Worldview LensStages of Faith: Fowler
How a person composes meaning about what is ultimate: trust, loyalty, authority, symbols and community. 'Faith' is meant broadly, including secular worldviews.
The stages, earliest to latest
- Intuitive-Projective 1Fantasy-filled, imitative; powerful images absorbed from adults; no stable logic.
- Mythic-Literal 2Stories and symbols taken literally; fairness as reciprocity; cosmic justice.
- Synthetic-Conventional 3Faith synthesized from the community's beliefs; authority located outside; tacitly held.
- Individuative-Reflective 4Critical reflection on beliefs; self-authored commitments; symbols demythologized into concepts.
- Conjunctive 5Embraces paradox; second naïveté; truth in multiple traditions; symbols re-enchanted.
- Universalizing 6Lives a selfless, inclusive vision; felt sense of oneness; often subversive of structures.
Sources
- Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. Harper & Row.
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