ZYGO Zygon® 0591-2385 1467-9744 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2005.00691.x SPIRITUALITY AS A NATURAL PHENOMENON: BRINGING BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES TOGETHER Hay David Socha Pawel M. 02 09 2005 40 3 10.1111/zygo.2005.40.issue-3 589 612

Abstract. Working in Britain and in Poland, the authors independently arrived at an interpretation of spirituality as a natural phenomenon. From the point of view of the British author, spirituality is based on a biological predisposition that has been selected for in the process of evolution because it has survival value. In several important ways this approach is in harmony with the psychological perspective of the Polish author that sees spirituality as a socioculturally structured and determined attempt to cope with the existential human situation. Thus interpreted, spirituality is a human universal appearing in many secular as well as religious forms, although its most typical manifestations have been in religious experience. In this essay we discuss research data in support of this theoretical point of view and highlight some of the issues in bringing the two theoretical perspectives together.

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