Marian A. Ford
EDHE 6520
Dr. Baier – Spring 2009

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Developmental psychologist
Director of the Center for Faith Development and Center for Ethics at
Emory University
Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University
United Methodist minister
Published author
 Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development
 Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian
 Faith Development and Pastoral care
 Faithful Change
 To See the Kingdom

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Believes faith more than religion or belief is most fundamental category of human quest for relation to transcendence.
Believes that faith is the primary motivation for individual’s life
Believes faith is a holistic orientation and is concerned with individual’s ability to relate to what is universal
Goal was to chart faith development throughout individual lifespan in order to characterize common faith stages and transitions that separate them

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Faith is the universal human activity of making meaning and giving shape to how humans infer and relate to themselves and the world around them.
Modeled after Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg’s theories
Developmental path of person's way of making sense of and relating to “ultimate” environment
Used to influence pastoral care, development psychology and religious education

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Cognitive-structural model
Describes spiritual development and cognitive process
Concerned with process where student comes to subscribe to particular beliefs held by them
Relational nature of beliefs and meaning involves students’ interactions with others and commitment to higher being as origin which gives students meaning and purpose
 Implications of faith stages can be related to perceptions of members of out groups and attitudes towards those similar and dissimilar from them

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Pre-stage or primal stage
Stage One: Intuitive or
Projected Faith
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Stage Two: Mythic or Literal
Faith
Stage Three: Synthetic or
Conventional Faith
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Stage Four : Individuate or
Reflective Faith
Stage Five: Conjunctive Faith
Stage Six: Universalizing

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Occurs during preverbal year
Mutual Interaction between infant and primary caregiver
Provides foundation of faith

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Usually children aged 3-7
Fantasy filled imitative phase
Children can be influenced by examples, moods and actions and stories of related adults.
First awareness of death and sex, ability to grasp experiences
Transition occurs when there is concrete operational thinking and resolution and distinction between reality and non-reality.
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Usually school-aged children
Person tells stories, has beliefs and makes observations.
Moral rules, attitudes and literal interpretations
Impacted by symbolic and dramatic materials
 Transition occurs when implicit clash between stories which makes child reflect.

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Usually arises in adolescence but could remain permanent stage in adults
Experience of world extends beyond family, school, work and media; ego is dominant
Transition occurs when contradiction between valued authority exists, encounters experience to lead to reflection of values ( i.e.. Leaving home)
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Usually occurs in adolescence or early adult
Burden of responsibility for own lifestyle, attitudes and beliefs
Shift from dependence on others’ spiritual beliefs to development of own
Restless with outlook and selfimage; existential anxiety sets
 Transition occurs when critical reflection on identity and hears inner voices

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Usually occurs in mid-life, if at all
Integration into self and outlook of what was suppressed and unrecognized in previous stage
Strives to unify opposites in mind and experience
Rise of ironic imagination and appreciates other’s rituals because own view is so deep
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Usually occurs in older adults if at all
Very rare
Search for universal values, unconditional love and justice
Often referred to as enlightenment
 Examples include Gandhi and
Mother Theresa

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Semiclinical interview developed by Fowler’s research
Focuses on significant life experiences and meanings to person
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Optional autobiographical questionnaire (Life Tapestry Exercise) can be filled out prior to interview (established 1986)
Sensitivity used by interviewer; lasts 2-3 hours

Four broad areas
 General life review
 Review of life-shaping experiences and relationships
 Description of present values and commitments
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 Specific questions about religion ( i.e.. Relationship of religion to morality)
Certain questions may be in order and form, but structure of interview and flow based on how previous questions are being answered

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Scoring made by comparing answers to formal stage descriptions; specific stage level guidelines for seven stages
Benchmarks used and Manual for Faith Development Research
 Add scores for each response under each location and divide by number of response
 Arithmetic average, combined and averaged to yield overall score
 .39 or less round down, .70 or higher round up, between represents subject in stage transition

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Great amount of time needed to administer interview
Dependent on clinical sensitivity and training with administrators and scorers of test
Uncovers cognitive dimensions of faith rather than affective or relational
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Heavy focus on scoring guide on structural elements of faith in stage determination
Computing arithmetic average flattens out score
Hard to determine if personality of person plays a role in evaluating faith development measures and theory

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Best validated instrument designed to measure stages
Encompasses all structural elements Flower proposes
Includes cognitive and relational affective dimensions of faith
Could prove that some college students reach stage five prior to middle age

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Individuals’ perceptions of group membership and individuality
Primary orientation to social activity and peer-group
Can use to predict how people in stages view others who are similar and dissimilar
Can be important to understand; measure impact upon aspect of one’s behavior
Stages help evaluate how students might relate to others most like them

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Helps evaluate members of in-groups and out groups
Those in same stages could react differently in some ways from others in later faith stages
One’s faith stage can have important impact upon aspects of student’s behavior

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How does one measure the stages of faith as opposed to different types of faith?
How does one determine if students are just attracted to sentiments in particular stage when not actually living by the ideals?

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What is the student’s primary orientation to future family role?
What is the student’s primary orientation to future professional role?
How can students seeking their identity help manage their personal problems, ideology and values?

Faith Styles Scale
 Questionnaire for only adults
 Non open-ended questions
 Not given by trained administrators
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Faith Development Scale
Questionnaire with forced choices
Paired item scale usually used with only adults

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Conn, Joann (1986).Stages of Faith. Women's Spirituality:
Resources for Christian Development . 226-232.
Fowler, James W. (1981). Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human
Development and the Quest for Meaning . New York, New York:
Harper & Row.
Green, Charles (1989).Stages of Faith and Perceptions of Similar and Dissimilar Others. Review of Religious Research . 30(3) , 246-
254.
 Parker, Stephen (2006).Measuring Faith Development. Journal of
Psychology and Theology . 34(4) , 337-348.

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Streib, Heinz (2005).Faith Development Research Revisited:
Accounting for Diversity in Structure, Content, and Narrativity of
Faith. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion . 15(2) ,
99-121.
Streib, Heinz (2004).Extending Our Vision of Developmental Growth and Engaging in Empirical Scrutiny: Proposals for the Future of Faith
Developmental Theory. The Religions Education Association . 99(4) ,
427-434.