Self-Categorizations in Terms of Religiosity and Spirituality: Associations with Religious Experiences, Spiritual Dimensions, and Motives in Life

Abstract

This study investigates different types of self-identification in terms of religiosity and/or spirituality and some psychosocial correlates of these categorizations. An Italian adult sample (N = 594) was divided into four groups: Religious and Spiritual (RS), Spiritual but not Religious (SnR), Religious but not Spiritual (RnS), and neither Religious nor Spiritual (nRnS). Participants completed measures assessing centrality of religion, spiritual orientation, religious orientations, and main motives in life. Statistical analyses (ANOVAs, t-tests) showed that RS individuals scored highest across all religiosity and spirituality dimensions, with a predominantly intrinsic orientation and strong focus on all life motives, especially self-realization. SnR individuals reported low religiosity but high spirituality, especially concerning meaning and sacredness of life, along with attributing importance to different life motives, particularly to self-realization and meaning. RnS participants showed limited engagement in both religiosity and spirituality, valuing primarily ideological and meaning-related aspects, while nRnS reported minimal scores in religiosity and spirituality, though the pursuit of meaning remained salient. Overall, meaning emerged as a central dimension across all groups, suggesting its role as a universal human motivation. Findings underscore the non-overlapping yet interrelated nature of spiritual and religious identities and their different implications in individual experiences and motives in life.