The next American spirituality -- in the workplace
Read the transcript of a live online chat with George Gallup, Jr. (of the Gallup Institute) that was part of the Spirituality @Work Online Conference 2003.
April 1, 2003

George’s comments came during a live spirituality.com Online Event on April 1, 2003. He was responding to questions from the audience. Following is a transcript of the discussion:

Spirituality.com Host: Okay, let's get started. We are honored to have George Gallup, Jr. from the Gallup Institute joining us today. Any opening thoughts to get us started?

George: I think what is extremely interesting is the upsurge in interest in growing spirituality that we are recording in surveys at this time. Part of this desire is for people to get in small groups and rediscover one another and have a deeper, more meaningful relationship with one another. I think those two trends are very significant for this country.

Spirituality.com Host: For those on the chat that don't know…what is the Gallup Institute all about?

George: The model of the Gallup Institute is ideas for progress and our mission is to discover and implement new ideas for society in the areas of education, environment, health, religion and values. We seek to showcase ideas to move society in a more positive direction, conduct surveys on these, and present these to leaders who can disseminate the information.

Trinidad: In what ways do you see spirituality playing a bigger role in business?

George: It is very interesting. In decades past there was quite a separation between the business and private worlds in terms of spirituality. We are seeing now that the majority of Americans say there is no problem with the expression of spirituality in the workplace and even more would like to see an environment with even more freedom of expression. So those boundaries have become blurred in other areas, such as the workplace, schools, politics and other ways.

Workin: How do you see spirituality defined in your research?

Guest: We did what we usually do. Being pollsters, we asked the people themselves what they mean by spirituality. We discovered it is, as one might expect, a very broad term. It covers a belief in God—that would be the biggest response. It would also include people's inner spirit, communing with nature, something bigger and stronger than ones self in some respect. But in this country most believe in a personal and transcendent God who answers prayers, in the tradition of Judeo-Christianity. We find 8 of 10 Americans say they are in the Christian tradition.

Hokee: Why do you think the desire to see spirituality in the workplace increasing?

George: I think there are a lot of reasons. People increasingly feel spirituality and religious faith should be involved in all of life and I think in the workplace, also, to create bonding in the workplace. And not to see the personal life separated from work, so there is no sharp break between religious services on the weekend and the workday world. The desire to grow spiritually is among all groups in the population and in all settings. It is the same drive to go to a deeper place. This derives from the past half century where we saw millions of lives lost and man's inhumanity to man—people were reeling from that, looking for something better. People also see many problems surrounding us in this country—crime, homelessness, child abuse, etc.—and see them raging with not much headway being made. I think that drives people to a deeper place to get the strength to deal with these problems. People who fall into the category of highly spiritually committed and with deeper faith are more likely to be involved in acts of compassion than are the people at the other end of the scale.

Guest: Have the statistics surprised you as you explore the topic of spirituality in the workplace?

George: Yes. I thought, frankly, that the public, when we surveyed them, would find the workplace less receptive to the free expression of spirituality and religion. The substantial majority says there is no problem with people expressing that. I was not surprised that a large majority—wanted—that environment.

WorkerB: You have said that the exploration of inner space is the keynote of the 21st century. Do you still feel this way? What signs do you see of this happening today?

George: I do feel this way, indeed, because it really wasn't until the end of the last century that there was a concerted effort to explore beneath the surface of life. We find that 4 in 10 Americans have had a religious or spiritual experience that changed their lives. That is one of the most dramatic findings we have ever uncovered. We started polling on that in 1962. Yet, we don't know much about those experiences—what prompted them, how they inspire people to think differently, what they mean in terms of building love and unity. Also, what is the impact of prayer? Until recently the impact of prayer was unexplored through scientific surveys. It was an area we didn't know much about even after centuries of people praying. It was only near the end of the 20th century that we started paying attention to the spiritual life. 8 of 10 Americans feel the state of the union is linked to the spiritual State of the Union. It is being explored with vigor and intensity at last because the faith factor has more to do with who we are, what we do and what we believe than the physical characteristics of age, politics, region, and the like.

Codd: Can you provide some background on your thought process as you formulate questions—how do you differentiate between spirituality and religion?

George: In the polls we use questions that both deal with spirituality and religion and religious faith. I think they all need to be separated. In broad terms we will use spirituality, in specific terms we will use religion or religious faith.

Redwing: It sounds like spirituality is personally an interesting topic to you. Is that an accurate assumption?

George: Oh, absolutely! Spirituality, the inner life, and the dimensions of religious faith. Both from the scientific point of view, because that is a new area that needs to be explored more deeply, and personally because I have a deep religious faith and I believe the dimensions of life are worthy of deeper exploration.

Hithere: How do you see spirituality influencing culture today in America?

George: In very broad terms the picture is not discouraging. We recently developed what we call the Gallup Spiritual Index. In the CRRUCS/Gallup Spiritual Index study we conducted for the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, the Gallup Institute and the Gallup Organization, we discovered a high level of inner commitment. These are people who have a belief that God has given them a meaning and purpose of life—the inner or vertical dimension. And we compared it to the horizontal, God and the higher power, divine will, so forth, which effect all religious traditions. Using 8 key questions we came up with a figure of 79.8% for inner commitment. How does love of God, in terms of Judeo-Christian tradition, relate to love of neighbor? Spiritual commitment was a change agent in society. So we developed this index and will report each year when the President announces the State of the Union address, we will announce the spiritual State of the Union.

Having said that, there is no perfect scale. But we wanted to establish a benchmark because we want to do it annually. The figures we reported on March 4 in a press conference in Washington were 79.8 % inner commit, 69.5% of outer commitment (all of a possible 100%. The overall combination was 74.7%.) So we will ask the same questions every year at the same time. We now have a measurement of a inner to outer commitment or love of God to love of neighbor. I think this is important for this century because the level of commitment is so important in our society.

Trinidad: Do you think the Enron and Anderson scandals will wake big business up to their business practices…or is that too optimistic a view?

George: I think it was disappointing to the populous but whether that means business will change its course, I don't know. We do have figures on rating ethics on people in different occupations, however. Perceptions of business people did suffer from the scandals. The ratings of business professions were below the average of all the years we have been doing these. 17% of Americans rate the business ethics highly, compared to 25% a year ago. So apparently the scandals did not help the business image much, for sure.

Pril: Do you think there is more emphasis today in business on serving rather than the profit motive?

George: That would be getting into a personal opinion on that. I don't think we have the data for that.

Workin: What patterns do you see in young people today in regards to spiritual discussion and/or spiritual practice?

George: The surge of interest in spiritual growth is across the board in this country and we find it in all age groups. There is a hunger for God and deeper spiritual moorings.

Winnie: Some say the current interest in spirituality will wane due to the fact that many who have experiences are not grounded in faith communities. Do you have thoughts on this?

George: I think that is a good point, actually. Usually there is a lot of emphasis on the experience and not much in the follow-up. These experiences should be shared and built upon in the community. So there is much to that. Faith communities need to do a much better job of inviting people, engaging people and making them feel at home in the church, feeling someone is walking alongside them in their growth. So I agree with that comment. These experiences are best nurtured and brought in a meaningful way into people's lives, if it is done so in the community.

Rhae: Can you state the eight questions you use in your Gallup Spiritual Index?

George: I don't have that with me but I can recall a few examples. Questions for inner-commitment related to how spiritually committed people feel they are, whether or not people feel a sense of inner peace from God, whether or not their faith has given them hope and meaning and purpose, and who also feel a sense of growth in spiritual lives. For outer commitment—do you feel called to get involved in the helping of others, do you get the time to help others, etc. Those are a hint of this group's questions.

WorkerB: Is spirituality at work a passing fad that will wane when prosperity returns?

George: No, I don't think so. I don’t think it is much related to the economic situation. I did not mean to imply that earlier. The economy doesn't appear to have, outwardly, an impact on people's spirituality.

Hithere: What questions do you still have about spirituality in America today? What questions haven’t you seen answered yet?

George: I would like to see more work done, scientific exploration, on religious and spiritual experiences. What goes into them, what prompts them, where do they lead people? Also, I would like to see a continuing exploration of the impact of prayer in people's lives. Good work has been done—Dr. Koenig at Duke for example. I think there are truly many exciting discoveries ahead as we seek to go deeper in people's spiritual lives and motivation. I think that is one of the new frontiers of survey research.

WorkerB: Are people including times for meditation and prayer into their workday?

George: Yes, they are. Perhaps not in a formal sense but a few years ago I helped conduct a survey called “24 Hours in the Spiritual Life of Americans.” I wanted to see hour by hour how the characteristics of spiritual life was in a 24-hour period. Many people were experiencing the presence of God throughout the day. There is a lot of communion with God in various ways during the given day. It really struck me the high number of people living the inner life. It was their real life because it is more pervasive than the external life.

Hithere: What is the most interesting thing you have found in your latest research on the spiritual behavior of US adults?

George: I would have to go back to the religious experiences. 40% of Americans have had a remarkable experience that changed the direction of their lives. 30% of the populous (about 60 million) have had a remarkable healing experience either physically or emotionally. These areas are being explored with a new vigor but were essentially ignored by the scientific and survey research community for a long time.

Codd: How did 9/11 impact our nation’s spirituality and how do you see the current Iraq war impacting it?

George: In terms of surveys on church going and the importance of religion in people's lives and prayer, after 9/11 we saw increases in all these. But it did not last long. They went back to the pre 9/11 levels after a few weeks. There was a slight burst but it didn't last. There was a survey by the Pew foundation that showed people who were already religious became deeper in their faith. So something could be developing at a deeper level and then this war is now taking them to a deeper place. What happens usually, and we can go back to WWII in surveys, is that there is an increase at the time of the war, continuing through the war, then falling off quickly in the first several weeks after an engagement. In the first Gulf War, it increased church going and prayer briefly and then it went back, as after 9/11. But people could be going to a deeper place.

Mp: Do people have a satisfactory idea of how to pray and meditate?

George: No, I would say generally the answer is no. The public, most people, would say they want to go to a deeper place in prayer. One could say the goal is to live a life of prayer. I think people want to go to a deeper place and want to be more disciplined in their lives. I think it is a safe bet to say that.

Workin: Can the Internet take us to new heights in the spiritual practice of Americans today?

George: It may take us to new heights or depths! If it robs the public of face-to-face community that would be unfortunate. But to some extent the Internet creates community that would not be there otherwise, like chat rooms. It does certainly disseminate information all over the world. It is important that people know what they believe and why, and many don't in this country, and what other people believe and why. In order for that dialogue not to be defensive and emotional, it is important to know the basis of their own faith and others as well.

Spirituality.com Host: We are quickly running out of time George. Are there any closing ideas you want to leave us with?

George: This is a time of both a great challenge, in terms of deepening the spiritual and religious life of Americans, but also an opportunity. Many things get in the way of spirituality and religious faith but at the same time there is a hunger for God and deeper spiritual moorings. When you take people to a deeper place they can handle the world better.

Spirituality.com Host: Have a great day everyone and check the conference home page for the next event. Thank you George, and thanks to all of you for your questions!

www.spirituality.com