Humility, Religion, and Spirituality: A Review of the Literature

The study of positive psychology provides a strong opportunity for interdisciplinary work that integrates theorizing from theology and psychology of religion. The purpose of the current article is to provide a systematic review of empirical work on humility and religion/spirituality. We review definitions and key research questions that have driven work in this area, including work examining whether more religious people tend to be more humble, as well as work examining whether humility helps soften some of the ways that religion can lead to ideological conflict or entrenchment. We discuss key limitations from both a psychological and theological perspective before providing a research program to guide future work.