July 23, 2021 EXPO 2021 Poster

Personality Traits and the Narration of Spiritual Experiences among African American and White Adults in Late Midlife

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22.6″][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title author=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.23.3″ title_font=”Standard||||||||” title_text_color=”#ffffff” title_font_size=”61px” title_line_height=”1.3em” meta_font=”Standard2||||||||” meta_text_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”||60px” title_font_size_tablet=”39px” title_font_size_phone=”28px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone”][/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.23.3″ max_width=”1221px”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_image src=”https://thenurj.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-14-at-1.42.09-PM-Ahmadu-Simpson.png” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|phone” module_id=”circle-image” _builder_version=”3.23.3″ width=”40%” width_tablet=”26%” width_last_edited=”on|desktop”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Standard2||||||||” text_font_size=”27px” min_height=”40px” custom_padding=”18px||”]Ahmadu Simpson[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ inline_fonts=”Times New Roman”]

Adviser: Professor Dan McAdams
Subject: Social Sciences
DOI: 10.21985/n2-da6a-7q93

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” custom_margin=”|70px||”]Ahmadu recently graduated from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 2021. He majored in Psychology and minored in Critical Theory. At Northwestern, Ahmadu worked in the Foundations of Health Research Center under Dr. Edith Chen, which researches the relationships between relationships, psychological health, physical health, and life or environmental stressors. He also worked in Dr. Dan McAdams’s Study of Lives Research Group where he learned to about Life Stories Research and subsequently completed his Honors Thesis on Personality the Narration of Spiritual Experiences among adults in late midlife.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Standard2|600|||||||” text_font_size=”25px”]Abstract[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Times New Roman||||||||” text_font_size=”19px” text_line_height=”1.5em”]For over a hundred years, psychologists have sought to understand the role of spirituality in human behavior and experience, and how it might relate to features of personality. This study considered personal narration of spiritual experience and how it relates to the personality traits of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Over 400 narrative accounts of spiritual experiences given by mid-life adults (approximately half of whom were white and half African American) were analyzed and coded for themes of (1) Narrator Agency (NA), which tracks how participants describe their own efficacy and responsibility; (2) Spiritual Action/Intent (SA), which tracks how much participants attribute agency to spiritual beings; and (3) Spiritual Proximity (SP), which tracks how much participants view spiritual forces as omnipresent and accessible. Openness was positively associated with themes of NA, and negatively associated with SA. Gender and race proved to be strong predictors of narrative themes, with men showing higher scores on narrative agency (NA) than women and African American adults scoring higher on spiritual action/intent (SA) and spiritual proximity (SP) than white adults. After controlling for demographics, Extraversion predicted greater NA while lower Openness was associated with higher SA. Furthermore, themes of NA and SA were inversely related, which has implications for the importance of spiritual paradigms in understanding how people narrate their lives. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.23.3″][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.23.3″][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]