Developing a Psycho-Spiritual Experience Inventory (P-SEI) Questionnaire Leveraging Grounded Theory Methods: the Initial Outcomes

Spiritual representations are necessary for spiritual experiences to significantly affect behavior, according to an analysis of questionnaire responses from 216 participants. The study developed an initial model of spiritual experience using Grounded Theory, then refined it with exploratory factor analysis when the original model did not fit the data. Multivariate analysis with SmartPLS revealed relationships among factors in the revised model. The positive initial results support further research, including an updated questionnaire and an interpretation framework.

Study at a glance

Abstract

To analyze the phenomenology of the spiritual experience under the lenses of the Grounded Theory method, an initial questionnaire has been developed and submitted to 216 respondents. The quantitative observations have been analyzed for their contribution to the model with R and using last generation multivariate data analysis leveraging on SmartPLS to determine the relationships between the factors exposed in the model. If the initial model does not perfectly fit with the gathered observations, the remodeling of the items after an exploratory factory analysis helped to design an emerging model useful for the purpose of the study. The analysis of the observations structured according to the new model leads to interesting conclusions such as the spiritual representation are necessary to ensure that spiritual experiences have a significant impact on the behaviors. The initial and positive outcome opens the door to further development of the research such as the elaboration of an updated questionnaire, the definition of an interpretation framework and the continuation of research on the subject. KEYWORDS Transpersonal psychology, Spirituality, Spiritual Experience, Psyché, Questionnaire, Multivariate analysis, Mediation analysis, SmartPLS.