Relational Spirituality Among Adult Students in Nontraditional Programs

Abstract

This article presents some of the findings from a recent study on adult students (25 years and older) in Christian nontraditional programs and the implications these findings have for Christian higher education. One goal of the study was to develop a better understanding of adult spirituality. Utilizing a descriptive, cross-sectional survey approach and a causal comparative design, this study obtained data in measures of spirituality from 292 adult students in nontraditional programs and compared those data to that from 375 traditional-aged students in conventional college programs. Both samples were drawn from institutions within the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). The independent variable was age as related to program type: adults 25 years and older in nontraditional programs and traditional-aged students 18 to 24 years in conventional college programs. The dependent variables in this study were measures of spirituality produced by the Furnishing the Soul Inventory (FSI). The FSI is a multidimensional psychometric tool developed around the theory of relational spirituality. Descriptive statistics showed that these adult students reflected a moderate to high degree of spiritual vitality. Results of t tests showed that there were significant differences between the adults and traditional-aged students in measures of spirituality (p < .05). These findings suggest a connection between the age of students and the process of spiritual transformation. An implication for Christian higher education is that through programmatic and pedagogical changes, Christian institutions with nontraditional programs may be able to influence the spiritual vitality of their adult students.