The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns
Motivation and Spirituality in Personality
Robert A. Emmons
Paperback
Paperback
orderJuly 16, 2003
ISBN 9781572309357
Price: $35.00 230 Pages
Size: 6" x 9"
Copyright Date: 1999
Proposing that personal goals are what give meaning to life, this volume explores the role played by spirituality and religion in investing goals with significance. The concept of ultimate concerns is developed as a scientific construct and an innovative framework is presented for their assessment and measurement. Marshaling important findings from his own and others' research, Robert A. Emmons provides compelling insights into the links between spirituality, subjective well-being, and personality integration. He demonstrates how locating religion and spirituality within accepted scientific parameters can deepen our understanding of these pervasive dimensions of human experience. Further, the book makes a powerful case for the inclusion of ultimate concerns in any attempt to build a motivational theory of personality.
“Emmons has done a great service to psychology with this book....He has connected two previously unconnected lines of thought in a heuristic and highly compelling manner. The organization of the book is flawless and the writing is lucid....We have no doubt that the book will be, to use a spiritual term, "nspiring' to many researchers.”
—Contemporary Psychology
“A valuable resource....Will be appreciated by those who need more than intuitive or anecdotal evidence for the impact that religion/spirituality have on humankind's personality integration and well-being. It also provides an excellent model for doing empirical research. Students and scholars alike will benefit from following Emmons' blueprint. Finally, both clinicians and researchers will benefit from the author's recognition that religious/spiritual world views are central to the theory of human motivation.”
—American Journal of Pastoral Counseling
“One of the more important works in recent years integrating major areas of psychology, religion, and spirituality.....Reading [this book] is both intellectually stimulating and personally satisfying. Get yourself a copy.”
—Journal of Psychology and Theology
Table of Contents
I. Personal Goals: An Approach to Personality and Subjective Well-Being1. Introduction: Motivation and Spirituality in Personality
2. Personal Goals as Units of Analysis
3. Personal Goals and Subjective Well-Being
4. Goal Conflict and Personality Fragmentation
II. Spirituality, Goals, and Intelligence
5. Spiritual Strivings as Ultimate Concerns
6. From Goal to Whole: Spiritual Strivings and Personality Integration
7. Personal Goals and Life Meaning
8. Spiritual Intelligence: Toward a Theory of Personality and Spirituality
*Appendix A: Personal Striving Assessment Packet
*Appendix B: Personal Striving Coding Manual
Audience
Students and researchers in social, personality, clinical, and health psychology; counseling; religious studies; and related fields.Serves as a text in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the psychology of religion, personality theory and research, the psychology of motivation, adult development, and related topics.