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• 1. Defining Psychology, Defining Religion
• 2. Exceptional or Natural? Psychological Origins of Religion
• 3. Social Learning and Identity
• 4. Explaining Variations in Religiosity
• 5. Women and Religion
• 6. Consequences and Correlates of Religiosity
• 7. Conversion and Convert-Dependent Groups
• 8. Psychoanalysis and the Psychological Study of Religion
• 9. Secularization and the Persistence of Religion
• 10. Concluding Remarks: The New Psychology of Religion.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Is religion to blame for deadly conflicts? Should religious behaviour be credited more often for acts of charity and altruism? In what ways are religious and 'spiritual' ideas, practices and identities surviving and changing as religion loses its political power in those parts of the world which are experiencing increasing secularization? Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of religion and social identity, Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of a century of research into the origins and consequences of religious belief systems and religious behaviour. The book employs a unique theoretical framework that combines the 'new' cognitive-evolutionary psychology of religion, examining the origins of religious ideas, with the 'old' psychology of religiosity, which looks at correlates and consequences. It examines a wide range of psychological variables and their relationship with religiosity. It is also provides fresh insights into classical topics in the psychology of religion, such as religious conversion, the relevance of Freud's ideas about religion and religiosity, the meaning of secularization, and the crucial role women play in religion. The book concludes with the author's reflections on the future for the psychology of religion as a field. Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity will be invaluable for academic researchers in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and history worldwide. It will also be of great interest to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students across the social sciences.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• List of Figures and Tables
• 1. In the Beginning: Reconsidering the Cognitive Science of Religion
• 2. Religion in Mind: Religious Thoughts as Mental Representations
• 3. Sticky Thinking: Making Sense of Religious Thoughts
• 4. Practicing and Preaching: The Psychology of Religious Thinking
• 5. God in the Brain: The Neurology of Religious Cognition
• 6. Making Meaning: Explaining Religion in Practice
• 7. Evolution and Revolution: The Biology of Belief
• 8. The Belief Imperative: Towards an Integrated Framework for Religious Cognition
• 9. Faith and Facts: Religious Cognition and What We Think We Know
• 10. Becoming Believers: A Extended Model of Religious Cognition References.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Thinking about Religion presents a case for an inter-disciplinary science of religion, proposing that religion operates as a kind of psychological and social placebo effect. Religious belief combines thought, feeling and experience in a way that leverages the natural tendency of the mind to latch on to socially and personally useful concepts. This effect delivers tangible benefits because religious concepts and practice feed the mind's natural drive to cling to strong beliefs. At the same time, beliefs are reinforced by favourable emotional responses. Thinking about Religion explains how these elements work together to make religious belief such a powerful placebo effect. Belief is the currency of thought, and religious belief offers a powerful return on investment. Religious activity concentrates the mind's capacity to hold ideas that effectively galvanize groups and cultivate belonging.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• The basic biological situation
• Credulity, and the skeptical tradition
• The early period
• Construction of the inner realm
• Brain, mind, religion
• Infantile amnesia
• Prayer and faith
• Angelic encounters
• Are we 'wired for God'?.

In this insightful new study, M D Faber, whose previous work on the psychology of religion has won widespread critical acclaim, offers a comprehensive, naturalistic explanation of religious experience from the intertwining perspectives of neuroscience and developmental psychology. Faber here argues that belief in God, the powerful sensation of his presence, and the heartfelt assent to the reality of the supernatural are all produced by the mind/brain's inherent tendency to discover in religious narrative a striking, memorial echo of its own biological development. Although Faber maintains that we are not 'wired' specifically for God (as many contend), our brain is so constructed as to make us profoundly susceptible to religious myths. These myths encourage us to map our early, internalised experience onto a variety of supernatural narratives with the figure of the Parent-God and his angelic assistants at the centre.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Pascal Boyer - why do gods and spirits matter at all? supernatural gadgets and social mind adaptations-- Ilkka Pyysiainen - religion and the counter-intuitive-- Justin L. Barrett - dumb gods, petitionary prayer, and the cognitive science of religion-- Stewart Guthrie - animal animism: evolutionary roots of religious cognition-- Pertti Saariluoma - does classification explicate the contents of concepts?-- E. Thomas Lawson and Robert N. McCauley - cognitive constraints on religious ritual form - a theory of participants' competence with religious systems-- Harvey Whitehouse - implicit and explicit knowledge in the domain of ritual-- Jeppe Sinding Jensen - the complex worlds of religion - connecting cultural and cognitive analysis-- Veikko Anttonen - identifying the generative mechanisms of religion - the issue of origin revisited-- Jesper Sorensen - "the morphology and function of magic" revisited-- Matti Kamppinen - explaining religion - cognitive and evolutionary mechanisms.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This cognitive study of religion challenges not only various supernatural views of religion but also the view that psychological theories are irrelevant for the understanding of religion as a cultural system. It is the interplay between the "cultural" and the "cognitive" that creates religion as a phenomenon. Among the issues discussed are ritual, god beliefs, animism, magic, the origins of religion and "religion" as a category, as well as the theoretical foundations of the cognitive study of religion.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Modern findings in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology provide insights to the processes which make religious beliefs and behaviours efficient attractors in and across cultural settings. This text discusses how certain kinds of counter-intuitive ideas are selected for religious use.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• * Where We Are And Where We Should Go An Agenda Item for Psychology of Religion: Getting Respect (C. Daniel Batson. ) Toward Motivational Theories of Intrinsic Religious Commitment (Richard L. Gorsuch. ) * Why Religion? Functions of Religious Belief and Behavior Toward a Theory of Religion: Religious Commitment (Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge. ) In Times of Stress: The Religion-Coping Connection (Kenneth I. Pargament and Crystal L. Park. ) Proposed Agenda for a Spiritual Strategy in Personality and Psychotherapy (Allen E. Bergin and I. Reed Payne. ) * Social Concerns An Integrated Role Theory for the Psychology of Religion: Concepts and Perspectives (Nils G. Holm. ) An Integrated Role Theory for the Psychology of Religion: Concepts and Perspectives (Nils G. Holm. ) Religion and Moral Evaluation Discrepancy Theory (Robert A. Embree. ) * Development of Individual Religion The Origins of Religion in the Child (David Elkind. ) Integrating Differing Theories: The Case of Religious Development (K. Helmut Reich. ) An Attachment-Theory Approach to the Psychology of Religion (Lee A. Kirkpatrick. ) * Believing Is Seeing: How Religion Shapes Our Worlds Attribution Theory and the Psychology of Religion (Wayne Proudfoot and Phillip R. Shaver. ) A General Attribution Theory for the Psychology of Religion (Bernard Spilka, P. R. Shaver, and L. A. Kirkpatrick. ) Religion-as-Schema, with Implications for the Relation Between Religion and Coping (Daniel N. McIntosh. ) Toward an Attitude Process Model of Religious Experience (Peter C. Hill. ) In the Eye of the Beholder: A Social-Cognitive Model of Religious Belief (Elizabeth Weiss Ozorak. ) * The Experience of Religion A Taxonomy of Religious Experience (R. Stark. ) The Empirical Study of Mysticism (Ralph W. Hood Jr. ).
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Theory in the psychology of religion is in a state of rapid development, and the present volume demonstrates how various positions in this field may be translated into original foundational work that will in turn encourage exploration in many directions. A number of new contributions are collected with previously published pieces to illustrate the diversity of prominent theoreticians thinking on topics pertinent to the psychology of religion. These essays span the primary theoretical and research traditions in mainstream psychology: motivational, social, cognitive, clinical, personality, and developmental frameworks. Each section concludes with an extensive commentary.This book is a valuable addition to courses in psychology and religious studies. It also will appeal to those professionals and lay audiences interested in how this field is evolving. }Theory in the psychology of religion is in a state of rapid development, and the present volume demonstrates how various positions in this field may be translated into original foundational work that will in turn encourage exploration in many directions. A number of new contributions are collected with previously published pieces to illustrate the diversity of prominent theoreticians thinking on topics pertinent to the psychology of religion. These essays span the primary theoretical and research traditions in mainstream psychology: motivational, social, cognitive, clinical, personality, and developmental frameworks. Each section concludes with an extensive commentary.This book is a valuable addition to courses in psychology and religious studies. It also will appeal to those professionals and lay audiences interested in how this field is evolving. }.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
Theory in the psychology of religion is in a state of rapid development, and the present volume demonstrates how various positions in this field may be translated into original foundational work that will in turn encourage exploration in many directions. A number of new contributions are collected with previously published pieces to illustrate the diversity of prominent theoreticians thinking on topics pertinent to the psychology of religion. These essays span the primary theoretical and research traditions in mainstream psychology: motivational, social, cognitive, clinical, personality, and developmental frameworks. Each section concludes with an extensive commentary. This book is a valuable addition to courses in psychology and religious studies. It also will appeal to those professionals and lay audiences interested in how this field is evolving.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

The psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience is the most comprehensive survey of theories and research on religion from the perspective of psychology. Religious belief is never evenly distributed, and is correlated with such variables as social background, gender and personality characteristics. Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle use findings in these areas to test numerous explanations of the origins and functions of religion in human culture. They also consider social consequences of religiosity, religious experience, religious attitudes, the effect of religion on health, the acquisition of beliefs, conversion, and the benefit or otherwise of religion. Their main conclusion is that religiosity is first and foremost social, and is learned like other kinds of social acts. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi and Michael Argyle are renowned for their clear, analytical approach to topics and this new state-of-the-art study of psychology and religion is no exception. It will be welcomed as an update to their previous work in the area by social psychologists, sociologists and theologians worldwide.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
Because society is increasingly secular, it may seem irrelevant to consider the psychology of religion. But the diversity of our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society in fact makes religion more important to the social sciences than it has ever been before. What are the social consequences of religion? Every day the news is full events that can be blamed on religion, perpetrated by a range of groups from whole societies to individuals. This study of psychology and religion calls into question the social consequences of religion. It should be of use to social psychologists, sociologists and theologians.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)