Narrow Results

Using data from 52 countries in Wave 5 of the World Value Survey conducted during 2004 and 2008, we test two alternative approaches in spirituality measures. The first is based on the more traditional understanding that spirituality is associated with meanings, God, prayers/meditation and formal religions. The second is based on the common spiritual teachings of all the major religions that are summarized by the LIFE (Love, Insight or Wisdom, Fortitude and Engagement) framework proposed by Ho, LS (2014). Psychology and Economics of Happiness: Love, Life and Positive Living. Oxford: Routledge. It was found that this alternative approach, which focuses on the spiritual teachings rather than theology, offers better explanatory power for Total Life Satisfaction (TLS). An interesting finding is that under this specification the coefficient on meaning turned negative, suggesting that those whose lives are weak in Love, Insight, Fortitude and Engagement have yet to find meaning and are less happy. Through a series of stepwise regressions, we conclude that more spiritual people are indeed happier (H1); that religious people indeed tend to be happier mainly because religious people tend to be more spiritual (H2); that the essence of spirituality and meaning lies in Love, Insight, Fortitude and Engagement (H3). These virtues are all grounded on transcending the narrow self and on a “reverence for Life” as propounded by Schweitzer. Finally, religious attendance does promote happiness. The effect is small but stable and statistically significant. It may have to do with the social network this offers (H4).

This paper examines the usage of English terms related to the important religious concepts of “spirituality” and “secularism” in and around modern India, employing the simple DH (Digital Humanities) approach of “counting.” The seemingly opposite terms “spirituality” and “secularism” are both essential key notions for the religiosity of the modern world and India, particularly. Like opposite sides of the same coin, they form a conceptual pair that expresses modern universalism and have functioned to mediate and bridge differences in culture and values. Despite the importance, however, scholars have yet to examine how and when the terms themselves have been used thoroughly. This paper explores the usage of these terms in some English-language texts in and around modern India, focusing on the changes in the frequency of their use in the online databases of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda and the Times of India. These examinations show that these English words were used in more unique and active ways in India than is often assumed. The modern use of these terms was not necessarily due to Western influence but was, at least partly, developed by modern Indians. In some cases, the Indian usage may have even preceded and influenced the new appearance of these terms in the West. This paper suggests that what we perceive as “modern” is at least partly the product of the agency and participation of the non-Western world, including India.

Spiritual and existential issues are significant concerns for many people nearing the end of life. While the healthcare literature continues to debate definitions of spirituality, a reasonable consensus is emerging that the core themes addressed and affirmed in spiritual discourse are identity, community, purpose and coherence. Evidence indicates that spiritual wellbeing is correlated with an increased capacity to handle symptom load, higher quality of life and life satisfaction, and reduced anxiety.

It is argued here that it is important for these issues of spiritual significance to be explored, even if the term ‘spirituality’ is not used explicitly in the conversation. While debate continues about the level of engagement that healthcare practitioners should have in spiritual care, the evidence available suggests that the core competencies underpinning spiritual care are substantially the same as those required for good personal care: relational capacity and communication skills.

This chapter suggests that spirituality should be acknowledged by clinicians in ways that are appropriate to each person in their care, so that it is clear to that person that their caregivers see spirituality as important. Spiritual needs should be addressed in a care plan at least at the level of ‘doing no harm’ — respecting understandings, beliefs, practices and relationships important to the person. However, more active spiritual interventions should not be undertaken, unless it is the person's explicit wish that spiritual care of this sort be provided by the clinical team. If this is the case, the team can decide upon the degree to which they accede to this request or involve, perhaps by referral, other appropriately qualified practitioners. In a hospital context this may be achieved by including pastoral care practitioners in the caring team; in a community context such a request is more likely to require referral.

Although mind–body medicine is considered part of complementary therapies, the inclusion of prayer is more controversial. If counted as such, it certainly results in inflated figures of overall complementary therapy use. Spirituality must be differentiated from religiosity and validated scales of spiritual well-being have been developed. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Spiritual Well-Being scale has three domains of peace, meaning and faith. Using such a scale, research groups have found that spiritual well-being is a unique predictor of quality of life. In studies of the impact of intercessory prayer on health outcomes, Cochrane reviews of the randomised studies have resulted in equivocal findings. Many methodological issues have arisen about study design, and even whether procedures such as randomisation and blinding are appropriate for studies of metaphysical phenomena, where the mechanism is unknown. The use of clinical endpoints has been questioned and this makes comparisons between studies difficult. A randomised controlled trial of intercessory prayer is described, where the endpoint was to determine whether there was an improvement in spiritual well-being. It was a large study with 999 patients. The outcome was that a statistically significant improvement in spiritual well-being was found but with a small effect size. The result raises questions about the way forward.

We propose that examining the imagination through the eyes of an artist — the British Romantic poet/painter/engraver William Blake (1757–1827) — can provide fresh insights into the creative process of entrepreneuring. More specifically, we show how attempts to understand this process have been hobbled by assumptions handed down from the Enlightenment, or “Age of Reason,” the dominant paradigm of Blake’s time. Blake and other Romantic artists challenged these assumptions, expanding the boundaries of rationality to embrace unconscious, particularizing, embodied, and visionary modes of thought. In this essay, we explore the relevance of Blake’s holistic vision for the field of entrepreneurship — a vision that breaks with Enlightenment reasoning to embrace the fundamentally spiritual nature of reality; a vision that rejects institutionalized thinking to achieve social change through creative acts of the individual imagination, which Blake called the “Divine Imagination.” First, we outline Blake’s critique of Enlightenment assumptions about rationality that remain influential in entrepreneurship studies today, and show how Blake attempted to combat these assumptions by empowering the creative imagination to integrate and transform the fragmented human psyche. We then explore the implications of Blake’s vision for scholars who wish to more fully understand the role of the imagination in the process of entrepreneurial creation.

Using a social constructionist frame, Boyce-Tillman historically examines the dominant and subjugated ways of knowing in Western musical culture. She argues for the need to re-balance, drawing on feminism, sociology, anthropology and musicology, while also incorporating poetry. The chapter begins by interrogating the role of masculine Western Christianity and the development of new feminist spiritualities. It then turns to examine a place for entrepreneurship in a Christian university by revisiting its values through the integration of the feminine. This process is described through the entrepreneurial journey of composer/conductor, Boyce-Tillman. Her initiation and organization of Foundation Music in Winchester University is described through two case studies of musical events — presenting examples of social and spiritual change, particularly in the area of inclusion and the role of music in peace-making linked with Wisdom traditions. The virtual Zoom Choir for Peace is accessible on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LVQlNRAz28.

It is known that faith contributes to entrepreneurial action; however, the role of faith in decision-making is less explored. This chapter argues that faith influences the use of effectual decision-making logic through its key principles known as means, affordable loss, pre-commitments, experimentation and controlling the future. It also highlights that entrepreneurs in developing markets with a high level of turbulence, resource scarcity and increasing level of faith, are more likely to exhibit and normalize the effectual behaviors. The conceptual arguments presented provide an avenue for future research to explore the interaction of faith, effectuation, and context.

There is an emerging interest in how entrepreneurs integrate spirituality with entrepreneurial action. We took a case study approach to examine the overarching and irreducible spiritual values that shaped the pre- and post-launch phases of entrepreneurial action of three entrepreneurs with very different spiritual orientations: Spiritual, Catholic, and Buddhist. Findings revealed that the participants were influenced by quite different overarching values throughout the life of the venture; however, there were similarities in terms of each of the pre- and post-launch influencers on entrepreneurial action.

With the increasingly important role that the Islamic economies play in the global economy, together with the growing population of Muslim around the world, the need to understand the impacts of religion on business and entrepreneurship has become important. Religion in general is known to affect the way entrepreneurs conduct their businesses. However, the complex interactions between religion and culture sometimes make it difficult to comprehend this phenomenon. Furthermore, the diverse backgrounds and cultures of Muslims affect their entrepreneurial behaviors and cultures. This chapter will focus on the fundamentals of the Islamic belief that influence Muslim entrepreneurial behaviors, such as Tawhid, ‘Ibadah, and Shari’ah. Understanding of these concepts will help to shed some lights on the foundations that shape Muslim entrepreneurs behaviors.

With the growing emphasis on social entrepreneurship by policymakers, academics and social economy practitioners over the past few decades, an increasing number of universities are now delivering social enterprise courses and programs intended to develop students’ social awareness and aspirations, as well as preparing them to work in or start their own social ventures. This study investigates the extent to which the spirituality of a university may impact on its decision to offer social enterprise as part of their business curriculum. Using data from 494 business schools in the US that are accredited by AACSB, we found that, alongside structural differences, universities with higher entrepreneurship orientation, as well as the presence of spirituality markers, such as sustainability, diversity and religious orientations, are more likely to be offering social enterprise courses for business students, after controlling for other factors. Our findings suggest that spirituality has a role to play in supporting education that has the potential in developing socially responsible citizens.

Andean spirituality, a long-term, collective model based on balance, reciprocity, and inclusion, is markedly different from other types of spirituality found in corporate board rooms and social enterprises and offers insights into the development of stable, slow-growing, resilient enterprises. This chapter explores the Andean traits of spirituality, collectivism, and their link to entrepreneurship. By deconstructing the Andean rituals and manifestations of spirituality, I show how the elements of social enterprise and Fry’s organizational spiritual leadership are present in Andean enterprises but interpreted and applied differently. The Andean interpretation of these elements results in more resilience, balance, and stability for the slower growing Andean organizations. This chapter further demonstrates how spirituality is defined, practiced and built into everyday Andean life and how this contrasts with the individually cultivated good intentions of Western entrepreneurs. The difference between the two, Andean spirituality versus Western spirituality, is critical in defining and understanding sustainability in social enterprises.

Good governance is a prerequisite for a transition toward a more sustainable development. Within western democracy, governance is understood either as a management function or as a leadership role played by the government, politicians, business, academics, not-for-profit and community organizations or just particular individuals within civil society. More recently, this top–down approach has been challenged by the newly emerging methods of deliberative democracy which entrust the power of decision-making to randomly selected representatives of the public following intensive processes of deliberation. The role of experts in the process is to inform the deliberations, and the role of the traditional structures of power within society is to implement the outcomes from the deliberations.

Information availability is a serious condition for the potential of deliberative democracy to be fulfilled. Within the climate change imperatives, the focus of information delivery should be on allowing for a global picture to be created as the basis for individual localized decision-making. Based on the unprecedented power of computer and communication technology, this chapter puts forward the concept of a Global Green Information System (GGIS) which can provide the virtual space for and support on-line deliberative democracy processes. The functions that such a GGIS can provide are monitoring, information storage and transmission, facilitation of decision-making and analysis of virtual sustainability models.

Despite its enormous importance and input, the GGIS however will only be a tool in the broader deliberative processes guided by the value systems represented by society members.