What is psychology of religion

A discipline in psychology which is concerned with the interpretation of the religious phenomenon via psychological perspectives Topics in psychology through which the religious phenomenon is approached: evolutionary psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, narrative psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, neuroscience

Prominent figures in psychology of religion

William James (The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature - 1902) Carl Gustav Jung (Psychology and Religion 1938) Sigmund Freud (Moses and Monotheism: Three essays 1939) Gordon Allport (The individual and his religion: A psychological interpretation - 1950) Abraham Maslow (Religions, values, and peakexperiences 1964)

A genetic basis to religion

The God Gene: The question about spirituality as a universal force in human psychology. Is spirituality an instinct? Is that instinct related to a monoamine transporter which regulates signalling chemicals associated with mystical-like experiences and/or altered states of consciousness? VMAT2: The predisposition gene causing the sensations needed for a physiological understanding of the transcendence

A biological basis to religion

Neurotheology: Amygdala, hippocampus, inferior temporal lobe what is the content of the spiritual information provided through them? Meditation and memory problems: Participants who were scanned through meditation and individuals with memory problems were found to have same brain areas (increased levels of blood flow in frontal and parietal lobes) activated during both states II Cor. 12:2 I know a man who fourteen years ago was caught up into Paradise whether in the body or out of the body I do nor know, God knows...

Experimental approaches to religion

A 5-D scale to religion: Ideological (Belief); Ritualistic (practice); Intellectual (Knowledge); Experiential (Feeling); Consequential (Effects) Experimental study of religion as a social attitude: religion and prejudice; religion and conformity; religion and unanimity; religion and sense of belonging; religion and language The Allport-Ross Religious Orientation Scale: Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation

A psychopathological approach to religion

Religion and schizophrenia: Grandiose ideas; chosen by God to save the world; delusions and hallucinations as leading to violent behaviours Religion and depression: The afterlife effect and depressive emotions: Keep your mind in Hades but never give up hope - a number of religious texts indicate this danger...and they ask believers not to feel self-abandoned Religion and OCD: Scrupulosity: The entanglement between right and wrong guilt feelings

Religion as a therapeutic means for psychology

Cognitive behaviour therapy of religion: the modification of core schemas and values so positive therapeutic change to be maximised through religious beliefs: The use of issues of spiritual salience in a persons life in order negative cognitive thoughts to be controlled and altered. RCET (Religious Cognitive-Emotional Therapy): An integration of cognitive, humanistic, and existential psychotherapies via religious beliefs

Why psychology of religion is not a topic of interest for psychology textbooks?

Psychology of religion as wrongly associated to philosophy of religion The opposition of psychology to religion and vice versa The claim psychology is the study of mind and behaviour, whereas religion is the study of supernatural agents

Psychology of religion: An interdisciplinary topic for psychology textbooks

Religion and individual differences (The relationship of religion with the Big Five) Religion and social identity theory (religious participation and psychological well-being: positive vs. negative affect) Religion and personality psychology (religious individuals are agreeable, conscientious, but not open to new experiences) Religion and the cognitive state of man (God saved us from destruction... cognitive dissonance Leo Festinger)

Sketching out a study unit for psychology textbooks

Psychobiological issues in the study of religion (The serotonin system and spiritual experience) Developmental psychology of religion (Attachment to parental figure as deriving from attachment to God) Social psychology of religion (Religious and meaning-belief systems co-exist in a persons world-view, and can influence ones religious explanation as to what takes place within social life) Abnormality and the study of religion (Statistical infrequency of abnormal trends among religious individuals) Research methods in psychology of religion (social surveys the causal influence of social events leading to healing; experiments triggers of religious experience and the effects of religion in the helping of others)

Selective Literature
Bowker, J. W. (2005). The Sacred Neuron. Discovering the extraordinary links between science and religion. London: I. B. Tauris DAquili, E., & Newberg, A. B. (1999). The Mystical Mind. Probing the biology of religious experience. Minneapolis: Fortress Press Hamer, D. (2004). The God Gene. How faith is hardwired into our genes. New York: Anchor Books Pearce, J. C. (2002). The Biology of the Transcendence. A Blueprint of the Human Spirit. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press Wulff, D. M. (1997). Psychology of Religion. Classic & Contemporary. New York: John Wiley & Sons