“Theoretically, spiritual training helps you to become the sort of person who transcends their own private interests, feels connected to others and never passes judgment,” says Professor of Social Psychology Roos Vonk, “but in reality, it’s quite a different story. People who train themselves in areas such as reincarnation or healing or in the practice of reading auras and chakras often feel that they possess an extraordinary psychic gift that enables them to ‘see’ things that others can’t see. And this, in turn, may give them the feeling that they’re special.”
Spiritual narcissism
On the basis of previous research on self-esteem and self-exaltation, Vonk knows that most people with a positive self-image often feel the need to be better, nicer, more capable or more special than others. “The idea behind spiritual development is that you can overcome your ego’s desires. However, the most frequent effect is that the acquired insights are hijacked by the ego and the person will usually consider himself to be spiritually superior to others. In the broadest sense, this is putting the cart before the horse.”
Several spiritual gurus have written about falling into the trap of spiritual narcissism, but the phenomenon has never been empirically investigated. To this end, Vonk worked together with social psychology student Anouk Visser to develop a questionnaire that measures feelings of spiritual superiority, using statements such as: “I have a greater awareness of what’s between heaven and earth than most other people do” and “The world would be a better place if others had the insights that I now have.”
Over the course of three studies, the questionnaire was administered to various groups, including students of mindfulness and energy training. Just as the researchers had expected, spiritual superiority was associated with narcissism, with the tendency to see oneself as a mentor to others, and with the tendency to attribute psychic abilities to oneself. This third association was particularly prevalent among students of energy training, who scored higher on spiritual superiority in all studies compared to the other groups.
The person, not the doctrine
Could the spiritual training course be nothing less than an ego trip? “The problem is the person, not the doctrine,” says Vonk. Despite this, the sense of spiritual superiority was not nearly as strong in the mindfulness students. This could be attributed to the type of student who is attracted to the discipline of mindfulness, but it could also be related to the fact that most mindfulness coaches pay explicit attention to the pitfalls of the ego, which teaches students to be alert to these problems.
And they need to stay alert to these pitfalls, says Vonk, because “the ego is always lying in wait so that it can confirm its own individuality, splendour and uniqueness. That’s what happens when people achieve success at work, or are successful in sports or their relationships, but it also happens when they achieve spiritual ‘success’. As soon as you notice that your development is progressing, your ego will jump out from behind the bushes to hijack your success by claiming ‘Well, aren’t I doing well?!’” And anyone who comments on this has simply not understood the situation. These so-called spiritual insights are then used as a line of defence.
Now that the test has been developed, it could possibly be used for conducting further scientific research into spiritual narcissism. It may also provide a basis for spiritual coaches who will be able to guard against this pitfall, so that course participants can experience a true ‘spiritual awakening’.
Photo: Dimitris Vetsikas via Pixabay.