to further the inquiry into the spiritual dimension of work.

INTRODUCTION

The objectives of this paper are to define types of spirituality, describe the dimensions of each type, and to suggest which types of spirituality are acceptable regarding the workplace. Doty and Glick (1994) cautioned against using typologies as merely classification systems. Therefore, we attempt to firmly ground spiritual typologies in theory. Having theory based typologies will enable researchers to develop research designs that will measure distinct constructs. This paper begins with a literature review on spirituality, in its relationship with religion, and then presents three schools of thought about the construct, Religious, New Age, and Humanistic. The paper further examines a secular humanistic approach to spirituality and how such a relationship would be acceptable in advancing the body of knowledge about spirit in the workplace. Finally, a definition of spirituality that can be used in scholarly research is proposed and a typology is offered.

SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION

One often hears people assert, "I'm not a religious person, but I am very spiritual." This may mean a greater awareness that there are forces at work that are beyond a person's experience or that there is a need to find a personal connection outside of organized religion ENRfu(Spohn, 1997). In general, people see spirituality as either a personal affirmation of the divine with a connectedness to spiritual/humanistic values or an affiliation with and allegiance to an organized religion ENRfu(Kelly, 1995). In many cultures, spirituality and religion are considered one and the same. Traditionally, a spiritual person is a religious person, but this view disregards the basic humanness of spirituality ENRfu(Elkins, Hedstrom, Hughes, Leaf, & Saunders, 1988).

Spirituality lives outside of any exclusive domain of any specific religious orientation ENRfu(Elkins, 1998; ENRfuJung, 1932; Maslow, 1998; ENRfuPaloutzian, 1997). Literature makes a distinction between spirituality and religion ENRfu(Bhindi & Duignan, 1997; ENRfuConger, 1994; ENRfuJagers & Smith, 1996; ENRfuKing & Nicol, 1999; ENRfuLee & Zemke, 1993; ENRfu Frankl, 1975). Even some writers and thinkers that do not separate religion and spirituality define religion in two states--the personal and the public. Some examples are:

 Fromm's (1967) humanistic and authoritative religions;
 ENRfuAllport & Ross' (1967) intrinsic and extrinsic religions,
 Maslow's (1970) "big R" and "little r" religions,
 Roof 's ENRfu(1979) meaning and belonging dimensions of religion.

Pargament (1997) defines religion as a "... process, a search for significance in ways related to the sacred." (:32). It is interesting to note that Pargament (1997) makes no mention of doctrines, rituals, beliefs that are associated with organized religion. The internalization of religion concerns itself with beliefs, feelings, and experiences, while the external dimensions concern themselves with ritual participation, communalism, and social involvement (Roof, 1979).

Spirituality is not religion. Rather, it is a part of being human. Religions are man-made and are very important to a person feeling comfortable in becoming more spiritual, but they are not a prerequisite for spirituality. Religion is a man-made concept with all the idiosyncrasies, fallacies, and ego's that goes with things man-made. Spirituality, however, is a basic part of being human. Spirituality transcends religion (Banner, 1995).

Recognizing that religion has a spiritual aspect, but that religion is primarily a "personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices" ENRfu(Mish, 2003) through which people search to reach an ultimate reality or deity, we can differentiate between religion and spirituality for study. Table 1 summarizes various schools of thought.

SPIRITUALITY

The discipline of spirituality is relatively young and still in its infancy. Spirituality means different things to different people and there is no universally acceptable meaning associated to it. People often employ a spirituality term depending on the context and purpose. Spirituality can be described in religious, secular, or metaphysical contexts. In religious context, one may attempt to describe a connection with God through a set of rules, dogmas, and strict adherence to tenants of some central organization. In a secular framework, one may search for a meaning of experiences (or work) outside of a religious view (Paloutzian, 1997) or to find fulfillment in lifeENRfu (Frankl, 1975; King & Nicol, 1999). In metaphysical terms, one could refer to spirituality as a belief in a force or thing greater than oneself (Witmer, 1989). In sum, in the long view of history, the concept of spirituality can be found in all cultures and at any given moment in time ENRfu(Elkins, 1998; Jagers & Smith, 1996; Fromm, 1967).

To be certain, today, the very nature of spirituality is as complex as ever. New Age practices, naturalist spirituality, animism, feminist spirituality, and Twelve Step programs have millions of devoted followers (Spohn, 1997). Consider that in the last realm of spirituality, we now not only have Alcoholics Anonymous, but all forms of addictions, ranging from gambling to food addicts. Additionally, there are a plethora of televangelists, ranging from traditionalists like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts to the new, emerging Dallas-based televangelist/best-selling author/rhythm and blues artist T.D. Jakes. There are more spiritual guides (Wayne Dyer), channelers (Ramtha), and self-professed motivation gurus (i.e. Tony Robbins and Steven Covey) emerging every day. In Asian subcontinent several spiritual gurus emerged. For example, Adi Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, and Madhwacharya emerged in India as spiritual gurus of three different types of spiritualism. A disciple of Rama Krishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, visited Chicago and gave spiritual discourse in early part of this century. These spiritual gurus talk of spiritual divergence. This spiritual divergence makes it more difficult than ever to speak of the spirituality dimension as a unified whole construct.

Thus, to differentiate the types of spirituality, we can take all forms of spirituality and place them in three categories: (1) Religious or Traditional, (2) New Age or Popular, and (3) Humanistic or Psychological (Twigg, Wyld, & Brown, 2001). The ultimate goal of this effort will be to work with this three-fold typology of spirituality to refine the concept for practical use in today's workplace through managerial research. This paper extends the concepts discussed in previous research concerning spiritual typologies (Gibbons, 2000; Twigg, Wyld, & Brown, 2001).

DIMENSIONS OF SPIRITUALITY AND TYPOLOGIES

Spirituality consists of two dimensions, one transcendent of the physical world and one consisting of connectedness to the physical world. Both are considered spiritual, in that, in both cases, the experience goes beyond that which is tangible. This 2-dimensional distinction on spirituality has been made in various ways in the literature. While there are many religions with varying methods to get in touch with another dimension of life, spirituality is the realization that there is both a transcendent dimension to life and a connectedness to oneself, as well as others ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988). Transcendence is an awareness of something beyond the world, as we know it. Connectedness is a sense of affiliation with other worldly things. In the context of the workplace, the first dimension of spirituality has to do with vision, while the second has to do with working with others.

This two-dimensional categorization of spirituality has also been expressed in terms of vertical and horizontal (Moberg, 1984). Awareness of a transcendent force is classified as vertical, (e.g. looking towards the heavens) and connectedness is a dimension in the horizontal (e.g. feeling in tune to that which is physically close) ENRfu(King & Nicol, 1999). According to ENRfuElkins (1998), spirituality can be described as a multidimensional construct, consisting of many components, such as, Transcendence, Meaning and Purpose in life, Idealism, Connectedness, and Altruism ENRfu(Elkins, 1998).

Transcendence

The spiritual person believes that there is a transcendent aspect to life ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988). This belief is beyond religious definitions, but is widely used in Western religions as beliefs in a Supreme Being. Eastern religions retain the sense of transcendence by relating to an unseen world. It is in this "other world" that human beings gain great value in being in harmony with and adjusting to this 'other worldly' view as the purpose of life. Thus, the greater an individual believes that life has a meaning and purpose, the greater the belief in a transcendent aspect of life ENRfu(Guare, 1995).

A spiritual person knows that life involves more than just every day existence. They have experiential knowledge that there is a meaning to life, even though they may not know specifically what the specific meaning is. Life having a meaning also implies that there is a purpose to life. A spiritual person knows that there is a purpose to their lives, even if they realize that they are not necessarily to know what purpose. The greater an individual believes that life has a meaning and purpose, the greater their belief in a transcendent aspect of life. There is a human need for transcendence, a sense that humans feel when they commit themselves to a purpose, which involves something larger than us. This transcendence dimension includes the meaning of life, the sacredness of life, a collective consciousness, and idealism ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988).

A spiritual person believes in the sanctity of life. All life has deeply embedded within it sacredness. Life is not divided into sacred and secular. Rather, all experiences have an element of holiness. This sacredness often manifests itself with a sense of awe or wonder in areas not normally considered religious or spiritual ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988). Rita Guare (1995) epitomized this concept by relating an anecdote about a high school geometry teacher, about whom she remarked about his "sense of sacramentality towards geometry" (p. 190).

A spiritual person is idealistic, in that they can see what could be, not just what is. This idealism is more than Maslow's (1998) conception of self-actualization. The idealistic spiritual person recognizes and cherishes the potential of others. The greater an individual's idealism, the greater will be the belief in a transcendent aspect of life. A spiritual person has a commitment to a vision that things can always be better. They do not dwell upon failures, but rather rejoice in experiences. This idealism is demonstrated in a capacity to accept people, places, and things exactly as they are--and also for what they can become.

Connectedness

Spirit has other meanings in our language, such as a sense of connection to the universe, affiliation with a group, common purpose to complete a task, or even to a religious concept.

Spirituality is also viewed as the invisible essence that animates any form, the energy of the universal design and control as it comes to focus in any living form ENRfu(Banner, 1995). Spirituality is recognition within ourselves (internal) and our experiences (external) of a depth beyond the surface. This connectedness is to larger meanings, larger energy fields, and larger networks of relationships ENRfu(Guare, 1995). The connectedness dimension has a more physical aspect than the transcendent.

A common theme that evolves is one of a sense of being a part of and being connected to something larger than oneself. It can manifest itself in meaningful work that contributes to the larger whole, to a connection to a group or organization, and to our connection to that larger whole through spirit ENRfu(Banner, 1995). Many people have the view that they are separate from the world around them and that they can manipulate the world to their desires. In today's environment, however, this self-centered behavior may have run its course ENRfu(Banner, 1995; ENRfuCovey, Roger, & Merrill, 1994; ENRfuSenge, 1990). Individuals and organizations, committed to a vision beyond their self-interest, find that they have energy not available when pursuing narrower goals ENRfu(Senge, 1990). People sharing a common vision will share information about the best, quickest, and easiest way to meet organizational goals.

Believing in a greater power and having a sense of humility in the presence of something that is bigger and unknown is not enough for human beings to have a spiritual nature. "No man is an island" is more a statement of the human need to connect not only with other people, but also with other earthly entities. Thus, the dimension of connectedness includes having a sense of material values, altruism, and social justice ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988).

A spiritual person has a keen sense of material value. While having a sense of material values, they do not expect material things to gain them true satisfaction. They understand that physical things cannot fully satisfy a human being. Emotional and spiritual needs must also be met. Another aspect of this is the realization that material things are not necessarily earned; rather they are bestowed upon a person by some higher power. The material thing is not theirs to have, but theirs to use wisely in the aid of other human beings ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988).

A spiritual person is one with a strong sense of social justice and a connection with the pain and suffering of other living things. Each human has a commitment to others. They live in the spirit of altruism. Helping others in need is a true calling ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988). The spiritual person can thus rejoice in life and other living things because they are conscious of the hardships and tribulations of this life ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988).

TYPOLOGY

Typologies of spirituality can be presented as a two by two matrix as seen in Figure 1. When there is little feeling of a sense of connectedness to worldly things coupled with a low sense of some transcendent entity only the inborn sense of spirituality is evident. This phase is called a training phase. A high sense of a transcendent and little awareness of connectedness is classified as the religious/traditional phase. Low transcendence and high connectedness is classified as new age/popular and high transcendence and high connectedness is classified as humanistic/psychological. These phases are further explained below.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Cell I: Training Phase

This cell, called training phase, is characterized by low connectedness and low transcendence. This phase is represented by young children or people with little spiritual awareness and little religious convictions. Many mid-life epiphanies start from this phase. Adults that have become more aware of the delicate balance of nature and might be faced with their own mortality may come to feel a void in their life. They can be attracted back to their religious upbringing and seek to rejoin their early childhood religious roots. They can be susceptible to whatever seems to be the predominant new wave of the times.

During the training phase an individual gets some ideas of both connectedness and transcendence. But the maturity level of individual is not enough to digest either connectedness or transcendence in their entirety. Some individuals get confused and prefer to stay in this stage and never attempt to advance ahead into other stages (cells II, III, or IV). Often these people are caught up in day-to-day material life such that little time is left for the realization of either inner self or outer world. For these individuals life is hijacked by non-essentials.

Cell II: Religious or Traditional Spirituality

This cell is characterized by high transcendence and low connectedness. After undergoing the training phase, some individual prefer to advance to transcendence stage. Early definitions of religion dealt with the nature of man and humanity's relationship to some transcendent plane. Humankind's attempts to give form and substance to their basic sense of a transcendent force have spawned various methods in which to reach this higher plane. Defining the concept of spirituality has overtones of religion in many people's minds ENRfu(Jagers & Smith, 1996; Kelly, 1995; Schneiders, 1986; Spohn, 1997). Religion has been alternately defined as: a belief and attitude ENRfu(James, 1902); a search for meaning in life ENRfu(Frankl, 1975; King & Nicol, 1999); or a desire to be more in contact with a transcendent entity ENRfu(Allport, 1968). These definitions of religion make it clear that religion is not about specific rituals, doctrines, dogmas, etc. that are associated with religion today. Spirituality as a construct separate and distinct from these traditional definitions of religion, began to surface in the scholarly psychological literature with works such as Jung (1932) and Maslow (1970).

Defining spirituality in a religious context can present a certain arrogance, often in a deliberate attempt to inject a religious spin to spirituality. Some writers would place spirituality in the domain of a certain worldview at the expense of other worldviews. Even acknowledging that spirituality is a human attribute by stating that "All human existence has a spiritual aspect ..." one text goes on to infer that spirituality is definitely a Roman Catholic notion ENRfu(Jones, Wainwright, & Yarnold, 1986: p. xxvi). In that statement, conceiving of a specific notion of religious-based spirituality, the writer acknowledges that spirituality is strictly a Roman Catholic invention, much to the chagrin of other Christian "sects," but also to the exclusion of all other religions, including: Eastern faiths, Islam, Judaism, and Indigenous religions.

Allport (1968) believed that people need to share their experiences, and they do this through sharing rituals and doctrines. Thus, measuring a person's active involvement with institutionalized religious doctrines would be an appropriate measure of a person's spirituality. The translation of the underlying construct of a search for connectedness to a transcendent plane to traditional institutional practices has had the consequence of confusing the measurement of spirituality. There are many means, devices, rituals, and dogmas that are part of different religions, but they can be viewed as symbols of the underlying theory of spirituality. Yet, by placing a specific religion in front of the word spirituality, we can get many instances of trying to measure the same thing.

Cell III: New Age or Popular Spirituality

Cell III represents low transcendence and high connectedness. From the training phase, some individuals prefer to advance to high connectedness. The individuals subscribe to the philosophy that connectedness of self to the outer world is more important that the transcendence. This is called New Age or Popular Spirituality. This is both comprehensive as well as difficult to scientific study. Comprehensive because New Age spirituality is a mix of spiritual, social, and political forces ENRfu(Kelly, 1995); difficult to study because it refers to a holistic belief, that everything is a connected process, wherein humanity is one with the universe ENRfu(Kelly, 1995). Because of inherent difficulty, many academics may be hesitant to study spirituality, due to what may be loosely called "New Age" thoughts. New age advocates seem to include and accept any and all feelings and sentiments at their face values. Past-life and out-of-body experiences, speaking in foreign tongues, and reincarnation are just some of the examples of the accepted new age thought ENRfu(Mitroff & Denton, 1999). Popular spirituality derives its meaning from the fact that it usually is based in the theories of ordinary people, not theologians, and that popular spirituality has little reasoned doctrine or structures. Popular spirituality is based in feeling and sentiments usually from a few self appointed charismatic gurus. Popular spirituality is also not associated with any mainstream religions, but may take some doctrines and practices from mainstream religions ENRfu(Libby, 1994).

The genesis of new age spirituality lies in the history of humankind. However, trends emanating from the 1960's fostered many of these holistic new age spiritualities, such as feminist spirituality ENRfu(Ellen, 1993; King & Nicol, 1999), naturalist spirituality ENRfu(Emerson, 1982; Thoreau, 1961; Watts, 1972), and the study of the occult. Feminist spirituality is a source of divergence from religious spirituality definitions, where women have found that the traditional religious definition is perceived as being too exclusionary, restrictive, oppressive, and patriarchal in nature ENRfu(Ellen, 1993; King, 1989). Feminist spirituality is sensed as transformational growth in human development, a holistic, organic, and dynamic quest to seek fulfillment and liberation ENRfu(King, 1989). An extension of the occult, as quoted in Kelly (1995), is the nature movement espoused by Emerson ENRfu(Emerson, 1982). Nature is seen as the sacred place where the individual can perceive the presence of the divine ENRfu(Emerson, 1982; Thoreau, 1961; Watts, 1972). Henry David Thoreau brought this movement into America's view with his book Walden Pond ENRfu(Thoreau, 1961). There is a mystical component to some of the new age spiritualities that is different from, but connected to a more eastern philosophy of religion than western ENRfu(Watts, 1972). This mysticism is more on the nature of letting go of control and letting one become more in tune with metaphysical nature ENRfu(Fromm, 1967). Twelve step programs make use of the "Let go, Let God" nature described by Fromm (1967) and ENRfuKelly (1995).

A variety of these spiritualities, ranging from New Age practices to feminist political writings and Twelve Step programs, are in evidence today ENRfu(Spohn, 1997). Beazley (1997) has described these popular spiritualities as "bromidic." Popular spiritualities may be considered placebo's that offer a false sense of security by some ENRfu(Beazley, 1997). However, it is not the intention here to make judgments about the relative merits of these popular or new age spiritualities.

Cell IV: Humanistic or Psychological Spirituality

This phase represents both higher connectedness as well as high transcendence. Some individuals prefer to move to this phase from the training phase because they understand the importance of both connectedness as well as transcendence. The early scholars on religion tend to focus on this plane. For example, the early writers on religion did not differentiate a separate meaning between religion and spirituality, but they clearly did not intend to support the definition of religion that has evolved ENRfu(Allport, 1968; ENRfuJames, 1902; ENRfuJung, 1932; ENRfuWatts, 1972). These early writers make it clear that they refer to the personal "religious" experience, distinctly separate from churches and theologies. As such, religion is seen as a belief and attitude in an unseen spiritual order and a search for "oneness" with this unseen reality ENRfu(James, 1902), a search for affiliation with all of reality ENRfu(Allport, 1968), and obviously not affiliated with organized religious life ENRfu(Jung, 1932).

The humanist psychological writers make it obvious that the term "religion" must be expanded beyond a God that controls the universe ENRfu(Fromm, 1967). Religion must thus be differentiated between a search for meaning to reality; and a formalized system of doctrine, dogma, and rituals ENRfu(Fromm, 1967). Allport (1968) operationalized intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation based on a human beings need to socialize. Therefore, according to Allport, a person's spirituality can be measured by a person's need to affiliate with others (connectedness). Intrinsic religious orientation is based on a person's need to socialize with others that look inward to their justification to be closer to the entity that they call God (transcendence). External religious orientation is divided into a personal aspect--association with others to share a personal relationship with the entity that they call God, and a social aspect--association with a community of others for the sake of social gathering. A humanistic viewpoint of spirituality sees more of a relationship between spirituality and intrinsic religious orientation than between spirituality and an extrinsic religious orientation.

Spirituality is more basic than, prior to, and different from religion ENRfu(Dewey, 1934; Elkins, et al., 1988; ENRfuHaase, Britt, Coward, Kline, & Penn, 1992; ENRfuMaslow, 1970). Spiritual values are native to being human and do not need a supernatural component to make them real ENRfu(Maslow, 1970; ENRfuColes, 1990; & Moberg, 1984). There is a psychological reality of spirituality that is constructed by the human mind and heart (Kelly, 1995). Carl Jung (1932) described religion as that which connects people to their ego and psychic processes. As such, it is a reflection on the symbols and myths, which express ingrained archetypes. These archetypes are such a part of people that they determine a mindset that will reproduce the same ideas over and over again. A phenomenological viewpoint sees religion as humankind's search for the meaning of life, rather than a search for oneself, as it is an essential characteristic of humankind to have a spiritual consciousness separate from an instinctive consciousness ENRfu(Frankl, 1975). Thus, religion does not imply an affiliation with organized religion ENRfu(Jung, 1932).

The psychological aspect of spirituality can be reflected in a more scientific or secular manner ENRfu(Kelly, 1995) than religious or new age spirituality. It must be recognized though that purely empirical work is not necessarily true science. Science does not, and cannot, operate in a vacuum. Science must address values and goals, along with the sacred, mystical, ambiguous, unconsciousness, personal, and subjective, in order to advance knowledge ENRfu(Maslow, 1970). People can operate on a plane that is above the pettiness and self-involved actions that are seen in everyday life. One must believe that humankind is capable of being flexible, creative, and autonomous. One must have a strong sense of self-efficacy and be willing to see beyond dichotomies. One must have broad interests, with no shame or regret. Finally, one must have a childlike acceptance of the world and themselves, understand human nature as it is, and have the greatest love for humanity that transcends their personal ego and strives to merge with others, beyond self-interest. The characteristics previously mentioned could be measured and studied in an empirical manner, which is beyond the irrational, albeit real, matters of faith alone ENRfu(Maslow, 1970).

Cell IV makes it clear that spirituality is different from religion. Spirituality can be distinguished from religion in that religion concentrates not on faith itself, but on the reaction that faith arouses in religious consciousness and practice. A definition of spirituality should reflect differences from religion ENRfu(Paloutzian, 1997). It is not the intent here to invalidate religion; rather it is recognized that religion has been "... the mother of spiritual giants, an incubator, and a reservoir of the most vital spiritual values. " ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988, p. 16). Table 3 summarizes some of the most notable writers on the subject areas of spirituality.

A HUMANISTIC DEFINITION OF SPIRITUALITY

Spirituality lacks a rigorous, scientifically developed and tested construct. Since spirituality seems to contain many sub-constructs ENRfu(Elkins et al., 1988), a sectional approach is used here. A definition of spirituality using the two hypothesized dimensions of spirituality, transcendence and connectedness, is presented here. Spirituality is defined as:

 The degree of awareness of a higher power or life philosophy
 manifesting itself in an awareness of a transcendent dimension to
 life and an awareness of a connectedness concerning self, others,
 and the external environment.

This definition allows for the inclusion of many conceptions of spirituality. The belief in supernatural ghosts and goblins can be included, as well as the belief in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the power of the collective conscious or even a totally secular image. It is strongly believed that this is a definition of spirituality that can be workable for management and organizational researchers to operationalize in the study of many aspects of organizational life including; leadership, motivation, communication, conflict, negotiations, diversity, organizational culture, organizational citizenship behavior, altruism, and ethical decision-making. In this way, the study of the true impact of spirituality at work can be empirically investigated, freed of the stigma of religion and religious-bias and refocused on the increasingly spiritual nature of today's workforce. It is hoped that this redefinition and clarification will assist management researchers in their own quest for the proper assessment of spirituality in the workplace.

SPIRIT AT WORK

There is a movement to make corporate America a friendlier, more creative environment by tapping into employees' spiritual sides. The trend toward corporate spirituality seems to be the outgrowth of spontaneous, personalized efforts by individual managers, departments, factories and companies, throughout the United States and Canada. While organized religion often looks outward, depending on rites and scripture, spirituality looks inward. Its goal is greater personal awareness of universal values, helping an individual live and work better and more joyfully ENRfu(Brandt, 1996). Spirituality at work has been defined as "the recognition that employees have an inner life that is nourished by meaningful work, which takes place in the context of community" ENRfu(Ashmos, Duchon, & Laine, 1999, p. 129). Gibbons (2000) further conceptualizes the definition of spirituality at work as "A journey toward integration of work and spirituality, for individuals and organizations, which provides direction, wholeness and connectedness at work" (p. 4).

Requiring employees to accept a particular religion at work is illegal, but managers must realize that people, including themselves, come to the workplace and marketplace with a set of beliefs, values, and behaviors, based on religious attitudes ENRfu(Brandt, 1996;ENRfu Leigh, 1997). Confounding spirituality with religion makes it much more difficult to use spiritual knowledge to better relationships in the workplace, bring more diversity into the workplace, and raise the standard of work. The difficulty arises, in large part, due to the rich, varied, diversified, and intense dimensions of religion.

In a rapidly changing world, many people feel that they are not in control of their lives ENRfu(King & Nicol, 1999), either at home or at work. Management at work has changed from a traditional plan, direct, organize, and control paradigm to one of facilitating, coaching, mentoring, and empowering people to do their own planning, organizing, and controlling. Organizations have embraced the concept of restructuring the firm to take advantage of this change in leadership, reengineering the organizational structure to make it flatter, more responsive to customer and geographical changes. Team-based projects, rather than an individualistic-based division of labor, means giving up control by managers to their employees, who are being given more responsibilities through empowerment ENRfu(Kirkman & Rosen, 1999).

Empowerment means trust on the part of management and labor alike. For managers to gain trust, they must look out for the health and well being of employees in ways not emphasized before. Allowing employees to plan, direct, organize, and control the everyday actions leaves the manager to look at the horizon and attempt to facilitate, train, and enable the employees on a global, not individual level. The manager must be aware of impending changes in the workplace, in order to take advantage of changes in technological, political, and cultural arenas. Managers and employees must take on a spiritual outlook, one that is above petty self-centered interests and based more in whole-centered visionary, mission related interests, so that all can benefit from the synergy that comes from a well run team (Banner, 1995; Zaleznik, 1989). A leader of today must go beyond the roles of managers and try to touch the souls of others, which Bennis (1994) labeled as transformative power. In the end, the most important thing that a leader must do is to define a transformative vision ENRfu(De Pree, 1988). Maslow (1970) proposed a new style of enlightened management, intertwining supervision and leadership that proposed defining religion (spirituality) in terms of concern with the problems of humans, ethics, and with the future of humankind. In doing so, an enlightened manager brings with him or her a philosophy of spirituality to the workplace. The more a workplace becomes involved with issues of vision, ethics, values, and culture, the more spiritual it becomes (Maslow, 1998). In a spiritual workplace, there is less hierarchal relationships between management and labor. Workers are empowered and diversity is sought out in a spiritual workplace.

One can question the usefulness of spirituality typology in organizational settings. As leaders in organizations are interested in getting maximum output for the organization through organized and committed leadership, it is important for the managers to focus on the potential of every individual employee. Spirituality helps in understanding the inner life for employees that can be nourished by meaningful work and integrating the work with spirit. Taking the clue from typology, managers need to start with training phase where the connectedness and transcendence are low and gradually take them to psychological transmission phase where the connectedness and transcendence are high. In organizational settings, leaders encourage every employee to follow chosen spiritual path while honoring the path of others and provide practical wisdom and compassion to inspire them in every walk of life. This will in turn increase productivity as well as employee satisfaction in organizational settings.

Incorporating diversity into the workplace is difficult when there are so many different religious views and philosophies on how to live one's life. However, spirituality rises above religion. Spirituality is a basic human dimension that can be learned, understood, and incorporated into the workplace. Individuals and organizations committed to a vision beyond their self-interest find that they have energy not available when pursuing narrower goals ENRfu(Senge, 1990). The positive consequences of a spiritual workplace include a greater appreciation for diversity, a decrease in conflict, and an increase in respect and reverence to others ENRfu(Leigh, 1997). Indeed, it has been suggested that spirituality may be the way to give meaning and purpose to people in the workplace, without having to deal with the diversity or legal issues that may arise with the use of religious rites and doctrines ENRfu(Conger, 1994).

CONCLUSIONS

After explaining different schools of thought on religion and spirituality, this paper provides a rationale for making distinction between spirituality and religion. We posit that spirituality is a separate and distinctive construct from Religion. We also provide a comprehensive definition of spirituality defining it in a totally non-religious way. Known as humanistic spirituality, the construct has a lot of common ground with other well-researched constructs such as, transformational leadership (Bass, 1985), organizational citizenship behaviors (Organ, 1988), and emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995).

The typology of spirituality discussed in this paper provides a rationale for understanding the importance of spirituality in work and organizational settings. Though in business management, religion does not have a big role to play, spirituality has a major role. Using both transcendence and connectedness dimensions, the typology of spirituality helps managers understanding the stages through which employees go through in the process of development. This enables managers to see what employees could be rather than what they are. This spiritual idealism is enables managers to accept people, places, and things exactly as they are--and also for what they can become. Based on this typology, future research should address the development of unique measure of spirituality and see how this is linked to both individual and organizational performance.

REFERENCES

Allport, G. W. (1968). The person in psychology. Boston: Beacon Press.

Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432-443.

Ashmos, D., Duchon, D., & Laine, K. (1999). Spirituality at Work: A conceptualization and measure. Paper presented at the Southwestern Federation of Administrative Disciplines, Houston, TX.

Banner, D. K. (1995). Designing effective organizations: traditional & transformational views. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Bass, Bernard M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: The Free Press.

Beazley, H. (1997). Meaning and measurement in organizational settings: Development of a spirituality assessment scale. Unpublished Dissertation, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Bennis, W. (1994). On becoming a leader. Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Books.

Bhindi, N., & Duignan, P. (1997). Leadership for a new century: Authenticity, Intentionality, Spirituality, and Sensibility. Educational Management and Administration, 25(2), 117-132.

Brandt, E. (1996). Corporate pioneers explore spirituality peace. HRMagazine, 41(4), 82-87.

Coles, R. (1990). The spiritual life of children. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Conger, J. A. (1994). Spirit at Work: Discovering the Spirituality in Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Covey, S. R., Roger, M. A., & Merrill, R. R. (1994). First things first: To love, to learn, to leave a legacy. New York: Simon & Schuster.

De Pree, M. (1988). Leadership is an art. University of Michigan Press.

Dewey, J. (1934). A Common Faith. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Doty, D. H. & Glick, W. H. (1994).Typologies as a unique form of theory building: Toward improved understanding and modeling. Academy of Management Review, 19(2), 230-251.

Elkins, D. N. (1998). Beyond Religion: A personal program for building a spiritual life outside the walls of traditional religion. Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Publishing House.

Elkins, D. N., Hedstrom, L. J., Hughes, L. L., Leaf, J. A., & Saunders, C. (1988). Toward a humanistic-phenomenological spirituality: Definition, description, and measurement. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 28(4), 5-18.

Ellen, C. (1993). Feminist Spirituality. New York: The Crossroads Publishing Co.

Ellison, C. W. (1983). Spiritual well being: Conceptualization and measurement, Journal of Psychology and Theology, 11 (4), 330-340.

Emerson, R. W. (1982). Self-Reliance. In L. Ziff (Ed.), Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays (pp. 176). New York: Penguin Books.

Frankl, V. E. (1975). The unconscious god. New York: Simon and Shuster.

Fromm, E. (1967). Psychoanalysis and religion. New York: Bantam Books.

Gibbons, P. (2000). Spirituality at Work: Definitions, measures, assumptions, and validity claims. In Biberman and Whitty, 2000. Work and Spirit: A reader of new spiritual paradigms for organizations. Tonawanda: University of Toronto Press.

Goleman, Daniel (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Guare, R. E. (1995). The Spirituality of Leadership. Planning and Changing, 26(3/4), 190-203.

Haase, J. E., Britt, T., Coward, D. D., Kline, N., & Penn, P. E. (1992). Simultaneous analysis of spiritual perspective, hope, acceptance, and self-transcendence. Images, 24(2), 141-147.

Jagers, R. J., & Smith, P. (1996). Further examination of the spirituality scale. Journal of Black Psychology, 22(4), 429-442.

James, W. (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A study in human nature (Penguin Books, Trans.) (1982 Ed.). New York: Longmans, Green & Company.

Jones, C., Wainwright, G., & Yarnold, E. S. (Eds.). (1986). The study of spirituality. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jung, C. G. (1932). Psychology and religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Kelly, E. (1995). Spirituality and religion in counseling and psychotherapy: Diversity in theory and practice. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

King, S., & Nicol, D. (1999). A Burgeoning Interest in Spirituality and the Workplace: An exploration into the multilevel factors that are driving it. Paper presented at the International Association of Business Disciplines Conference.

King, U. (1989). Women and spirituality: Voices of protest and promise. New York: New Amsterdam Books, Inc.

Kirkman, B. L., & Rosen, B. (1999). Beyond self-management: Antecedents and consequences of team empowerment. Academy of Management Journal, 42(1), 58-74.

Lee, C., & Zemke, R. (1993). The search for spirit in the workplace. Training Magazine (June),:21-28.

Leigh, P. (1997). The new spirit at work. Training and Development (March), 26-33.

Libby, C. H. (1994). Being religious, American style: A history of popular religiosity in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. New York: Viking Press.

Maslow, A. H. (1998). Maslow on Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mish, F. C. (Ed. in Chief). (2003). Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam.

Mitroff, I. I., & Denton, E., A. (1999). A study of spirituality in the workplace. Sloan-Management-Review, 40(4), 83-92.

Moberg, D. O. (1984). Subjective measures of spiritual well being. Review of religious research, 25(4), 351-364.

Organ, Dennis W. (1988). Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. Lexington, MA.: D. C. Heath.

Paloutzian, R. F. (1997). Spiritual well-being: A psychological perspective. Aging & Spirituality, IX, 1-3.

Pargament, Kenneth (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, research, and practice. New York: The Guilford Press.

Roof, W. C. (1979). Concepts and Indications of Religious Commitment: A critical review. In R. Wuthnow (Ed.), The Religious Dimension. New York: Academic Press, Inc.

Schneiders, S. M. (1986). Theology and spirituality, strangers, rivals, or partners? Horizons (13), 253-274.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.

Spohn, W. C. (1997). Spirituality and ethics: exploring the connections. Theological Studies, 58(1), 109-134.

Thoreau, H. D. (1961). Walden. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.

Twigg, Nicholas W., David Wyld, Gene Brown (2001). A quest for fire: A redefinition and reconceptualization of spirituality, Insights into a Changing World Journal.

Watts, A. W. (1972). The supreme identity. New York, NY: Random House.

Witmer, I. M. (1989). Reaching toward wholeness: An integrated approach to well being over the life span. In T. J. Sweeney (Ed.), Alderian counseling: A practical approach for a new decade. Muncie, IN: Accelerated Press.

Zaleznik, Abraham (1989). The managerial mystique: Restoring leadership in business. New York, New York: Harper and Row.

Nicholas W. Twigg, Coastal Carolina University Satyanarayana Parayitam, McNeese State University

Table 1: Different Schools of Thought on Religion and Spirituality

School of Scholar Comments
thought

Religion Allport, 1968 Traditional religious
Equals Beazley, 1997 spiritualities are, in
Spirituality James, 1902/1961 this sense, considered
 Schneiders, 1986 those that follow a scripted
 ritual, doctrine, or dogma,
Religion Banner, 1995 determined by clergy,
Differs from Bhindi & Duignan, 1997 denominational adminis-
Spirituality Conger, 1994 trators, and theologians
 Dewey, 1934 and the formal institutions
 Elkins, et al., 1988 of which they a part. This
 Ellen, 1993 follows the definition of
 Frankl, 1975 religious tradition defined
 Gibbons, 2000 by Libby (1994) as "an
 Jagers & Smith, 1996 official, formal tradition
 Jung, 1932 with a systematic structure
 Kelly, 1995 of beliefs and practices
 King, 1989 nurtured by an elite corps
 King & Nicol, 1999 of religious professionals"
 Lee & Zemke, 1993 (p.21).Some traditional
 Leigh, 1997 religious definitions are
 Maslow, 1970 presented below.
 Paloutzian, 1997
 Christian spirituality is
Religious or James, 1902/1961 the lived experience of
Traditional Allport, 1968 Christian belief in both
Spirituality Schneiders, 1986 its general and more
 Beazley, 1997 specialized forms ENRfu
 Ellison, 1983 (Spohn, 1997: 111).... It
 Morgan, 1999 is possible to distinguish
 spirituality from doctrine
New Age or Nature: R.W. Emerson, in that it concentrates not
Popular Thoreau, 1961; on faith itself, but on the
Spirituality Watts, 1972. reaction, that faith
 arouses in religious
 Feminist: Ellen, 1993; consciousness and practice.
 King, 1989 It can likewise be dis-
 tinguished from Christian
 12 Step: Kelly, 1995 ethics in that it treats
 not all human actions in
Humanistic Jung, 1932 their relation to God, but
or Psycholo- Dewey, 1934 those acts in which the
gical Spi- Maslow, 1970 relation to God is
rituality Elkins, et al., 1988 immediate and explicit.
 Conger, 1994 (McGinn, Meyendorff, and
 Banner, 1995 Leclercq, 1985: xv-xvi).
 Guare, 1995
 Kelly, 1995 A Christian view of the
 Bhindi & Duignan, 1997 consequences of spiritua-
 Paloutzian, 1997 lity is contained in the
 Lee & Zemke, 1993 Bible as the fruits of the
 King & Nicol, 1999 Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23):
 Leigh, 1997 love, joy, peace, long
 Gibbons, 2000 suffering, gentleness,
 goodness, faith, meekness,
 and temperance (Ellison,
 1983).

 "Christian spirituality is
 the lived experience of
 Christian belief in both
 its general and more
 specialized forms" (Spohn,
 1997:111).

 "Spirituality is a reli-
 gious self-transcendence
 that provides that provides
 integrity and meaning to
 life by situating the
 person within the horizon
 of ultimacy" (Schneiders,
 1986:253).

 "The affirmation of life in
 a relationship with God,
 self, community, and
 environment that nurtures
 and celebrates wholeness."

 (Ellison, 1983:331).
 italics added for emphasis