Narrating spiritual well-being in relationship to positive psychology and religion

Constructed as new and located in the discourse of positive psychology, “spiritual well-being” is a signifier with a (his)story in which one possible reading is highlighted in this postmodern (de)constructive narrative. The construction of “spiritual + well-being” could be narrated as a secularisati...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Rooyen, B. van (Author) ; Beukes, R. B. I. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2009
In: Koers
Year: 2009, Volume: 74, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 23-42
Further subjects:B Religion Motif
B Positive Psychology
B Psy-Complex
B Spiritual well-being
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Constructed as new and located in the discourse of positive psychology, “spiritual well-being” is a signifier with a (his)story in which one possible reading is highlighted in this postmodern (de)constructive narrative. The construction of “spiritual + well-being” could be narrated as a secularisation of the religious by positivist psy-complex knowledges, where spiritual well-being is reconstructed as a measurable outcome. Or it could be nar-rated as a “spiritualisation” of the psy-complex by religious knowledges, with measurable well-being becoming dependent on the pursuit of the postmodern, multiple-storied spiritual/ religious features. As the psy-complex has followed medicine from a focus on pathology to a focus on holistic wellness, it has found itself in the religious realm which it has simultaneously centred and marginalised. Additionally, as the psy-complex has moved from measuring illness to measuring wellness, it could be described as having constructed new categories of non-well-being or ill-being.
ISSN:2304-8557
Contains:Enthalten in: Koers
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.4102/koers.v74i1/2.115