Experiencing B-Values on the Camino de Santiago: A Culturally Mediated Path to Self-Actualization
Snežana Brumec, Andrej Naterer
Culture & Psychology May 21, 2026 DOI: 10.1177/1354067x261452211 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Sequential exploratory approach (qualitative content analysis followed by survey) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 533 |
| Population | Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago |
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Situated Liminality Narrative Transformative learning Cognitive reframing Nexus standard Affordance Identity music Scholarship Qualitative research Aesthetics Articulation sociology Agency philosophy Exploratory research Perspective graphical Temporality Everyday life Emic and etic Pilgrimage |
| Key findings | B-values are co-constructed through cultural and relational affordances of pilgrimage, not solely intrapsychic insights. |
Abstract
This article examines how the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage functions as a culturally situated medium for activating what Maslow termed Being values (B-values)—such as wholeness, interconnectedness, and harmony. Situating Maslow’s concept of peak experiences within a cultural-psychological framework, the study investigates how transformative experiences emerge in liminal contexts where everyday social roles are temporarily suspended and individuals engage in embodied, collective, and symbolic practices. A sequential exploratory approach was adopted. First, qualitative content analysis of 32 pilgrim travelogues uncovered recurring themes—such as unity, clarity, and self-transcendence—that align with Maslow’s characteristics of peak experiences. Though historically theorized as intrapsychic, the results suggest that B-values are co-constructed through cultural and relational affordances central to pilgrimage. In a complementary survey of 501 pilgrims, over 60% reported experiencing interconnectedness, underscoring the significance of shared walking rituals, sacred landscapes, and narrative reflection in facilitating personal transformation. By reframing B-values as culturally mediated achievements rather than purely individual insights, the study bridges humanistic and cultural psychology. It contributes to a broader understanding of meaning-making and identity transformation in contemporary spirituality, positioning self-actualization as a relational, embodied, and culturally situated process.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |