Faith Development as Change in Religious Types: Results From Three-Wave Longitudinal Data With Faith Development Interviews

Abstract

Faith, as a way of how people understand God and the world and make or discover meaning in their life, is characterized by individual differences and changes over the lifetime. Our research investigates these changes over the life span in terms of hierarchically ordered types that are the elements in our developmental model, which is a critical advancement and modification of Fowler’s theory of faith development. This study is the first to investigate whether there is development in faith over the adult life span and to identify predictors of developmental change. Our mixed-method design used three-wave longitudinal data (mean lag time 10.47 years from Wave 1 to Wave 3). A sample of N = 75 participants were interviewed with the faith development interview three times and each time answered comprehensive questionnaires. Results evidenced faith development over the life span: a majority in our data moved to a higher type, while change to a lower type did occur. Openness to experience and the religious schema truth of text and teachings were potential antecedents for faith development