Recent years have seen psychologists paying increased interest in secularization, as the growing number of religious “nones” gain recognition in social research (Pew, 2024). Similarly, the number of publications listed in the American Psychological Association’s “PsycInfo” database addressing secularism has seen a rapid increase, from 2574 articles in the period between 1753-2009, to an additional 3764 articles in the span from 2010 to the present. Despite the acceleration of research focusing on secular individuals, relatively little is known about the experience of spirituality among people who are atheistic or agnostic. In this paper we investigate conceptual linkages found in the literature on spirituality and disbelief. Using Webb’s (2021) Ritual, Theological, Existential (RiTE) framework for spirituality, we note the ways that atheist and agnostic individuals might fit within this conceptual scheme, as well as ways that they do not. We also examine the implications of using the RiTE framework to understand research on spirituality and health in populations of atheistic or agnostic individuals, such as the degree to which it might be applied to atheistic or agnostic people who participate in Alcoholics Anonymous, with its focus on a “higher power.” Finally, we note several methodological considerations and concerns regarding the existing literature, and offer recommendations for future research in this area.
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