Paul E King
Biographic Data
| ID | 219844 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul E King |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul E |
| FAMILY NAME | King |
| SIGNATURE | KING P E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Fuller Theological Seminary |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2853-7657 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 159 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 42 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1961 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
On Being and Becoming Human Through Accompaniment and Telos: Ontological Convergences Between Christian Anthropology and the Science of Human Development
We discuss several points of convergence in ontological concepts within Christian anthropology and the contemporary dynamic, relational, developmental systems (RDS)-based approach within developmental science. Both approaches uphold the significance of relationality, particularly of mutually beneficial (nurturing) relationships between every individual and others, as both the means and the ends of human development and thriving. Both magisteriums…
Revisiting the Rocks of Ages: The Ontology of Human Development as a Sample Case of Meaningful Collaborations Between the Magisteriums of Science and Religion
We argue for the possibility of creating a mutually-meaningful and mutually-consequential collaboration between the Magisteriums of Religion and Science by providing a sample case about how fundamental issues in understanding the ontology of being human within developmental science align with corresponding ontological issues within instances of Judeo-Christian theology. We illustrate how two specific areas of collaboration—palliative care that su…
Spiritual Health in a Secular Age: Perspectives from Developmental and Positive Psychologies
In an increasingly secular and pluralistic age marked by declining religious affiliation and rising individualized spiritual pursuits, accompanied by soaring mental health issues, the need for psychologically grounded perspectives on spiritual health is urgent. Drawing on developmental psychology, positive psychology, and psychology of religion and spirituality, this article introduces the Thrive Spiritual Health Framework. Spiritual health invol…
Spirituality and meaning-making across contexts: Structural topic modeling of the Fetzer spirituality study in the United States
Spiritual Formation in Theological Education: A Multi-case Exploration on Seminaries and Student Development
In recent decades, theological schools have demonstrated increased interest in educational models that not only transmit knowledge and skill to students, but also prepare them to have the character and virtue dispositions needed to successfully navigate the moral challenges that await them in future ministry settings. This shift is reflected in the most recent 2020 accreditation standards of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), which hig…
Measuring Youth Perceptions of Being Known and Loved and Positive Youth Development: Cross-National Findings from Rwanda and El Salvador
Neurodiversity and Thriving: A Case Study in Theology-Informed Psychology
The concept of ‘neurodiversity’ to speak of conditions such as autism, dyslexia, and others as differences, not disorders or pathologies, relies on a robust account of human flourishing that can incorporate these conditions. Conceptions of illness and well-being are always partially theological, whilst also having to be grounded in the empirical realities of the present time. Therefore, positive developmental psychology is a particularly apt fiel…
Back to the Future: Volf’s Eschatological Vision of Flourishing for a Psychology of Thriving
In this article, we aim to explain how Miroslav Volf’s theology of flourishing provides a new vision for psychologists. As the Henry B. Wright Professor and Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Volf is recognized as one of the most influential living theologians. His recent work offers a theology of human flourishing based in an eschatological vision of God’s homecoming, the unification of the Creator with His created. F…
Shades of Gratitude: Exploring Varieties of Transcendent Beliefs and Experience
The study of gratitude has expanded beyond interpersonal gratitude and considers how people respond to gifts that are not caused by human agency. Given the discord between the prominent understanding of gratitude requiring the appropriate recognition of a gift to a giver and the increasing divergence of transcendent belief systems that do not acknowledge a transcendent or cosmic giver, we explored how people with different worldviews viewed and e…
Agentic and Receptive Hope: Understanding Hope in the Context of Religiousness and Spirituality through the Narratives of Salvadoran Youth
Hope contributes to positive development in adolescents, and religious and spiritual contexts may be particularly important for developing and supporting hope. However, extant literature on hope, religion, and spirituality neglects their synergistic relation, leaving questions about how they work together to support development. In this study, we explore how religiousness and spirituality (R/S) inform hope by identifying unique synergies that mig…
Exploring the role of the “Big Three” features of effective youth development programs in El Salvador: The sample case of programs of Compassion International
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 …
Evaluating the measure of diverse adolescent spirituality in samples of Mexican and Salvadoran youth
Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: Case Studies of Spiritual Exemplars
The constellation of social influences on the development of exemplary spiritual youth includes caregivers, spiritual mentors, and peers, but existing research inadequately captures the cultural and religious meanings of these social influences from the perspectives of young people. From a holistic perspective, this study seeks to understand how youth spiritual exemplars incorporate social influences in their own spiritual developmental trajector…
Joy as a Virtue: The Means and Ends of Joy
To grasp human flourishing and thriving, we must understand joy. However, no theoretical models explain the complexity of joy as a fruit of the Spirit, nor fully account for its impact on human life. We suggest that joy is best conceptualized as a virtue, a psychological habit, comprised of characteristic adaptations and given meaning by transcendent narrative identity. Thus joy involves knowing, feeling, and enacting what matters most. Developme…
Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth
Given the strong link between religiousness and hope, we sought to further understand the relations of these potentially powerful resources for youth living in adversity. Although existing research suggests that religiousness might be associated with adolescent hope via spirituality and social connections, few studies have tested models that integrate both. Thus, as applied psychologists, the aim of this paper was to test a theoretical model in t…
Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality: A Longitudinal Topic Modeling Approach
In lieu of the traditional text data analysis methods, structural topic modeling was utilized to analyze the text contents of 255 self-report inventories of religion and spirituality (R/S) published from 1929 to 2017. The study had two objectives: (a) to clarify and identify the latent dimensions of R/S inherent in the items of the measures; and (b) to examine and demonstrate the usefulness of a longitudinal topic modeling in the study of R/S. We…
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: A Systematic Review of 30 Years of Research
This is a systematic review of 30 years (1988‐2017) of empirical research on processes of religious/spiritual influence in adolescence. We followed a multi‐step process that resulted in 241 studies organized according to eight research questions and the corresponding methods and analyses typically used to address them. We coded these studies based on the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality and the youth outcomes involved. In some cases (quanti…
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: Introduction to a Special Section
This paper serves as the lead article introducing the special section of the Journal of Research on Adolescence focused on processes of religious and spiritual influence during adolescence. The purpose of the special section is to review prior theory and research on the processes by which religiosity and spirituality might influence youth outcomes, present original cutting-edge theory and research on processes of religious and spiritual influence…
Religion, Spirituality, and Thriving: Transcendent Narrative, Virtue, and Telos
A theory is proposed to explain how religion/spirituality (R/S) is related to positive youth development and thriving. The concept of telos is employed to define thriving as continued growth through strength-based living that leads to contributing to one's communities and living out one's ethical ideals. Virtue development is proposed as a primary process by which R/S promotes thriving. Virtues are defined as hybrid personality units emerging whe…
Loving God, Loving Others: The Sacred Among American Mainline Protestant Families
Quantitative research suggests a link between religion and increased relationship commitment, satisfaction, and quality in marriages and parenting. Less is known about the processes and meaning-making experiences of religious individuals and families and how or why such processes exist and function with a family context. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, 20 Mainline Protestant families (N = 47 individuals; 20 mothers, 20 fathers, and 7 youth…
Crucibles of Transformation
Although rates of institutional civic engagement among those in their twenties are low and emerging adults have been characterized as individualistic, this period of life is a time of immense growth and exploration as emerging adults seek to establish their identity with newfound freedoms and autonomy. Utilizing the lens of thriving and the metaphor of a crucible, we explore religious service as a means of strengthening the identity and purpose o…
Preliminary exploration of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) among Mexican youth
In the current article we propose and offer a preliminary test of an ecologically sensitive theoretical and methodological framework for understanding diverse adolescent spiritual development. The study summarizes the initial stages of development of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) that assesses three dimensions of spirituality: transcendence, fidelity, and contribution. We report our procedures and findings from an init…
What's the “Positive” in Positive Psychology? Teleological Considerations Based on Creation and Imago Doctrines
While positive psychology has considered a social science perspective of optimal development and living, a pressing question for the integration of psychology and theology is to consider what Christian theology suggests is essential for humans to thrive. Recognizing that God's purposeful action in creation has a telos, that is, a goal or purpose for humankind, propels Christian psychologists to investigate a theology of thriving in order to more …
An Introduction to Exemplar Research: A Definition, Rationale, and Conceptual Issues
The exemplar methodology represents a useful yet underutilized approach to studying developmental constructs. It features an approach to research whereby individuals, entities, or programs that exemplify the construct of interest in a particularly intense or highly developed manner compose the study sample. Accordingly, it reveals what the upper ends of development look like in practice. Utilizing the exemplar methodology allows researchers to gl…
Cultural and Contextual Issues in Exemplar Research: Cultural and Contextual Issues in Exemplar Research
This chapter specifically addresses how exemplar methods are especially relevant to examining cultural and contextual issues. Cross-cultural, cultural, and indigenous psychologies are discussed in order to highlight how studying actual exemplars in their unique and complex developmental contexts has the potential to identify themes that either differ between or hold constant across distinct peoples and cultures. The chapter addresses basic assump…
Religion as a Resource for Positive Youth Development: Religion, Social Capital, and Moral Outcomes
Although existing literature demonstrates that developmental benefits are associated with religion for adolescents, little is understood about the dynamics of this relationship. Drawing on social capital theory, this study tested a conceptual model exploring socially embedded religious influences on moral outcomes. A three-dimensional model of social capital demonstrated how social interaction, trust, and shared vision enable social ties associat…
Thriving in Adolescence: The Voices of Youth-Serving Practitioners, Parents, and Early and Late Adolescents
This study assesses if correspondence existed between concepts scholars use to discuss positive youth development (PYD) and terms used by practitioners, parents, and youth to discuss exemplary PYD, or thriving. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of 173 interviews about the meaning of thriving found no significant commonality between the terms used in the scholarly literature and the specific words or phrases used by the adult and youth partici…
Adolescent Spiritual Exemplars: Exploring Spirituality in the Lives of Diverse Youth
This qualitative study aimed to develop theory about psychological constructs relevant to spiritual development in diverse adolescents. Exemplar and Consensual Qualitative Research methods were used to explore 30 interviews of adolescents aged 12 to 21 years ( M = 17.73 years) representing eight religions and six countries from around the world. Participants were nominated for living with profound spirituality within their own culture and complet…
Religious Involvement and Developmental Resources in Youth
Linda Mans Wagener, James L. Furrow, Pamela Ebstyne King, Nancy Leffert, Peter Benson, Religious Involvement and Developmental Resources in Youth, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 44, No. 3, Religious and Spiritual Development: Special Issue (Mar., 2003), pp. 271-284
Religion, Spirituality, and Thriving: Transcendent Narrative, Virtue, and Telos
A theory is proposed to explain how religion/spirituality (R/S) is related to positive youth development and thriving. The concept of telos is employed to define thriving as continued growth through strength-based living that leads to contributing to one's communities and living out one's ethical ideals. Virtue development is proposed as a primary process by which R/S promotes thriving. Virtues are defined as hybrid personality units emerging whe…
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: Introduction to a Special Section
This paper serves as the lead article introducing the special section of the Journal of Research on Adolescence focused on processes of religious and spiritual influence during adolescence. The purpose of the special section is to review prior theory and research on the processes by which religiosity and spirituality might influence youth outcomes, present original cutting-edge theory and research on processes of religious and spiritual influence…
Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth
Given the strong link between religiousness and hope, we sought to further understand the relations of these potentially powerful resources for youth living in adversity. Although existing research suggests that religiousness might be associated with adolescent hope via spirituality and social connections, few studies have tested models that integrate both. Thus, as applied psychologists, the aim of this paper was to test a theoretical model in t…
Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality: A Longitudinal Topic Modeling Approach
In lieu of the traditional text data analysis methods, structural topic modeling was utilized to analyze the text contents of 255 self-report inventories of religion and spirituality (R/S) published from 1929 to 2017. The study had two objectives: (a) to clarify and identify the latent dimensions of R/S inherent in the items of the measures; and (b) to examine and demonstrate the usefulness of a longitudinal topic modeling in the study of R/S. We…
Loving God, Loving Others: The Sacred Among American Mainline Protestant Families
Quantitative research suggests a link between religion and increased relationship commitment, satisfaction, and quality in marriages and parenting. Less is known about the processes and meaning-making experiences of religious individuals and families and how or why such processes exist and function with a family context. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, 20 Mainline Protestant families (N = 47 individuals; 20 mothers, 20 fathers, and 7 youth…
Automatic responses, target resistance, and the adaptation of compliance-seeking requests
Based upon politeness theory and a cognitive rules perspective, it is argued that anticipated resistance to a persuasive message should effect compliance-seeking message behavior. Using controlled interviews to elicit persuasive messages, results indicate that persuaders used a greater number of strategies when confronting a positively predisposed target who refused to comply. Beyond an initial opening gambit, negative sanctions were employed mor…
Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: Case Studies of Spiritual Exemplars
The constellation of social influences on the development of exemplary spiritual youth includes caregivers, spiritual mentors, and peers, but existing research inadequately captures the cultural and religious meanings of these social influences from the perspectives of young people. From a holistic perspective, this study seeks to understand how youth spiritual exemplars incorporate social influences in their own spiritual developmental trajector…
The Effect of Time-Compressed Speech on Comprehensive, Interpretive, and Short-Term Listening
Although contemporary theorists view listening as a multidimensional process, the preponderance of published empirical research on human comprehension of speeded speech is based on an outdated, unitary construct. In the present study, the impact of varying levels of time compression on three different types of listening is investigated. The results indicate that comprehensive listening performance deteriorates significantly as speech compression …
Exclusionary Zoning and Open Housing: A Brief Judicial History
IN THE past thirty years metropolitan areas in the United States have undergone dramatic changes in their spatial structure as a result of the dispersal and suburbanization of both housing and jobs. Although the suburbs now contain more people than either central cities or rural areas, growth and migration have been highly selective. Middleand upper-income families, corporate offices, and the least noxious forms of manufacturing and trade have be…
The Human Consequences of Urbanisation: Divergent Paths in the Urban Experience of the Twentieth Century
Sound Language Teaching. The State of the Art Today
The Political Thought of Hannah Arendt
The Human Consequences of Urbanisation: Divergent Paths in the Urban Experience of the Twentieth Century
Exclusionary Zoning and Open Housing: A Brief Judicial History
IN THE past thirty years metropolitan areas in the United States have undergone dramatic changes in their spatial structure as a result of the dispersal and suburbanization of both housing and jobs. Although the suburbs now contain more people than either central cities or rural areas, growth and migration have been highly selective. Middleand upper-income families, corporate offices, and the least noxious forms of manufacturing and trade have be…
Problems of spatial analysis in geographical epidemiology
The Effect of Time-Compressed Speech on Comprehensive, Interpretive, and Short-Term Listening
Although contemporary theorists view listening as a multidimensional process, the preponderance of published empirical research on human comprehension of speeded speech is based on an outdated, unitary construct. In the present study, the impact of varying levels of time compression on three different types of listening is investigated. The results indicate that comprehensive listening performance deteriorates significantly as speech compression …
Automatic responses, target resistance, and the adaptation of compliance-seeking requests
Based upon politeness theory and a cognitive rules perspective, it is argued that anticipated resistance to a persuasive message should effect compliance-seeking message behavior. Using controlled interviews to elicit persuasive messages, results indicate that persuaders used a greater number of strategies when confronting a positively predisposed target who refused to comply. Beyond an initial opening gambit, negative sanctions were employed mor…
Religion and Identity: The Role of Ideological, Social, and Spiritual Contexts
Religious Involvement and Developmental Resources in Youth
Linda Mans Wagener, James L. Furrow, Pamela Ebstyne King, Nancy Leffert, Peter Benson, Religious Involvement and Developmental Resources in Youth, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 44, No. 3, Religious and Spiritual Development: Special Issue (Mar., 2003), pp. 271-284
Exploring Adolescent Spiritual and Religious Development: Current and Future Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
Religion and Positive Youth Development: Identity, Meaning, and Prosocial Concerns
The role of religious identity in positive youth development was examined in this study of personal meaning and prosocial concerns in adolescence. A structural equation model was tested on a sample of 801 urban public high school students. Participants responded to questionnaires assessing religious identity, personal meaning, and prosocial personality. Prototypical descriptors derived from Walker and Pitts's (1998) highly religious person concep…
Religion as a Resource for Positive Youth Development: Religion, Social Capital, and Moral Outcomes
Although existing literature demonstrates that developmental benefits are associated with religion for adolescents, little is understood about the dynamics of this relationship. Drawing on social capital theory, this study tested a conceptual model exploring socially embedded religious influences on moral outcomes. A three-dimensional model of social capital demonstrated how social interaction, trust, and shared vision enable social ties associat…
Positive Youth Development: Is There a Nomological Network of Concepts Used in the Adolescent Developmental Literature
To gauge the status of connections between the research literature about adolescent development and current theoretical and applied work pertinent to the concept of positive youth development (PYD), we assessed whether the adolescent development literature from 1991 to 2003 reflected a network of terms associated with PYD. A list of 16 terms potentially linked to PYD was generated by integrating conceptualizations of PYD presented in key scholarl…
Thriving in Adolescence: The Voices of Youth-Serving Practitioners, Parents, and Early and Late Adolescents
This study assesses if correspondence existed between concepts scholars use to discuss positive youth development (PYD) and terms used by practitioners, parents, and youth to discuss exemplary PYD, or thriving. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of 173 interviews about the meaning of thriving found no significant commonality between the terms used in the scholarly literature and the specific words or phrases used by the adult and youth partici…
Religion as a resource for positive youth development: Religion, social capital, and moral outcomes
Although existing literature demonstrates that developmental benefits are associated with religion for adolescents, little is understood about the dynamics of this relationship. Drawing on social capital theory, this study tested a conceptual model exploring socially embedded religious influences on moral outcomes. A three-dimensional model of social capital demonstrated how social interaction, trust, and shared vision enable social ties associat…
Peter L. Benson: Human Exemplar and Uncommon Scientist
As they say, “Hindsight is always 20:20.” Upon the death of Peter Benson and taking the occasion to reflect on his life, his person, and his impact, I have to say, academically speaking, that Peter
An Introduction to Exemplar Research: A Definition, Rationale, and Conceptual Issues
The exemplar methodology represents a useful yet underutilized approach to studying developmental constructs. It features an approach to research whereby individuals, entities, or programs that exemplify the construct of interest in a particularly intense or highly developed manner compose the study sample. Accordingly, it reveals what the upper ends of development look like in practice. Utilizing the exemplar methodology allows researchers to gl…
Cultural and Contextual Issues in Exemplar Research: Cultural and Contextual Issues in Exemplar Research
This chapter specifically addresses how exemplar methods are especially relevant to examining cultural and contextual issues. Cross-cultural, cultural, and indigenous psychologies are discussed in order to highlight how studying actual exemplars in their unique and complex developmental contexts has the potential to identify themes that either differ between or hold constant across distinct peoples and cultures. The chapter addresses basic assump…
Adolescent Spiritual Exemplars: Exploring Spirituality in the Lives of Diverse Youth
This qualitative study aimed to develop theory about psychological constructs relevant to spiritual development in diverse adolescents. Exemplar and Consensual Qualitative Research methods were used to explore 30 interviews of adolescents aged 12 to 21 years ( M = 17.73 years) representing eight religions and six countries from around the world. Participants were nominated for living with profound spirituality within their own culture and complet…
What's the “Positive” in Positive Psychology? Teleological Considerations Based on Creation and Imago Doctrines
While positive psychology has considered a social science perspective of optimal development and living, a pressing question for the integration of psychology and theology is to consider what Christian theology suggests is essential for humans to thrive. Recognizing that God's purposeful action in creation has a telos, that is, a goal or purpose for humankind, propels Christian psychologists to investigate a theology of thriving in order to more …
Crucibles of Transformation
Although rates of institutional civic engagement among those in their twenties are low and emerging adults have been characterized as individualistic, this period of life is a time of immense growth and exploration as emerging adults seek to establish their identity with newfound freedoms and autonomy. Utilizing the lens of thriving and the metaphor of a crucible, we explore religious service as a means of strengthening the identity and purpose o…
Preliminary exploration of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) among Mexican youth
In the current article we propose and offer a preliminary test of an ecologically sensitive theoretical and methodological framework for understanding diverse adolescent spiritual development. The study summarizes the initial stages of development of the Measurement of Diverse Adolescent Spirituality (MDAS) that assesses three dimensions of spirituality: transcendence, fidelity, and contribution. We report our procedures and findings from an init…
Loving God, Loving Others: The Sacred Among American Mainline Protestant Families
Quantitative research suggests a link between religion and increased relationship commitment, satisfaction, and quality in marriages and parenting. Less is known about the processes and meaning-making experiences of religious individuals and families and how or why such processes exist and function with a family context. Using in-depth qualitative interviews, 20 Mainline Protestant families (N = 47 individuals; 20 mothers, 20 fathers, and 7 youth…
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: A Systematic Review of 30 Years of Research
This is a systematic review of 30 years (1988‐2017) of empirical research on processes of religious/spiritual influence in adolescence. We followed a multi‐step process that resulted in 241 studies organized according to eight research questions and the corresponding methods and analyses typically used to address them. We coded these studies based on the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality and the youth outcomes involved. In some cases (quanti…
Processes of Religious and Spiritual Influence in Adolescence: Introduction to a Special Section
This paper serves as the lead article introducing the special section of the Journal of Research on Adolescence focused on processes of religious and spiritual influence during adolescence. The purpose of the special section is to review prior theory and research on the processes by which religiosity and spirituality might influence youth outcomes, present original cutting-edge theory and research on processes of religious and spiritual influence…
Psychology (34 works) · Social Psychology (27 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (20 works) · Developmental psychology (19 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Spirituality (14 works) · Youth Development and Social Support (14 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works)