Abstract

NEGREIROS, Teresa Creusa de Góes Monteiro. Espiritualidade: desejo de eternidade ou sinal de maturidade?. Rev. Mal-Estar Subj. [online]. 2003, vol.3, n.2, pp.275-291. ISSN 1518-6148.

In this essay about spirituality and aging we point out that, aside from the prejudice involving the theme and recently discussed in the scientific and academic literature, a controversial issue still remains in psychology: Is spirituality a sign of maturity or a child desire of eternity that should be surpassed ? Multiple conceptions of spirituality were presented. We also tried to show that there are several indicators that, in later years, the search for the meaning of life, faith, virtuosity and the belief in transcendence lessens the impact of new kinds of contemporary discontents encountered by elder people and may as well act as a resource to improve health conditions and the life span.

Keywords : spirituality; aging; meaning of life; contemporary discontents; maturity.

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