"...a valuable resource....As a scholarly book it will be appreciated by those who need more than intuitive or anecdotal evidence for the impact that religion/spirituality have on humankind's personality integration and well-being. It also provides an excellent model for doing empirical research. Students and scholars alike will benefit from following Emmons' blueprint. Finally, both clinicians and researchers will benefit from the author's recognition that religious/spiritual world-views are central to the theory of human motivation. Its compassionate treatment of topics such as personal goals and current concerns, life meaning, subjective well-being, and personality fragmentation and integration provides important information for anyone interested in personality psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, clinical psychology (particularly pastoral counselors), and in the psychology of religion."--
American Journal of Pastoral Counseling"Emmons eloquently brings together motivational aspects of personality and the role of spirituality in relation to psychological well-being. He achieves this integration without compromising scientific precision and, at the same time, without reducing spirituality as an irrational or superstitious force in human existence. Emmons convincingly places spirituality as a legitimate topic within the mainstream psychological research." --
Journal of Pastoral Theology"Emmons has done a great service to psychology with this book. He has taken an incredibly difficult topic--surely as difficult as they come--and not only rendered it intelligible and accessible but has also advanced knowledge of the topic in the best sense. He has connected two previously unconnected lines of thought in a heuristic and highly compelling manner. The organization of the book is flawless and the writing is lucid. As the reviewers, we have no doubt that the book will be, to use a spiritual term, 'inspiring' to many researchers." --
Contemporary Psychology"...an important contribution to the scientific study of religion, demonstrating how the application of a psychological model can enhance our collective understanding of religion." --
Religious Studies Review"This work by Emmons is...one of the more important works in recent years integrating major areas of psychology, religion, and spirituality....this book is a must-read for anyone who takes the integration of psychology and religion seriously....A final measure of the utility of a book is how many ideas and possibilities it can stimulate in the reader. In this regard, Emmons's book is extremely useful. The bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. I found his blend of theory, research, and clinical application throughout the book especially helpful....Reading [this book] is both intellectually stimulating and personally satisfying. Get yourself a copy." --
Journal of Psychology and Theology"...this is a vitally important book, one about which pastoral care people should be informed and should applaud." --
Review and Expositor"...takes an in-depth examination of social and cultural trends over the past twenty years which have resulted in narrowing public discourse and a diminished ability of ordinary citizens to participate in the democratic process....highly recommended, essential reading for all political science students, political professionals, and anyone with an interest in defending and preserving the American political system of citizen participation in the governance of the country." --
The Midwest Book Review"Written by a prominent personality researcher, the volume offers readers a deep understanding of the role that spiritual intelligence plays in one's sense of well-being. The superb bibliography will be useful not only to psychologists but to theologians and philosophers as well. Highly recommended for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, professionals, and practitioners." --
Choice"Emmons makes an engaging and persuasive argument for the inclusion of ultimate concerns in any effort to create or discuss a motivational theory of personality.
The Psychology Of Ultimate Concerns is a seminal and enlightening contribution to the study of psychology, the psychology of religion, spirituality, motivation, and personality." --
Wisconsin Bookwatch "Professor Emmon's own work, along with that of other psychologists on whom he draws, provides powerful evidence of the structural importance of the spiritual at all levels of human goal-directed action.....This is an important book because of its psychological rigour and its preference for the empirical to the anecdotal. It is to be recommended to students of religion of every kind."--Implicit Religion