Aspects of spirituality, God images, and "self-centredness" in 17-years-old adolescents attending religious education at high school

We investigated associations between different aspects of spirituality, life satisfaction and self-interest among adolescents. In this anonymous survey (pilot study) using standardized questionnaires, we enrolled 54 adolescents (mean age 17.4 ± 0.73 years) attending religious education classes in a high-school. Pupils’ life satisfaction was high overall, particularly with respect to friendships, family and self, but lowest with respect to school. The young people appreciated Conscious interactions the most, while they gave low scores for Prayer / Trust in God and Transcendence conviction; Search for insight / Wisdom reached intermediate scores. In general, female students had higher scores than males, particularly with respect to Conscious interactions. However, the statement that “consideration for others is fine, but what really matters in the end is that I get ahead in school and my career” was accepted by 41% and rejected by 37% (22% were undecided). This attitude of self-interest (and implicitly rejected mutual consideration) correlated inversely with the statement of being “an interested student”. Stepwise regression analyses identified three variables that impact on this attitude: The strongest predictors were male gender, (dis-)satisfaction with school, and overall life satisfaction; aspects of spirituality were not of significant relevance in this prediction model. The implicit ‘self-centredness’, rejected by 75% of girls, but accepted by 64% of boys, may have an impact on their social behaviour as adults. Teachers should support and encourage male adolescents in particular to develop as responsible and considerate individuals.German (Zusammenfassung): In einer anonymen Querschnittsuntersuchung (Pilotstudie) sollten mit Hilfe standardisierter Fragebogen bei 54 Jugendlichen (mittleres Alter 17,4 ± 0,73 Jahre) Aspekte der Spiritualit t, Lebenszufriedenheit und Selbst-Zentrierung untersucht werden. Die Zufriedenheit der am Religionsunterricht eines Gymnasiums teilnehmenden Schüler mit verschiedenen Dimensionen des Lebens war generell hoch, insbesondere für Freundschaften, Familie und mit sich selbst, am geringsten jedoch für die Schulsituation. Von den untersuchten Aspekten der Spiritualit t wurde ein Bewusster Umgang (mit sich, den anderen und der Umwelt) am st rksten wertgesch tzt, w hrend eine Religi se Orientierung (Gebet / Gottvertrauen) und Transzendenzüberzeugung geringe Zustimmung fanden; Suche nach Einsicht / Weisheit erzielte intermedi re Zustimmungs-Scores. Generell zeigten hier M dchen h here Scores als Jungen, insbesondere für den Bewu