Psychology of religion is the psychological study of religious experiences, beli

efs, and activities.

Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
o 1.1 William James
o 1.2 Other early theorists
+ 1.2.1 Sigmund Freud
+ 1.2.2 Carl Jung
+ 1.2.3 Alfred Adler
+ 1.2.4 Gordon Allport
+ 1.2.5 Erik H. Erikson
+ 1.2.6 Erich Fromm
+ 1.2.7 Rudolf Otto
* 2 Psychometric approaches to religion
o 2.1 Religious orientations and religious dimensions
o 2.2 Questionnaires to assess religious experience
* 3 Developmental approaches to religion
* 4 Religion and coping with stress
* 5 Religion and health
* 6 Evolutionary psychology of religion
* 7 Religion and drugs
o 7.1 James H. Leuba
o 7.2 Drug-induced religious experiences
* 8 The effects of meditation
* 9 References
* 10 Bibliography
o 10.1 Further reading
* 11 See also
* 12 External links
[edit] History
[edit] William James
U.S. psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910) is regarded by most
psychologists of religion as the founder of the field. He served as president of
the American Psychological Association, and wrote one of the first psychology t
extbooks. In the psychology of religion, James' influence endures. His Varieties
of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field, and
references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion. Instit
utional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an imp
ortant part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual h
as mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture. James was
most interested in understanding personal religious experience. The importance o
f James to the psychology of religion - and to psychology more generally - is di
fficult to overstate. He discussed many essential issues that remain of vital co
ncern today.
In studying personal religious experiences, James made a distinction between hea
lthy-minded and sick-souled religiousness. Individuals predisposed to healthy-mi
ndedness tend to ignore the evil in the world and focus on the positive and the
good. James used examples of Walt Whitman and the "mind-cure" religious movement
to illustrate healthy-mindedness in The Varieties of Religious Experience. In c
ontrast, individuals predisposed to having a sick-souled religion are unable to
ignore evil and suffering, and need a unifying experience, religious or otherwis
e, to reconcile good and evil. James included quotations from Leo Tolstoy and Jo
hn Bunyan to illustrate the sick soul.
William James' hypothesis of pragmatism stems from the efficacy of religion. If
an individual believes in and performs religious activities, and those actions h
appen to work, then that practice appears the proper choice for the individual.
However, if the processes of religion have little efficacy, then there is no rat
ionality for continuing the practice.
[edit] Other early theorists
[edit] Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) gave explanations of the genesis of religion in his va
rious writings. In Totem and Taboo, he applied the idea of the Oedipus complex (
involving unresolved sexual feelings of, for example, a son toward his mother an
d hostility toward his father) and postulated its emergence in the primordial st
age of human development.
Group photo 1909 in front of Clark University. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stan
ley Hall, Carl Jung. Back row: Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones, Sandor Ferenczi.
In Moses and Monotheism, Freud reconstructed biblical history in accordance with
his general theory. His ideas were also developed in The Future of an Illusion.
When Freud spoke of religion as an illusion, he maintained that it is a fantasy
structure from which a man must be set free if he is to grow to maturity.
Freud views the idea of God as being a version of the father image, and religiou
s belief as at bottom infantile and neurotic. Authoritarian religion is dysfunct
ional and alienates man from himself.
[edit] Carl Jung
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875-1961) adopted a very different posture,
one that was more sympathetic to religion and more concerned with a positive app
reciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of the existence
of God to be unanswerable by the psychologist and adopted a kind of agnosticism.
Jung postulated, in addition to the personal unconscious (roughly adopting Freud
's concept), the collective unconscious, which is the repository of human experi
ence and which contains archetypes (i.e. basic images that are universal in that t
hey recur regardless of culture). The irruption of these images from the unconsc
ious into the realm of consciousness he viewed as the basis of religious experie
nce and often of artistic creativity. Some of Jung's writings have been devoted
to elucidating some of the archetypal symbols, and include his work in comparati
ve mythology.
Jung had a very broad view of what it means to be empirical. Suppose, for exampl
e, that I hear a voice from a deity but you do not, even though we are sitting n
ext to each other. If only one person experiences something, for Jung it is an e
mpirical observation. For most contemporary scientists, however, it would not be
considered an empirical observation. Because of this, there has been little res
earch in the psychology of religion from a Jungian perspective.
[edit] Alfred Adler
Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler (1870-1937), who parted ways with Freud, emph
asised the role of goals and motivation in his Individual Psychology. One of Adl
er's most famous ideas is that we try to compensate for inferiorities that we pe
rceive in ourselves. A lack of power often lies at the root of feelings of infer
iority. One way that religion enters into this picture is through our beliefs in
God, which are characteristic of our tendency to strive for perfection and supe
riority. For example, in many religions God is considered to be perfect and omni
potent, and commands people likewise to be perfect. If we, too, achieve perfecti
on, we become one with God. By identifying with God in this way, we compensate f
or our imperfections and feelings of inferiority.
Our ideas about God are important indicators of how we view the world. According
to Adler, these ideas have changed over time, as our vision of the world - and
our place in it - has changed. Consider this example that Adler offers: the trad
itional belief that people were placed deliberately on earth as God's ultimate c
reation is being replaced with the idea that people have evolved by natural sele
ction. This coincides with a view of God not as a real being, but as an abstract
representation of nature's forces. In this way our view of God has changed from
one that was concrete and specific to one that is more general. From Adler's va
ntage point, this is a relatively ineffective perception of God because it is so
general that it fails to convey a strong sense of direction and purpose.
An important thing for Adler is that God (or the idea of God) motivates people t
o act, and that those actions do have real consequences for ourselves and for ot
hers. Our view of God is important because it embodies our goals and directs our
social interactions.
Compared to science, another social movement, religion is more efficient because
it motivates people more effectively. According to Adler, only when science beg
ins to capture the same religious fervour, and promotes the welfare of all segme
nts of society, will the two be more equal in peoples' eyes.
[edit] Gordon Allport
In his classic book The Individual and His Religion (1950), Gordon Allport (1897
-1967) illustrates how people may use religion in different ways. He makes a dis
tinction between Mature religion and Immature religion. Mature religious sentime
nt is how Allport characterized the person whose approach to religion is dynamic
, open-minded, and able to maintain links between inconsistencies. In contrast,
immature religion is self-serving and generally represents the negative stereoty
pes that people have about religion. More recently, this distinction has been en
capsulated in the terms "intrinsic religion", referring to a genuine, heartfelt
devout faith, and "extrinsic religion", referring to a more utilitarian use of r
eligion as a means to an end, such as church attendance to gain social status. T
hese dimensions of religion were measured on the Religious Orientation Scale of
Allport and Ross (1967). A third form of religious orientation has been describe
d by Daniel Batson. This refers to treatment of religion as an open-ended search
(Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993). More specifically, it has been seen by Bat
son as comprising a willingness to view religious doubts in a positive manner, a
cceptance that religious orientation can change and existential complexity, the
belief that one's religious beliefs should be shaped from personal crises that o
ne has experienced in one's life. Batson refers to extrinsic, intrinsic and ques
t respectively as Religion-as-means, religion-as-end and religion-as-quest, and
measures these constructs on the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade &
Ventis, 1993).
[edit] Erik H. Erikson
Erik Erikson (1902-94) is best known for his theory of psychological development
, which has its roots in the psychoanalytic importance of identity in personalit
y. His biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther reveal Erikson's positive view of
religion. He considered religions to be important influences in successful pers
onality development because they are the primary way that cultures promote the v
irtues associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate this dev
elopment. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic empirical study, bu
t it remains an influential and well-regarded theory in the psychological study
of religion.
[edit] Erich Fromm
The American scholar Erich Fromm (1900-1980) modified Freudian theory and produc
ed a more complex account of the functions of religion. Part of the modification
is viewing the Oedipus complex as based not so much on sexuality as on a much mo
re profound desire , namely, the childish desire to remain attached to protecting
figures. The right religion, in Fromm's estimation, can, in principle, foster an
individual's highest potentialities, but religion in practice tends to relapse
into being neurotic.
According to Erich Fromm, humans have a need for a stable frame of reference. Re
ligion apparently fills this need. In effect, humans crave answers to questions
that no other source of knowledge has an answer to, which only religion may seem
to answer. However, a sense of free will must be given in order for religion to
appear healthy. An authoritarian notion of religion appears detrimental.
[edit] Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) was a German Protestant theologian and scholar of compar
ative religion. Otto's most famous work, The Idea of the Holy (published first i
n 1917 as Das Heilige), defines the concept of the holy as that which is numinou
s. Otto explained the numinous as a "non-rational, non-sensory experience or fee
ling whose primary and immediate object is outside the self." It is a mystery (L
atin: mysterium tremendum) that is both fascinating (fascinans) and terrifying a
t the same time; A mystery that causes trembling and fascination, attempting to
explain that inexpressible and perhaps supernatural emotional reaction of wonder
drawing us to seemingly ordinary and/or religious experiences of grace. This se
nse of emotional wonder appears evident at the root of all religious experiences
. Through this emotional wonder, we suspend our rational mind for non-rational p
ossibilities.
It also sets a paradigm for the study of religion that focuses on the need to re
alise the religious as a non-reducible, original category in its own right. This
paradigm was under much attack between approximately 1950 and 1990 but has made
a strong comeback since then.
[edit] Psychometric approaches to religion
Since the 1960s psychologists of religion have used the methodology of psychomet
rics to assess different ways in which a person may be religious. An example is
the Religious Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross,[1] which measures how respo
ndents stand on intrinsic and extrinsic religion as described by Allport. More r
ecent questionnaires include the Religious Life Inventory of Batson, Schoenrade
and Ventis,[2] and the Age-Universal I-E Scale of Gorsuch and Venable.[3] The fo
rmer assesses where people stand on three distinct forms of religious orientatio
n - religion as means, religion as end, and religion as quest. The latter assess
es Spiritual Support and Spiritual Openness.
[edit] Religious orientations and religious dimensions
Some questionnaires, such as the Religious Orientation Scale, relate to differen
t religious orientations, such as intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness, referri
ng to different motivations for religious allegiance. A rather different approac
h, taken, for example, by Glock and Stark (1965), has been to list different dim
ensions of religion rather than different religious orientations, which relates
to how an individual may manifest different forms of being religious. (More on S
tark's work can be found in the article on Sociology of Religion.) Glock and Sta
rk's famous typology described five dimensions of religion - the doctrinal, the
intellectual, the ethical-consequential, the ritual, and the experiential. In la
ter work these authors subdivided the ritual dimension into devotional and publi
c ritual, and also clarified that their distinction of religion along multiple d
imensions was not identical to distinguishing religious orientations. Although s
ome psychologists of religion have found it helpful to take a multidimensional a
pproach to religion for the purpose of psychometric scale design, there has been
, as Wulff (1997) explains, considerable controversy about whether religion shou
ld really be seen as multidimensional.
[edit] Questionnaires to assess religious experience
What we call religious experiences can differ greatly. Some reports exist of sup
ernatural happenings that it would be difficult to explain from a rational, scie
ntific point of view. On the other hand, there also exist the sort of testimonie
s that simply seem to convey a feeling of peace or oneness - something which mos
t of us, religious or not, may possibly relate to. In categorizing religious exp
eriences it is perhaps helpful to look at them as explicable through one of two
theories: the Objectivist thesis or the Subjectivist thesis.
An objectivist would argue that the religious experience is a proof of God's exi
stence. However, others have criticised the reliability of religious experiences
. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes asked how it was possible to tell the di
fference between talking to God in a dream, and dreaming about talking to God.
The Subjectivist view argues that it is not necessary to think of religious expe
riences as evidence for the existence of an actual being whom we call God. From
this point of view, the important thing is the experience itself and the effect
that it has on the individual.
Reference: http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pages/relex_main.htm#
[edit] Developmental approaches to religion
Main articles: James W. Fowler and Stages of faith development
Attempts have been made to apply stage models, such as that of Jean Piaget and L
awrence Kohlberg, to how children develop ideas about God and about religion in
general.
By far the most well-known stage model of spiritual or religious development is
that of James W. Fowler, a developmental psychologist at the Candler School of T
heology, in his Stages of Faith.[4] He follows Piaget and Kohlberg and has propo
sed a staged development of faith (or spiritual development) across the lifespan
in terms of a holistic orientation, and is concerned with the individual's rela
tedness to the universal.
The book-length study contains a framework and ideas considered by many to be in
sightful and which have generated a good deal of response from those interested
in religion, so it appears to have at least a reasonable degree of face validity
. James Fowler proposes six stages of faith development as follows: 1. Intuitive
-projective 2. Symbolic Literal 3. Synthetic Conventional 4. Individuating 5. Pa
radoxical (conjunctive) 6. Universalising. Although there is evidence that child
ren up to the age of twelve years do tend to be in the first two of these stages
, there is evidence that adults over the age of sixty-one do show considerable v
ariation in displays of qualities of Stages 3 and beyond. Fowler's model has gen
erated some empirical studies, and fuller descriptions of this research (and of
these six stages) can be found in Wulff (1991). However, this model has been att
acked from a standpoint of scientific research due to methodological weaknesses.
Of Fowler's six stages, only the first two found empirical support, and these w
ere heavily based upon Piaget's stages of cognitive development. The tables and
graphs in the book were presented in such a way that the last four stages appear
ed to be validated, but the requirements of statistical verification of the stag
es did not come close to having been met. The study was not published in a journ
al, so was not peer-reviewed, and never drew much attention from psychologists.
Other critics of Fowler have questioned whether his ordering of the stages reall
y reflects his own commitment to a rather liberal Christian Protestant outlook,
as if to say that people who adopt a similar viewpoint to Fowler are at higher s
tages of faith development. Nevertheless, the concepts Fowler introduced seemed
to hit home with those in the circles of academic religion, and have been an imp
ortant starting point for various theories and subsequent studies.
A recent contributor here has put forward a stage model, Vicky Genia (see inform
ation in Psychometric Approaches to Religion).
[edit] Religion and coping with stress
Psychologists of religion have looked at how individuals may use religion as a r
esource in coping with stress. A major contributor to this theory is Kenneth Par
gament, whose work shows the influence of attribution theory. Pargament has dist
inguished styles of coping into the deferring, in which people leave God to see
to their problems; the non-religious, in which they do not appeal to God; and th
e collaborative, in which people believe that a co-operation of God and their ow
n efforts are necessary to help them to cope with stress. Some of Pargament's pa
pers have been published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
[edit] Religion and health
There is considerable literature on the relationship between religion and health
. Psychologists consider that there are various ways in which religion may benef
it both physical and mental health, including encouraging healthy lifestyles suc
h as abstinence from tobacco, providing social support networks and encouraging
an optimistic outlook on life; prayer and meditation may also help to benefit ph
ysiological functioning. [5] The journal "American Psychologist" published impor
tant papers on this topic in 2003. [6] Haber, Jacob and Spangler have considered
how different dimensions of religiosity may relate to health benefits in differ
ent ways. [7]
[edit] Evolutionary psychology of religion
Main article: Evolutionary psychology of religion
Evolutionary psychology is based on the hypothesis that, just like hearts, lungs
, livers, kidneys, and immune systems, cognition has functional structure that h
as a genetic basis, and therefore evolved by natural selection. Like other organ
s and tissues, this functional structure should be universally shared amongst hu
mans and should solve important problems of survival and reproduction. Evolution
ary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes by understanding the su
rvival and reproductive functions they might serve.
Pascal Boyer is one of the leading figures in the cognitive psychology of religi
on, a new field of inquiry that is less than fifteen years old, which accounts f
or the psychological processes that underlie religious thought and practice. In
his book Religion Explained, Boyer shows that there is no simple explanation for
religious consciousness. Boyer is mainly concerned with explaining the various
psychological processes involved in the acquisition and transmission of ideas co
ncerning the gods. Boyer builds on the ideas of cognitive anthropologists Dan Sp
erber and Scott Atran, who first argued that religious cognition represents a by
-product of various evolutionary adaptations, including folk psychology, and pur
poseful violations of innate expectations about how the world is constructed (fo
r example, bodiless beings with thoughts and emotions) that make religious cogni
tions striking and memorable.
Religious persons acquire religious ideas and practices through social exposure.
The child of a Zen Buddhist will not become an evangelical Christian or a Zulu
warrior without the relevant cultural experience. While mere exposure does not c
ause a particular religious outlook (a person may have been raised a Roman Catho
lic but leave the church), nevertheless some exposure seems required - this pers
on will never invent Roman Catholicism out of thin air. Boyer says cognitive sci
ence can help us to understand the psychological mechanisms that account for the
se manifest correlations and in so doing enable us to better understand the natu
re of religious belief and practice. To the extent that the mechanisms controlli
ng the acquisitions and transmission of religious concepts rely on human brains,
the mechanisms are open to computational analysis. All thought is computational
ly structured, including religious thought. So presumably, computational approac
hes can shed light on the nature and scope of religious cognition.
Boyer moves outside the leading currents in mainstream cognitive psychology and
suggests that we can use evolutionary biology to unravel the relevant mental arc
hitecture. Our brains are, after all, biological objects, and the best naturalis
tic account of design in nature is Darwin's theory of evolution. To the extent t
hat mental architecture exhibits intricate design, it is plausible to think that
the design is the result of evolutionary processes working over vast periods of
time. Like all biological systems, the mind is optimised to promote survival an
d reproduction in the evolutionary environment. On this view all specialised cog
nitive functions broadly serve those reproductive ends.
For Steven Pinker the universal propensity toward religious belief is a genuine
scientific puzzle. He thinks that adaptationist explanations for religion do not
meet the criteria for adaptations. An alternative explanation is that religious
psychology is a by-product of many parts of the mind that evolved for other pur
poses.
[edit] Religion and drugs
[edit] James H. Leuba
The American psychologist James H. Leuba (1868-1946), in A Psychological Study o
f Religion, accounts for mystical experience psychologically and physiologically
, pointing to analogies with certain drug-induced experiences. Leuba argued forc
ibly for a naturalistic treatment of religion, which he considered to be necessa
ry if religious psychology were to be looked at scientifically. Shamans all over
the world and in different cultures have traditionally used drugs, especially p
sychedelics, for their religious experiences. In these communities the absorptio
n of drugs leads to dreams (visions) through sensory distortion.
William James was also interested in mystical experiences from a drug-induced pe
rspective, leading him to make some experiments with nitrous oxide and even peyo
te. He concludes that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold t
rue only for the mystic; for others they are certainly ideas to be considered, b
ut hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such.
[edit] Drug-induced religious experiences
See main article entheogen on the use of psychoactive substances in a religi
ous or shamanic context.
The drugs used by religious communities for their hallucinogenic effects were ad
opted for explicit and implicit religious functions and purposes. The drugs were
and are reported to enhance religious experience through visions and a distorti
on of the sensory perception (like in dreams in a state of sleep).
* Cannabis, which grows all over the world except in very cold climates, is
used in religious practices in Indian and African communities
* Certain psychedelic mushrooms are used by Indians in Latin America, especi
ally in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico[citation needed]. The chief speci
es is Psilocybe mexicana, of which the active principles are psilocin and its de
rivative psilocybin, in their chemical composition and activity not unlike LSD (
D-lysergic acid diethylamide); the latter is synthesized from the alkaloids (pri
ncipally ergotamine and ergonovine) that are constituents of ergot, a growth pre
sent in grasses affected by the disease also called ergot. Amanita muscaria (fly
agaric) is another mushroom having hallucinogenic properties that has not been
thoroughly studied. It may be extremely important, since it may have been the na
tural source of the ritual soma drink of the ancient Hindus and the comparable h
aoma used by the Zoroastrians (although other sources point toward ephedra as th
e main ingredient of Soma [8] [9] ). Fly agaric is mildly toxic at high dosages
and is said to have, in addition to its hallucinogenic properties, the ability t
o increase strength and endurance.[citation needed] It is said also to be a sopo
rific.
* Peyote used by some Indian communities of Mexico. The chief active princip
le of peyote is an alkaloid called mescaline. Like psilocin and psilocybin, mesc
aline is reputed to produce visions and other evidences of a mystical nature. De
spite claims of missionaries and some government agents that peyote - from the N
ahuatl word peyotl ("divine messenger") - is a degenerative and dangerous drug,
there appears to be no evidence of this among the members of the Native American
Church, a North American Indian cult that uses peyote in its chief religious ce
remony. Peyote, like most other hallucinogenic drugs, is not considered to be ad
dictive and, far from being a destructive influence, is reputed by cultists and
some observers to promote morality and ethical behaviour among the Indians who u
se it ritually.
* Ayahuasca, caapi, or yajé, is produced from the stem bark of the vines Banis
teriopsis caapi and B. inebrians. Indians who use it claim that its virtues incl
ude healing powers and the power to induce clairvoyance, among others. This drin
k has been certified by investigators to produce remarkable effects, often invol
ving the sensation of flying. The effects are thought to be attributable to the
action of harmine, a very stable indole that is the active principle in the plan
t. While the Indians themselves attribute the properties of the drink Ayahuasca
to B. caapi, this is not the common scientific view; the MAOIs present in the B.
caapi instead allow the extremely psychedelic ingredients in other plants added
to the brew, noticeably plants containing DMT, to be activated and produce an i
ntense experience.
* Kava drink, prepared from the roots of Piper methysticum, a species of pep
per, and seemingly more of a hypnotic-narcotic than a hallucinogen, is used both
socially and ritually in the South Pacific, especially in Polynesia.
* Iboga, a stimulant and hallucinogen derived from the root bark of the Afri
can shrub Tabernanthe iboga is used within the Bwiti religion in Central Africa.
The active ingredient in T. iboga is ibogaine, a drug that has been studied for
its use in treating addiction.
* Coca, source of cocaine, has had both ritual and social use chiefly in Per
u.
* Datura, one species of which is the jimsonweed, is used by native peoples
in North and South America; the active principle, however, is highly toxic and d
angerous. A drink prepared from the shrub Mimosa hostilis, which is said to prod
uce glorious visions in warriors before battle, is used ritually in the ajuca ce
remony of the Jurema cult in eastern Brazil.
* Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family of plants, is a hallucinogen
used by Mazatec shamans for "spiritual journeys" during healing.
[edit] The effects of meditation
The large variety of meditation techniques shares the common goal of shifting at
tention away from habitual or customary modes of thinking and perception, in ord
er to permit experiencing in a different way. Many religious and spiritual tradi
tions that employ meditation assert that the world most of us know is an illusio
n. This illusion is said to be created by our habitual mode of separating, class
ifying and labelling our perceptual experiences. Meditation is empirical in that
it involves direct experience. Though it is also subjective in that the meditat
ive state can be directly known only by the experiencer, and may be difficult or
impossible to fully describe in words.
Concentrative meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness characteri
sed by a loss of awareness of extraneous stimuli, one-pointed attention to the m
editation object to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and feelings of bliss.