INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Faith and Happiness’s development through the
development of relationships
Fowler’s Faith Development theory and Seligman’s Positive
Psychology theory
Samantha Andrea Bolanos Melgar
16/02/2017
Erskine College
Faith Development and Positive Psychology 2
Abstract
Fowler’s Faith Development theory is relatively new, but it already shows its importance
and influence over the psychology field. Fowler explains how faith is developed by people over
their life in six different and hierarchy stages. With faith, we just do not talk about a religious
faith. Seligman’s “Positive Psychology” theory explains three different roads that people follow
to reach happiness. They can choose one or all three at the same time. Faith and happiness affect
our brain in different ways and also helps to develop our brain as well. With these, our brain is
exposed to constant environmental changes which repower the most amazing characteristic of
the brain: its plasticity.
Faith Development and Positive Psychology 3
Faith and Happiness’s development through the development of relationships
Everyone wants to be happy. Every step that we make is towards happiness, even if we
do not realize. For example, when you want to get a new tattoo and you have the money and
permission (if you need it) and you get it, you are going to be happy. But if you want to travel
and you do not have the money, your mood can be anything else but happy. Happiness is
something that everyone searches for, but is it something that you have to seek? Or it is
something that you have to reach? I know almost anybody is going to agree with the latter
answer because it depends on their experiences and the definition of happiness that each one has.
For some people happiness is a daily decision; for others, it is a momentary state. But something
that I think almost everyone is going to agree with is that happiness depends on or is related to
something. Happiness is just not a random thing. Happiness most times is related to our
priorities, such as family, friends, job, or beliefs. Beliefs are a fundamental part of everyone’s
life. Beliefs establish such things as how you behave, or what type of diet are you going to eat.
Most people relay their hopes on their beliefs, they have faith. But what is that? Faith is a word
many times misunderstood for a lot of people. Faith is confidence in what we hope for assurance
about what we do not see (Hebrew, 11:1). So, faith is putting our hope in something that we are
not sure about, and it is not under our control. Faith is very fragile and susceptible because
usually, we have faith in things that we cannot see or touch. Even when you have faith in
someone, you cannot control him/her, so you are never going to be a hundred percent sure about
that person. But, there is something that faith can do: grow or decrease. The development of the
faith and happiness depend on each one, and the level of relationship or how and how much one
affects the other, as well. So, faith and happiness share two main characteristics: both can
develop and both are basic for relationships.
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Faith development: what is faith and how it can be developed?
James Fowler talks about how faith is developed in six stages. Each stage represents a
way of believing and reasoning rather than religious. They are structural. One cannot skip over a
stage in the process of faith development, one can only proceed through the stages in order
(Gathman, 1997). Fowler’s theory of faith development explains how every human being starts
to believe in something since his firsts years of life and how we and our faith change with the
time. In the beginning, we believe in everything that someone tells us because our imagination is
being formed. No one knows if something is real or not until someone (generally older) tells you
the “truth”. For example, every child believes in Santa Claus because their parents tell them the
story, and without thinking, the child just believe. Eventually, they have to tell the child that
Santa Claus is not real or they just realize that it cannot be true. This happens, usually after the
child is seven or eight years old. This is the same age that Fowler presents as the regular age of
the ending of the first stage. This stage could be named as “egocentric” because it is all about
“me” if I believe in Santa what is he going to give me something. Also, this stage is the
foundation of trust in people. The child creates the bond most important with the one providing
care to him. This relationship is going to be the base for all the future relationships in a child’s
life. The closure of this stage is when the child starts to think more rationally or operationally.
The second stage is when we start to talk about religion, or when we first approach
religion with our families. It is very common that each family has their own way to think about
this, or just saying, they choose theirs on religion. But based on what? Guess what! Their own
parents, too. If you ask some kids about what they believe or what is their religion, they are
going to have a straight answer. Then if you ask why, a possible answer is going to be “because
my mom or dad taught me”. They do not have a deep understanding of what or why they believe
Faith Development and Positive Psychology 5
in certain things. They do not ask, everything is literal. The sky is blue, God is good, the tree is
dying; these statements are going to be understood as they are reading by a child in this stage.
Because of this for kids, God as an anthropomorphic being who lives in the sky and Hell as a
place full of fire, make sense. They view those as actual places. Children leave this stage when
they stop to think about all the contradictions and conflicts of many statements and they start to
think less literal. Children start to have problems with authority which lead to disillusionment
with a literal interpretation. (Gathman, 1997) This disillusionment is the step for the next stage.
The third stage, also called “ The conventional stage” (Gathman, 1997). The children
grow and their social circle does too. Their beliefs start to be influenced by the new people
around them. They have new ideas on the environment, so they start to absorb them and mix
with their old beliefs. Many people do not grow from this stage, and they stay here whole life. So
at this stage does not just involve children, it could encompass anyone. As humans, we are social
beings. We need to develop relationships with other people to have a healthy mindset. We need
to feel part of a group of individuals. This thought lead us to find ways to be part of something
like a church, sports team, club, etcetera. A lot of people stay in this stage because is comfortable
and easy. It does not present any mental challenge for anyone but it could present a moral
challenge. Fowler says, “There is both structuring and deconstructing power in the cultural
environment with its social and media surround.” (Fowler, 2001). “Tell me who do you hang out
with and I’m going to tell you who you are.” This is a proverb that I used to hear a lot from my
mom. You are the only one who can decide how your environment is going to affect your life.
When people get reunited to church, it is very common that they do not go because they agree a
hundred percent with the ideas from the authorities of that church. Just a few people start to
Faith Development and Positive Psychology 6
question why or if everything that they heard on churches is true or if it makes sense. This is the
step that closes the third stage
The fourth stage also called “individuative-reflective faith” (Gathman, 1997). This stage
is reached by just a few people. We can say that it is when “faith” is not about what other people
say or believe, it is about what do you think and intellectually speaking what critical conclusions
do you have. Sometimes in this stages, people can face ideas that can hurt them because they are
against what they believed for many years. Many people could think that this stage does not have
any relationship with God, but I do not think so because this is not about denying the idea of God
or something supernatural just because I said: “critical thinking” or “intellectual”. God and
Science can go together. This stage is about the capacity that believes in thing supernaturals not
because everyone says that it is the right thing, but because after thinking, examining, evaluating
you decide that it makes sense for you and it is right to believe. It’s a little bit egocentric. This
stage end when the person realizes how complex the life really is. The person ceases to listen to
just his conscious voice and start to listen to both conscious and unconscious voices. When this
happenes the person is ready for the next stage.
Stage five is more collective. Also called “The Conjuctive Stage”. This stage is beyond
the idiosyncrasy of the stage fourth. (Gathman, 1997). To reach this stage the person needs a lot
of experience of the world, people, and be solid in his beliefs, so he needed to expand his world
before. Questions and answers have more direction, they do not need to make sure about what
they believe. This stage is about learning more and model the mind. This is not about the fight
and who is right, it is about seeing others perspective and learn how to improve himself and his
ideas with more information. Nothing is literal. Even if this stage has an average age, just a few
people are able to reach it, because this stage is a really mental challenge. Even though the stage
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five-person has a lot to offer to society, there is one more stage to reach and the gap between this
stages is the person’s view of the world. There is a fight between his own well-being and how he
wants to see the world versus how the world really is and if he is going to be willing to risk
himself for the improvement of the world. This is the end of stage five.
The stage six, also called “Universalizing Faith”, is just reached by counted people, such
Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Gandhi. This is because these people can defeat the issue of stage
five and they are able to put someone else before them truly, without asking something in
exchange or think that the other person owes them something. Those able to reach this stage
could be considered as a model for society such as the examples. Another important
characteristic is that they have a cause. This cause involves the intention of improving the
