Inward, outward, and upward: Cognitive aspects of prayer

Recent investigations concerning ways people employ, prayer typically suffer from either a fundamentally a theoretical approach or an indiscriminant mixing of affective, behavioral, and cognitive components. The present study examines the theory that a general concept of prayer-as-connection contains prayers of inward (connection with oneself), outward (human-human connection), or upward (human-divine connection) foci. Participants rated words or phrases according to what they, "thought about" while praying. Factor analysis revealed eight primary factors: two inward, four outward, and two upward. Three second-order factors emerged (two outward and one upward). However, no general factor appeared.