Reframing workplace spirituality: A critical inquiry through Cummings' dimensions

This paper reports findings from a scoping review of workplace spirituality (WS), critically examined through Cummings's (1978) meta-theoretical framework to clarify persistent conceptual and measurement ambiguities. Drawing on a wide range of empirical and conceptual studies, the review evaluates WS across Cummings's three dimensions-the way of thinking, the body of constructs, models, and facts, and the system of technology-and themes and highlights both its maturity and its continuing limitations. The analysis shows that WS has developed a coherent intellectual foundation and growing empirical evidence, though its system of technologies for application and measurement remains in an emergent stage. To address definitional fragmentation, the review proposes an integrated Cummings-PERMA framework that synthesizes diverse WS dimensions into a coherent whole. This dual framework demonstrates that WS complements and reinforces PERMA's elements of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, thereby linking spirituality at work with psychological well-being and human flourishing. Situating WS within Cummings's framework also shows how it simultaneously embraces performance, change, and humanistic orientations, offering a balanced view of organizational life. This paper is among the first to apply Cummings's framework to WS research. It contributes to psychology by offering a culturally responsive and conceptually structured lens for future research, while guiding organizations toward ethically grounded practices that enhance both effectiveness and employee well-being.