14 (Western) Self-Spirituality: Literature Review, Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

The emerging interest in “post-traditional spirituality” in the West has been documented by several scholars, showing its growth in France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden (Houtman & Aupers, 2007; Woodhead, 2004). Charles Taylor, and other scholars, have related to this as a cultural revolution, denoting that it has “profoundly altered the conditions of belief in our societies”, shaping the contours of society as a whole (Taylor, 2007, p. 473; Heelas, 2008). The focal point of this cultural revolution is the individual and personal experience. Within this, key aspirations are unity, integrity, and holism. The language of this new culture is replete with assertions of harmony, balance, flow, integration, and “being at one” (Taylor, 2007, pp. 506–513; Heelas, 1996; Houtman & Aupers, 2010). Research into the cultural and sociological aspects of self-spirituality culture tends to focus on the debate regarding the market orientation of self-spirituality (Heelas, 2008; Houtman & Aupers, 2010; e.g. Redden, 2016), or on the positive and negative aspects of workplace spirituality (Watts, 2018a), with an over-emphasis on its discourse (e.g. Bell & Taylor, 2003; Gotsis & Kortezi, 2008). Despite the recognition in the growth of self-spirituality, (Houtman & Aupers, 2007; Woodhead, 2004; Taylor, 2007; Heelas, 2008), existing research does not present a comprehensive analysis of this culture as it is enacted in Western society institutions: For profit organizations, public health organizations, public schools, etc., and most importantly, adherents’ homes. It also tends to portray a schematic view of the perceived value of self-spirituality as constructed in relation to these contexts by adherents. Some knowledge, however, has been acquired about the incorporation of selfspirituality into organizations. Studies show that self-spirituality adherents are hesitant – or even afraid – to disclose their involvement with self-spirituality in their workplaces, and that self-spirituality has generally been excluded from the public domain (Islam & Holm, 2016; Mitroff & Denton, 1999; Tejeda, 2015; Zaidman & Goldstein-Gidoni, 2011; Zaidman, 2020). Research have pointed out to the factors explaining organizational rejection showing differences in the fundamental principles of knowing and organizing (Karjalainen et al., 2019; Zaidman, 2020). Tensions between self-spirituality and the organization have been conceptualized in relation to rationality, equality in relationships, and the perspective of the ‘the whole person’ including the premise that every aspect of an individual – including her or his