The Nature of Spiritual Ties to Place: A Conceptual Overview and Research Agenda

Abstract

How do spiritual ties to place (i.e., place spirituality) contribute to a meaningful spiritual life? Previous work has focused on sacred places, but a proposal is put forward for examining the spiritual connections people develop with many types of places in their search for meaning. The proposed theory examines spiritual ties to place across three dimensions—affective, cognitive, and behavioral—that may be a critical way in which people satisfy spiritual yearnings and fulfill spiritual needs due to (1) the sacred in a place, (2) social activities in sacred places, and (3) spiritual realities in a place. Furthermore, a proposal is put forward for a measure of spiritual ties to place that can be adapted to numerous specific individual, environmental, and community-level contexts. Adaptation of the measure for a variety of contexts is provided so that the proposed approach can be used across cultures. Discussion is also given to the psychology of religious places, and the broader implications for well-being. This could be useful for tracking and reflection purposes, and it might ultimately be used for assessing religious/spiritual realities experienced within the milieu of place.