Toward an integrative typology of spirituality

How should spirituality be understood in the modern era? This paper aims to develop an integrative typology of spirituality by distinguishing various forms of spiritual experience. It seeks to advance the conceptualization of spirituality from an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective in a way that better differentiates spirituality from traditional religiosity and aligns with contemporary spiritual sensibilities. We developed our typology, also integrating a philosophocal perspective and psychological knowledge through a review of the previous literature (e.g., MacDonald, 2000; Schnell, 2012; Ammerman, 2013). The proposed typology distinguishes between six non overlapping types of spirituality based on distinct criteria such as vertical vs. horizontal, concrete vs. abstract, and inward vs. outward dimensions. Hopefully, this framework can comprehensively capture the diverse manifestations of spirituality across cultures in the contemporary world.