This research project is situated within the field of psychology of religion. “Why should we study religion psychologically?” Spilka and colleagues (2003) begin their book on the psychology of religion with this question. It is worth studying religion from the perspective of psychology because the majority of the people of the world take religion seriously, and it influences their motivation, cognition, behaviour and wellbeing. Therefore, the psychology of religion uses the theoretical framework and methods of general psychology to study the influence of spiritual and religious phenomena on people. (Emmons & Paloutzian, 2003; Gorsuch, 1988; Hill & Gibson, 2008; Jonte-Pace & Parsons, 2001; Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger & Gorsuch, 2003, pp.1-19; Wulff, 1997, pp.1-19).
There are basically three major strands in studies that relate psychology and religion: (a) Religious Psychology discusses psychological findings within the discourse of religion – Christianity; pastoral psychology as an offshoot of this approach draws insight from psychology […]
Month: February 2014
2 Conceptualizing Religion and Spirituality
In the recent years, it has become a matter of routine in the introductory sections of the works of psychology of religion (Hill & Pargament, 2003, p.64-65; Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger, & Gorsuch, 2003, pp.8-11; Wulff, 1996, pp.5-7), and indeed in other social sciences studying religion (Heelas & Woodhead, 2005; Ludskow, 2008), to make a distinction between religion and spirituality. The titles of several journals respect this distinction. Some of the journals have even changed their names to appear inclusive. Division 36 of the American Psychological Association (APA) has been renamed as ‘Society for the study of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality’ (Pargament, 1999; Stifoss-Hanssen, 1999).
My Classnotes in PDF – CLICK ON LINK: PR02 Definitions of Religion
Reading Material: Towards Religious-Spirituality: A Multidimensional Matrix of Religion and Spirituality
Abstract of the article:
In the contemporary study of religion there seems to be an exaggeration of the distinction between religion and spirituality, not only to the point […]