“This book challenges us to look where we have been reluctant to gaze and to engage with the most central features of student thoughts and commitments. I can only hope that the publication of this work will encourage many others to pursue these questions. We owe the distinguished authors our deep gratitude.” —Lee S. Shulman, president emeritus, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus, Stanford University “This scholarly work, anchored in ground breaking research, is MUST reading for administrators, faculty members, and student development professionals who believe that higher education should reach beyond professional and vocational preparation.” —Arthur W. Chickering, special assistant to the president, Goddard College, author, Education and Identity, and coauthor, Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education “Cultivating the Spirit offers a rich basis for the reframing of the curriculum and college life. The book is full of surprises even for the most knowledgeable of faculty and deans. A landmark book!” —Claire Gaudiani, former president, Connecticut College, and author, Generosity Unbound and The Greater Good “This book should be read by educators, parents, students, policy-makers, funding agencies everywhere, and by everyone interested in designing education in a more coherent, connected, and less fragmented way. The research and fi ndings here will guide the future of higher education to create more compassionate, caring, and complete human beings to be leaders for the multidimensional challenges of the 21st century.” —David Scott, former chancellor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst “Cultivating the Spirit is destined to become a classic. It is the kind of ground- breaking and defi nitive research we have come to expect from the Astins and their colleagues, and it should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in student development during college.” —Ernest T. Pascarella, professor and Mary Louise Peterson Chair in Higher Education, University of Iowa, and coauthor, How College Affects Students “A meticulously researched study of the role of college education in nurturing students’ spiritual lives. This visionary book returns values like personal integration, social commitment, and aesthetic appreciation to the center of the college enterprise.” —Reverend Scotty McLennan, dean for religious life, Stanford University, and author, Finding Your Religion C u lt i va t i n g t h e S p i r i t How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives Alexander W. Astin Helen S. Astin Jennifer A. Lindholm Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572- 3986, or fax 317-572-4002. Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Portions of Chapter Two are taken from A. W. Astin, H. S. Astin, and J. A. Lindholm, “Assessing students’ spiritual and religious qualities,” Journal of College Student Development, in press. Reprinted with permission from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), at the Center for Higher Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20036. Portions of Chapter Four are based on A. W. Astin and J. P. Keen, “Equanimity and spirituality,” Religion and Education, 33(2) (Spring 2006): 1–8. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Astin, Alexander W. Cultivating the spirit : how college can enhance students’ inner lives / Alexander W. Astin, Helen S. Astin, Jennifer A. Lindholm. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-76933-1 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-470-87569-8 (ebk.) ISBN 978-0-470-87570-4 (ebk.) ISBN 978-0-470-87571-1 (ebk.) 1. College students—Psychology. 2. College students—Religious life—United States. 3. Self-actualization (Psychology)—Religious aspects. I. Astin, Helen S., 1932- II. Lindholm, Jennifer A., 1968- III. Title. LB3609.A78 2010 378.1'98019—dc22 2010028491 Printed in the United States of America fi rst edition HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents About the Authors vii Acknowledgments ix 1 Why Spirituality Matters 1 2 Assessing Spiritual and Religious Qualities 12 3 Spiritual Quest: The Search for Meaning and Purpose 27 4 Equanimity 49 5 Spirituality in Practice: Caring For and About Others 63 6 The Religious Life of College Students 83 7 Religious Struggle and Skepticism 101 8 How Spiritual Growth Affects Educational and Personal Development 115 9 Higher Education and the Life of the Spirit 137 Appendix: Study Methodology 159 Notes 19 References 205 Index 215 v T o our granddaughters, Erin, Amalia, and Ila — A lexander Astin and Helen Astin T o Mom, Cooper, and Bentley — J ennifer Lindholm A b o u t t h e A u t h o r s P sychologist Alexander W. Astin is the Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, Emeritus, at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also the founding director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA and the author of twenty- o ne books and more than four hundred other publications. His research and writing in the fi eld of higher education has earned him awards from thirteen differ- ent national associations. Readers of Change magazine voted Dr. Astin as the person “ m ost admired for creative, insightful thinking ” in the fi eld of higher education. A study in the J ournal of Higher Education identi- fi ed him as the most frequently cited author in the higher educa- tion fi eld, and his book F our Critical Years as the most frequently cited book in the fi eld. Astin has lectured at more than 250 col- leges and universities in the United States and abroad, served as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, been elected to membership in the National Academy of Education, and is the recipient of eleven honorary degrees. H elen S. Astin, a psychologist, is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Higher Education and Senior Scholar in the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. She has served as the associate provost of the College of Letters and Science at UCLA and as director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Dr. Astin is a trustee of Mount St. Mary’ s College and has served as a trustee of Hampshire College. In the American Psychological Association she has been president of the Division of the Psychology of Women. A stin is a recipient of the Distinguished Research Award of Division J of the American Educational Research Association and vii viii About the Authors the Howard Bowen Distinguished Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Her research and writings have focused on issues of equity and inclusion with a special emphasis on gender inequities, leadership, the faculty reward structure, and spirituality. Among her books are W omen of Infl uence, Women of Vision ; Human Resources and Higher Education; T he Woman Doctorate in America ; H igher Education and the Disadvantaged Student ; and Some Action on Her Own: The Adult Woman and Higher Education. J ennifer A. Lindholm is special assistant to the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at UCLA and director of the Spirituality in Higher Education project. From 2001 to 2006 she served as associate director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at UCLA’ s Higher Education Research Institute and as director of the institute’ s Triennial National Faculty Survey. Dr. Lindholm also served as visiting professor of higher education and organizational change in UCLA ’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. L indholm’ s publications focus on the structural and cultural dimensions of academic work; the career development, work experiences, and professional behavior of college and university faculty; issues related to institutional change; and undergraduate students’ personal development.