The phenomenology of the causes of youth tendency to emerging spirituality (case study: Shiraz)
Zahra Dashtestani, A. Khodami, Majidreza Karimi
International Journal of Health Sciences October 20, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.53730/ijhs.v6ns7.13516 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Young people turn to new spiritualities for instrumental reasons, such as attraction, and teleological reasons, including lifestyle, meaning search, and coping with crisis. The study used a phenomenological approach, interviewing youth involved in Masnavi reading, meditation, and mysticism groups over the past 5 to 15 years. The findings highlight that these spiritualities serve both practical and purpose-driven functions in the lives of young individuals.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study, phenomenological |
|---|---|
| Population | youth members of Masnavi reading, meditation and mysticism groups who have experienced new spiritualities in the last 5 to 15 years |
| Key finding | Instrumentalism and teleology are among the causes of youth tendency to new spiritualities. |
Abstract
The phenomenon of emerging spiritualities has a social and cultural nature and is the result of structural changes in the modern world and actors. To study this phenomenon, while paying attention to cultural, social and historical contexts and theirs processes and considering aspects and macro social and cultural conditions, it is necessary to pay attention to the intentions, thoughts and mindsets of actors. Therefore, in this study, we seek to explore the causes of the tendency of youth to new spiritualities behind the lived experience of youth who have been involved in this social phenomenon. The method of this research is qualitative and its strategy is phenomenological. Semi-structured interview technique has been used to collect data. The participants were selected by using purposive sampling method from among the youth members of Masnavi reading, meditation and mysticism groups who have experienced new spiritualities in the last 5 to 15 years. The seven-step method of Klaizi (1978) was used to analyze the data and extract the main and secondary themes. Findings showed that instrumentalism (with the sub-theme of attraction) and teleology (with the sub-themes of lifestyle, meaning search, crisis victims) are among the causes of youth tendency to new spiritualities.