Relationships & Community

Humans thrive within community, but our modern age encourages poor relational habits. Think about the nature of your relationships with the help of the practice in this post.

What does healthy spirituality have to do with our relationships? While our capacity for spirituality is hard-wired, our spirituality is in fact mostly developed relationally. We learn our beliefs and practices from others.

What do you need to understand about your attachment style?

Understand attachment through this case study.

Explore your attachment style with this exercise.

We’re made for relationships. It’s knit into our DNA, knit into our purpose. But relationships are a kaleidoscope of emotions. And psychologists Sue Johnson & Jim Furrow are helping us understand more about the science of relationships, the role that emotions play in healing conflict, and how our human connectedness impacts human thriving.

Understanding forgiveness is the first step to giving it. Try the practice here to begin the process.

Pamela Ebsytne King, Peter L. Benson Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Science, uses research from developmental psychology to show how relationships strengthen the process of identity formation. Read, listen, and watch more from voices in the Fuller community on the topic of spiritual formation:   …

Does your Community Support Spiritual Health? Research indicates seven ideals.

Dr. Pam King discusses the importance of creating transformative systems that will enable human thriving.

Developing deep bonds with others requires effort. Ask yourself these questions for deeper understanding, and you might feel less lonely.

Love is necessary for wholeness. Read how you can get closer to those you care about.

“How do I grow as a fully differentiated person in relationship and increasing intimacy, increasing contribution with the world around me?” (Dr. Pam King, from the episode) Dr. Pam King joins the Yale Center for Faith & Culture podcast, For the Life of the World, for a discussion of human development, purpose, relational intimacy, and spiritual connection—all through the integration of developmental psychology and theology. With host Evan Rosa, she reflects on human change and plasticity in the midst of a whole complex life; relational attachment for the sake of intimacy and exploration and ultimate purpose or meaning; the proper place of self-love; God’s enabling and loving presence as the ultimate secure attachment figure; the importance of learning, gaining skills, and the pursuit of expertise; the prospects of regaining emotional regulation through relationships; the game changing impact of deliberate psychological and spiritual practices to move us well beyond surviving to…

Becoming a more forgiving person is a process. If you are ready to start healing, ask yourself the following questions. Make sure you have the support you need.

Is it possible to create a more loving world? Practices that link us to our senses support our ability to love.

You can get closer to those you care about with a little practice.

This project will develop the concept of Reciprocating Love and then develop a scale to measure it.

Citation Lerner, R. M., Tirrell, J. M., Gansert, P. K., Lerner, J. V., King, P. E., Geldhof, G. J., … & Sim, A. T. (2021). Longitudinal research about, and program evaluations of, positive youth development in low-and middle-income countries: Methodological issues and options. Journal of Youth Development, 16(2-3), 100-123. Abstract The study of positive youth development (PYD) requires theory-based methodological considerations pertinent to measurement, research and program design, and data analysis. We outline the appropriate steps that researchers and program evaluators must enact to address these methodological foci in their respective attempts to describe, explain, and optimize the course of positive development among diverse youth around the world. We focus on longitudinal (developmental) research designed to evaluate programs promoting PYD in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where life challenges are shaped by multiple adverse situations associated with racism, poverty, gender inequalities, political inequities, and the absence of adequate health and…

Citation Tirrell, J. M., Hay, S. W., Gansert, P. K., Le, T. U., O’Neil, B. C., Vaughn, J. M., Bishara, L., Tan, E., Lerner, J. V., King, P. E., Dowling, E. M., Williams, K., Iraheta, G., Sim, A. T. R., & Lerner, R. M. (2021). Fostering youth strengths and positive development: Exploring the role of the “Big Three” features of effective youth development programs in El Salvador. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 45(6), 524-532. Abstract Programs effective in promoting positive youth development (PYD) involve curricular features termed the Big Three: Positive and sustained adult–youth relationships; life-skill-building activities; and youth contribution and leadership opportunities. Data from 610 adolescents (50% female; M age = 16.39 years, SD = 1.83) enrolled in Compassion International-supported programs in El Salvador indicated that scores derived from a youth-report measure of the Big Three, established using data from Rwanda, manifested strong invariance and predicted both youth strengths and contribution. Qualitative interviews with…

Citation Tirrell, J.M., Gansert, P.K., Dowling, E.M., Williams, K., Iraheta, G., Lerner, J.V., King, P.E., Sim, A., & Lerner, R.M. (2021) Interrogating ergodicity and specificity in youth development programs in El Salvador. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 73 (202103), 101243. Abstract Researchers and evaluators interested in positive youth development (PYD) programs seek to understand what works for what youth in what ways. Typically, measurement and analysis are framed by ergodic theorems, which assume homogeneity of individuals and stationarity in individuals’ developmental pathways. However, such commonality (homogeneity and stationarity) does not characterize all developmental data sets. Here, we interrogate ergodicity assumptions using data from the Compassion International (CI) Study of PYD in El Salvador. We assessed 1205 youth (Mage = 13.03; 49.8% female; 67.1% urban), 51% of whom were enrolled in CI-supported programs, regarding links among youth strengths, contextual resources, and…

Citation Moore, T. J., Hill, M. S., King, P. E., Palkovitz, R., Dollahite, D. C., & Marks, L. D. (2020). Loving God, loving others: The sacred among American mainline protestant families. In Dollahite, D. C., & Marks, L. D. (Eds.) Strengths in Diverse Families of Faith (pp. 117-132). Abstract This book explores how religious families draw on their spiritual beliefs, religious practices, and faith communities to help them strengthen their marital relationships and their parenting. Using in-depth interviews from eight religious groups – Asian American Christian; Black Christian; Catholic and Orthodox Christian; Evangelical Christian; Jewish; Latter-day Saint; Mainline Protestant; and Muslim – the book uses the interviewees’ own words to show how their religion impacts their lives and influences their relationships. The book also includes an introductory chapter which describes the study and the sample; a conceptual chapter which places the empirical chapters in theoretical context in sociological study of…

Citation Lerner, R. M., Tirrell, J. M., Lerner, J. V., Geldhof, G. J., Gestsdottir, S., King, P. E., Sim, A. T. R., & Dowling, E. (2018). The end of the beginning: Evidence and absences studying PYD in a global context. Adolescent Research Review, 4(1), 1-14. Abstract Relational developmental systems metatheory frames many contemporary models of human development, including two strengths-based approaches to enhancing the lives of diverse children and adolescents, the positive youth development (PYD) perspective and resilience science. Both approaches emphasize the potential for plasticity in human development, and the systematic changes that arise through mutually influential relations between the individual and the multiple, integrated levels of the dynamic developmental system. After discussing the similarities and differences in these two approaches, different models of PYD are discussed in relation to how descriptions, explanations, and attempts at optimizations of the development of diverse youth are enacted within these conceptions. The…

Citation Powell, K., King, P. E., & Clark, C. (2005). The needs of youth ministry at the turn of the century: Hearing the voice of the people. The Journal of Youth Ministry, 4(1), 85-98. Abstract The article presents a study that seeks to investigate the emerging needs of youth ministry practitioners who work with youth and their families with a special focus on topical categories in which training is desired. Consequently, a Voice of the Customer (VOC) methodology was chosen in order to ascertain the current needs facing those who serve and lead in faith-based youth and family work in the United States. The VOC methodology is a technique of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a management approach that are intended to improve customer satisfaction with the quality of products and services. In particular, QFD strives to understand customers’ requirement that influence the design of products and services. Copyright Year: 2005…

Citation King, P. E. (2005). Faith-based organizations. In C. B. Fisher & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Encyclopedia of applied developmental science. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Abstract The Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science is an important and timely contribution to this burgeoning field. This four-volume set is the authoritative source that encompasses the entire range of concepts and topics involved in the study of applied developmental science. Its contents and levels have broad appeal for those interested in how the application of knowledge about human development can be used to enhance the lives of individuals, families, and communities. Copyright Year: 2005 Holder: SAGE Publications DOI: https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/applieddevscience/n169.xml…

Citation King, P. E. (2005). Congregations. In E. M. Dowling & W. G. Scarlett (Eds.), Encyclopedia of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Abstract The Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development is the first reference work to focus on the developmental process of religion and spirituality across the human life span. Spiritual development is an important part of human development that has links to identity development, moral development, and civic engagement. This innovative Encyclopedia offers insight into the characteristics of people and their contexts that interact to influence religious and spiritual development over time. Editors Elizabeth M. Dowling and W. George Scarlett provide readers with glimpses into the religious and spiritual developmental trajectories of people from all over the world, from many different religious and spiritual backgrounds. Copyright Year: 2005 Holder: SAGE Publications DOI: https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/religion/n52.xml…

Citation King, P.E. (2003). Social capital. In J. R. Miller, R. M. Lerner, L. B. Schiamberg, & P. M. Anderson (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Human Ecology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. Abstract The first—and only—source to integrate the multiple disciplines and professions exploring the many ways people interact with the natural and designed environments in which we live. Comprising more than 250 informative entries, The Encyclopedia of Human Ecology examines the interdisciplinary and complex topic of human ecology. Knowledge gathered from disciplines that study individuals and groups is blended with information about the environment from the fields of family science, geography, anthropology, urban planning, and environmental science. At the same time, professions intended to enhance individual and family life—marriage and family therapy, clinical psychology, social work, dietetic and other health professions—are represented alongside those concerned with the preservation, conservation, and management of the environment and its resources. How rampant are eating…

Citation King, P. E., Furrow, J. L., & Roth, N. (2002). The influence of families and peers on adolescent religiousness. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 21(2), 109–120. Abstract Although the issue of religion and mental health has been receiving increasing attention as researchers discover links between religious affiliation and indicators of psychological well-being, very little research attention has been given to strengthening the presence of religion in the lives of adolescents. This study explored the impact of family and peers on adolescents’ experience of God and their value of religion in an effort to better understand the dynamics of social influence on adolescent religiousness. Social capital theory was used to understand the unique contribution of religious social interactions. A sample of 413 high school aged students responded to a self-report questionnaire including items measuring religious importance, religious experience, family religious support, and peer religious support. Family and peer influences were…