Abstract The aim of the present study is to clarify the lay experience of grace through person-level narratives. This empirical qualitative study follows a bottom-up approach, not restricted by specific theoretical assumptions, and includes a large and heterogeneous group of Belgian participants. The sample (recruited online) was composed of 456 participants (64% women, mean age = 50.04, age range from 18 to 93 years). Data consisted of 456 written narratives describing the experience of grace. They were analysed using a thematic analysis and thematic network approach with the help of a qualitative data management package Nvivo 12 pro. The resulting thematic network visualizes the experience of grace in the flow of time with (a) antecedents, grace can happen anywhere and anytime, but difficulties often precede grace; (b) the core experience is one of receiving an unmerited free gift in response to failure or brokenness or as an encounter with goodness and beauty, and this can be given by the divine or by other people and lastly (c) consequences entails a transformation at the intrapersonal, interpersonal and/or situational level. Our approach allows for an ecological and bottom-up understanding of grace as experienced nowadays in a secularized country and can empirically inform future studies about the connection between grace and psychological flourishing.

中文翻译：

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体验宽限期：个人层面叙事的主题网络分析

摘要本研究旨在通过人际叙事来阐明恩典的外行体验。这项经验性定性研究遵循一种自下而上的方法，不受特定理论假设的限制，并且包括大量不同种类的比利时参与者。该样本（在线招聘）由456名参与者组成（64％的女性，平均年龄= 50.04，年龄范围为18至93岁）。数据由456个叙述恩典经历的书面叙述组成。在定性数据管理软件包Nvivo 12 pro的帮助下，使用了主题分析和主题网络方法对它们进行了分析。由此产生的主题网络将时间流逝中的恩典体验可视化为：（a）前因，恩典可以随时随地发生，但困难往往先于恩典；（b）核心经验之一是因失败或残缺而获得无价的免费礼物，或作为善良与美丽的相遇而获得的礼物，这可以由神或其他人提供，最后（c）后果需要转变在人际，人际和/或情境层面上。我们的方法允许对当今世俗化国家中的恩典进行生态学和自下而上的理解，并可以从经验上为有关恩典与心理繁荣之间的联系的未来研究提供信息。