A Lay Definition of Grace: A Quantitative and Qualitative Content Analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Grace is a central theme in religious traditions but receives only recently attention by psychologists. Conceptualizations of grace seem predominantly constructed within theological and theoretical frameworks, whereas these conceptualizations may be poorly aligned with the definitions of grace of lay persons. This study clarifies the concept of grace and creates a bottom-up definition, based on the understanding of non-experts in a secularized society. A total of 456 Belgian adults (64% female, mean age = 50.04) provided descriptions of grace in an online survey. A multidisciplinary coding team conducted quantitative and qualitative content analysis (Nvivo). The following themes and categories emerged (1) virtuous qualities: grace is recognized in a multitude of good qualities with forgiveness as the ultimate example; (2) extra-ordinary gift: grace is something you receive unmerited, the nature of the giving goes beyond mere fair exchange; (3) transcendent and immanent setting: grace is encountered in the realm of the divine as well as in human relationships and daily life; (4) profound experience: the giving and receiving of grace entails an articulated personal involvement leading to new beginnings and freedom and (5) profound feelings: the experience of grace is accompanied with positive feelings and states often preceded by negative feelings and states. Distribution of categories by respondent’s age, gender, and religiosity showed robustness of underlying characteristics in the definition of grace. However, significant group differences are found: believing and older participants described more often extra-ordinary and transcendent characteristics, whereas nonbelievers used more referrals to faults and forgiveness. Believing people used more positive feelings and women used more virtuous qualities in describing grace. The importance of further investigating the psychological dynamics of grace and its capacity for enhancing well-being is highlighted.