Psychological types and narration of religious and spiritual experiences: insights from the Alister Hardy Archive
Richard A. Vroom, J. Copier, Carl Sterkens
Journal of Beliefs and Values July 22, 2026 DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2026.2699083 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 84 |
| Population | Narrative accounts from the Alister Hardy Database |
| Key findings | Introverted intuitive (IN) profiles predominate among the analysed narratives, and a substantial presence of thinking types suggests a pattern of 'rational mysticism' in which experiences are articulated in terms of insight and coherence. |
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between psychological type and the narration of religious and spiritual experiences (RSEs). Using a qualitative, idiographic approach, 84 narrative accounts from the Alister Hardy Database were analysed, selected from over 6,000 reports on the basis of reflective depth and phenomenological clarity. Jungian psychological typology, operationalised heuristically through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), was used as an interpretive framework. The findings indicate a marked predominance of Introverted iNtuitive (IN) profiles within the analysed narratives in this Archive. In addition, the substantial presence of Thinking types suggests a recurring narrative pattern that can be described heuristically as ‘rational mysticism’, in which experiences are articulated in terms of insight and coherence. These results are interpreted in light of the Archive’s self-selected and text-based character and are understood as reflecting patterns in the narrative articulation of RSEs rather than their distribution across psychological types.