An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Spirituality and Ethical Style

Some people view spirituality as being religious, where as for others, it may be more personal. Some people get in touch with their spiritual side through private prayer, rituals, yoga, meditation, quiet reflection, or even long walks. There is a notion that spiritual individuals are more ethical and the components of ethics are nothing but our beliefs and practices. Some studies have indicated that the higher an individual scores on spirituality, the better he/ she will be able to handle ethical dilemmas. This empirical study is an attempt to evaluate an individuals spirituality through The Spirituality Scale by Delaney C (2003, Revised, 2005), which measures spirituality through 3 dimensions viz. , self-discovery (a search for meaning), the experience of relationships, and eco-awareness (a connection to the environment and cosmos) and correlate it to the two ethical styles of an individual (Ethics of care and ethics of justice) by using the Ethical style questionnaire developed by the Loyola Marry mount University (2006). It was hypothesized that there would be a correlation between spirituality and ethics and it would vary according to age. The sample for the study was taken from the general population (N=69), with two age groups 21 to 30 & 45- 60. The findings revealed that there is a strong positive correlation between the spirituality and ethical style of an individual (0.715) at a significance level of 0.01. The results also indicated that individuals who scored high on the spirituality scale had a specific ethical style of dealing with ethical dilemmas. Further research with a larger sample, with different religious groups would probably help explain this pattern (most of the participants were followers of Hinduism). Examining these dimensions of spirituality and ethics would probably provide valuable insights into the ways in which one deals with the day to day situations and problems. It would also help in deciding which ethical style is best suited for a particular occupation.