Spirituality among the Readers of the New Age Magazine 'Ultra' 2011

The study charted alternative spirituality, its significance and practice among the readers of the Finnish new age magazine 'Ultra'. The respondents' world views and religious beliefs were investigated as well as their values and interest in sprituality. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with several statements relating to religion, spirituality and different world views (e.g. "There exists a single indescribable divine truth that cannot be personified", "It is worth taking into account the position of the stars and planets when making big decisions"). Interest in spirituality was surveyed by asking the respondents which topics in Ultra they found most interesting (e.g. alternative medicine, religion, unusual phenomena), which views they thought were important sources of inspiration to them (e.g. Buddhism, Paganism, Humanism), and whether they had participated in different courses/lectures/sessions (tarot consultation, angel course) or practised yoga, meditation or shamanism. Reasons for practising meditation, prayer or equivalent were inquired, as were the frequency of church attendance, ways of celebrating important life events and belief in central Christian doctrines. The respondents' values were investigated by presenting them several statements describing a person with certain characteristics and asking how much they thought they were like the persons described (e.g. "Success is important to him/her. He/she wants his/her accomplishments to be noticed"). Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, marital status, highest education attained, membership of a religious community, religious orientation (regardless of membership to a religious community), type of municipality of residence and the political party R had voted for in the previous elections.