College student spiritual development: A narrative study of peer conversation.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

College student peer groups have long been known to have a great impact on student learning and development. Recent research (Astin & Astin, 2004) suggests that the peer group is the primary conduit for the spiritual conversation among college students. Students are asking meaning-of-life questions with their peers in order to understand their own sense of identity and the world. This study examined spiritual development by exploring the impact of the peer group on the spiritual conversation.
This narrative study described how four senior friendship groups from two different small liberal arts residential institutions made meaning of their spiritual development within peer conversation. The methodology utilized focus group interviews, individual interviews and document analysis of institutional mission statements as the tools in gathering data. Data were then analyzed through thematic coding within the framework of narrative analysis.
Several themes emerged as central to the spiritual development narrative in the peer conversation including student views of spirituality, conversations of meaning, conversation catalysts, and the conversationalists. Students viewed spirituality as a person's connection to wholeness and divineness as well as both an innately personal yet often communal quest. As students experienced spirituality in community through peer conversations, students asked meaning-of-life questions in order to understand their identity, their relationships with others, the world and faith. Experiences in the classroom, in their personal lives and in the world initiated peer inquiry of each other and with wise mentors. These findings suggested student use of spirituality as a tool for identity development, for conversations regarding religious differences, and for coping with life's curveballs. In addition, this study found that spiritual conversations had a niche on the college campus primarily in religious organizations, classroom discussions and close friendship groups. Finally, student resistance to conflict acted as an inhibitor to conversations of religious difference. From these findings, several recommendations for student affairs educators were suggested to enhance practices on campus that empower spiritual conversations and development.