APA Citation
Hayes, S. C. (1984). Making sense of spirituality. Behaviorism, 12, 99-110.
Publication Topic
ACT: Conceptual
RFT: Conceptual
Publication Type
Article
Language
English
Keyword(s)
ACT, RFT
Abstract
In ordinary language a clear distinction is made between the world of matter and that of spirit. While dualism is typically thought to be incompatible with behaviorism, a behavioral analysis of self-awareness suggests that there are good reasons for dualistic talk. Reputed qualities of both the spiritual aspect of humans and of a metaphysical God seem to flow naturally from the analysis. The use of the spiritual facet of self in therapy is briefly discussed.
Comments
The first ACT article. The references in this article mentions ACT data presentations from 1982 (amazingly, the specific mention is of a piece that came out 17 years later in The Psychological Record, 1999, 49, 33-47). The analysis in this article on spirituality anticipates RFT, deictic frames, perspective taking, self-as-context, acceptance, defusion, and many other issues now of known importance. If you want to draw a line in the dirt and say "ACT / RFT started here" this article is the starting point.