Neil J. Kressel

Detailed Contents for The Psychology of Religion Textbook

1: Introduction
2: The Great Theorists
3: How Psychologists Study Religion
4: How People Think About and Experience Religion
5: The Effects of Religion
6: Using the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
The Psychology of Religion, A Social Force by Neil J. Kressel Book Cover

1: Introduction

Chapter 1: The Untold Story of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

  • A Thriving Enterprise
  • How Religion Really Fits Into Human Lives: Six Cases
    • Case One: A Swede’s Quest
    • Case Two: Malcolm, Martin, and God
    • Case Three: A Buddhist Message
    • Case Four: Two American Jews Who Disagree
    • Case Five: God, Religion, and the Roots of Murder
    • Case Six: Reaching Millions Through Protestantism
  • Why Does the Psychology of Religion Matter?
  • What Is Religion? What is the Psychology of Relgion?
  • What Do Psychologists of Religion Study?
    • The Dimensions of Religiosity
    • The Study of Spirituality
  • Why is the Psychology of Religion Nearly Always Controversial?
    • Objections from Psychology
    • Objections from Religion
    • What About Your Own Faith (or Lack of It)?
  • Current Debates in the Field

2: The Great Theorists

Chapter 2: Classic Approaches to Religion and Spirituality

  • William James, Psychoanalysis, and Humanistic-Existential Psychology
  • What Drove William James?
    • “The Will to Believe”
    • Pragmatism, Varieties, and the Call for a Science of Religion
    • The Legacy of William James
  • Freud and the Unconscious Roots of Religion
    • A Complex Man
  • Freudian Theories of Religion
    • The Oceanic Feeling
    • Religion as Wish-Fulfilling Illusion
    • The Anthropological Roots of Religion
    • Religion as a Universal Obsessional Neurosis
    • How Religion Functions in Civilization
    • Critiques of Freud’s Approach to Religion
  • Jung and the Vital Importance of a Religious Outlook
  • Humanistic and Existential Psychology
    • Existential Approaches
      • The Search for Meaning
      • The Denial of Death
  • The Many Faces of the Humanistic-Existential Tradition
    • Erich Fromm—Humanistic and Authoritarian Religion
    • Gordon Allport—The Mature Religious Sentiment
    • Abraham Maslow—Self-Actualization, B-Values, and Peak Experiences
    • Assessing Humanistic-Existential Perspectives on Religion

Chapter 3: Behaviorism, Neuroscience, and the Cognitive Science of Religion

  • Expanding Scientific Horizons
  • B. F. Skinner and the Behaviorists Glimpse Religion
    • Beyond Freedom and Dignity
    • The Beliefs of a Behaviorist
    • Superstitious Pigeons
    • Walden Two
    • Religion and the Control of Behavior
  • Albert Bandura, Social Cognitive Theory, and Religion
    • Social Learning
    • Spiritual Modeling
    • Moral Disengagement
  • The Cognitive Science of Religion
    • Religion and Our Cognitive Architecture
      • Two-Systems Processing
      • Inference-Making Subsystems
      • Epidemiological Spread and Memes
      • Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device (HADD)
      • Minimal Counterintuitiveness
      • High-cost Displays
    • Assessing the Cognitive Science of Religion
  • Neurotheology: Brain Science and Religion
    • What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Tell Us About Religion
    • Emerging Biological Perspectives on Religion
    • Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Religion
    • The God Helmet
    • Assessing a Quarter-Century of Neuroscience Research

Chapter 4: The Sociological Context

  • The Relevance of Sociology
  • How Sociologists Think About Religion
  • Classic Sociological Theorists
    • Auguste Comte
    • Karl Marx
      • Marxist Regimes and Religion
    • Émile Durkheim
    • Max Weber
  • Peter Berger and the Sacred Canopy
    • The Sociology of Knowledge
    • The Nomos
    • Legitimations and Plausibility Structures
  • Rational Choice Theory and the Religious Marketplace
    • Cost-Benefit Calculations
    • Otherworldly Rewards
    • The Value of a Competitive Market
    • Conversion
    • The Free-Rider Problem
  • The Secularization Debate
  • How to Think About “Grand Theories”

3: How Psychologists Study Religion

Chapter 5: Research Methods and the Empirical Tradition

  • A Scientific Approach
    • Doubting Thomas and the Tools of the Trade
    • The Methodological Commitments of Religious and Nonreligious Scientists
    • Using Science to Study Religion: A Formidable Task
  • Edwin Starbuck and the Dawn of the Empirical Tradition
    • The First Empirical Studies: Protestant “Conversion”
    • The Life and Methodology of a Research Pioneer
    • Starbuck’s Conclusions and the Scientific Method
  • Asking the Right Questions
    • Changing Priorities, Changing Methods
    • Nonintellectual Factors Influencing Research
      • Funding Considerations
      • Values and Beliefs of Researchers
      • Seeking Rigor, Vigor, Relevance, and Respectability
  • Experiments and the Psychology of Religion
    • The Logic of Experimentation
    • The Good Samaritan Study: A Classic Experiment
    • Recent Research and the Good Samaritan Study
    • Strengths and Weaknesses of Experimental Studies
  • Observational Research
    • When Prophecy Fails: Looking Back at a Classic Observational Study
    • Strengths and Weaknesses of Observational Research
  • Survey Research: The Art and Science of Asking Questions About Religion
    • Qualitative Methods: In-depth Interviews
      • Methodological Challenges
      • Examples of Qualitative Research
    • Quantitative Survey Research
      • Methodological Challenges
      • Examples of Quantitative Survey Research
  • Measuring Religion and Spirituality
    • Reliability, Validity, and the Construction of Good Measures
    • State of the Art Instruments
    • The Devil Is in the Details

4: How People Think About and Experience Religion

Chapter 6: Religious Attitudes and Beliefs Around the World

  • A Scientific Approach
    • Doubting Thomas and the Tools of the Trade
    • The Methodological Commitments of Religious and Nonreligious Scientists
    • Using Science to Study Religion: A Formidable Task
  • Edwin Starbuck and the Dawn of the Empirical Tradition
    • The First Empirical Studies: Protestant “Conversion”
    • The Life and Methodology of a Research Pioneer
    • Starbuck’s Conclusions and the Scientific Method
  • Asking the Right Questions
    • Changing Priorities, Changing Methods
    • Nonintellectual Factors Influencing Research
      • Funding Considerations
      • Values and Beliefs of Researchers
      • Seeking Rigor, Vigor, Relevance, and Respectability
  • Experiments and the Psychology of Religion
    • The Logic of Experimentation
    • The Good Samaritan Study: A Classic Experiment
    • Recent Research and the Good Samaritan Study
    • Strengths and Weaknesses of Experimental Studies
  • Observational Research
    • When Prophecy Fails: Looking Back at a Classic Observational Study
    • Strengths and Weaknesses of Observational Research
  • Survey Research: The Art and Science of Asking Questions About Religion
    • Qualitative Methods: In-depth Interviews
      • Methodological Challenges
      • Examples of Qualitative Research
    • Quantitative Survey Research
      • Methodological Challenges
      • Examples of Quantitative Survey Research
  • Measuring Religion and Spirituality
    • Reliability, Validity, and the Construction of Good Measures
    • State of the Art Instruments
    • The Devil Is in the Details

Chapter 7: Religious Development, Religious Experience, and Prayer

  • How People Become Religious
  • Socialization at a Religious Summer Camp
    • Jewish Summer Camps
      • Assessing the Impact of Jewish Summer Camps
      • Social Psychological Mechanisms
    • Spiritual Transformation at a Christian Summer Camp
    • Choices and Challenges Facing Religious Summer Camps
  • How Children Think and Feel About Religion
    • Empirical Research on the Religious Beliefs of Children
    • Attachment Theory
    • Piaget and Religion
    • Classic Research on Religion and Cognitive Development
    • Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development
    • The Development of Thoughts About the Nature of God
    • How Children Understand Omniscience
  • Acquiring the Prayer Habit
    • Who Prays and Why?
    • The Scientific Study of Prayer
      • Types of Prayer
      • Why the Impact of Prayer is Difficult to Assess
    • Hearing the Voice of God During Prayer
  • Religious Experience and Mysticism
    • Empirical Research on Religious and Mystical Experiences
  • Religion and Identity
    • Religious Pathways Through the Adolescent Identity Crisis
    • Religion as a Component of Ethnic and National Identity

5: The Effects of Religion

Chapter 8: Religion and Health

  • Is Religion Good For Your Health?
  • The Quest for Scientific Answers
    • An ocean of Research
    • The Meta-Analytic Approach
  • The Basic Findings: Physical Health
    • Longevity
    • Religion and Particular Health Conditions: Susceptibility and Prognosis
      • Cancer
      • Cardiovascular Disease
      • Infectious Disease
    • Religious Coping and Illness
      • Types of Religious Coping
  • The Basic Findings: Mental Health
    • Depression, Anxiety, and Substance Abuse
      • Depression
      • Anxiety
      • Substance Abuse
      • Suicide
    • Religion, Happiness, and Life Satisfaction
      • Research on Religion and Well-Being
    • Schizophrenia
  • What It All Means
    • Reflections on the Research Literature
    • Mechanisms and Pathways
      • Practical and Social Support
      • Psychological Resources
      • Social Identity Resources
  • Some Reflections on Religion and Health
    • When Religion is Bad for Health
    • What’s a Nonbeliever to Do?

Chapter 9: Religion and Morality

  • Do Religious People Lead More Moral Lives?
  • Public Opinion and the Religion–Morality Connection
    • Reflections on Public Morality in a Godless World
    • Public Opinion Data: Morality Without God?
    • Which Matters are Moral Matters, Anyway?
    • Why Are People Moral in the First Place? A Terror Management Perspective
  • Understanding Moral Character
    • Defining Moral Character
    • Two Historical Cases
      • Moral Character and Imperialism
      • The Heroes of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon
  • Moral Psychology
    • Kohlberg and Moral Development
      • Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas
      • Kohlberg’s Stages of Development
      • Assessing Kohlberg’s Theory
    • Changing Perspectives on Moral Development
    • Moral Foundations Theory
  • What Research Teaches Us About Moral Behaviors and Religion
    • Religion, Helping, and Charity
      • Are Religious People More Prosocial?
      • Religious Priming
      • Explaining Religion–Prosociality Links
    • Religion and “Bad” Behaviors
      • Cheating
      • Criminality
      • Substance Abuse
      • Sexual Improprieties
      • Bigotry
    • Some Thoughts on Religion, Values, and Politics
      • Identification with All Humanity
      • Religion and Political Orientation

Chapter 10: Religious Extremism

  • Probing the Heart and Soul of Religious Militancy
  • Extremists of Many Faiths, Past and Present
    • Christian Extremism
    • Hindu Extremism
    • Buddhist Extremism
    • Jewish Extremism
    • Islamic Extremism
  • Vital Distinctions: Extremism, Fundamentalism, Terrorism, and Radicalization
    • What is Religious Extremism?
    • What is Religious Fundamentalism?
    • What is Terrorism?
    • What is Radicalization?
  • A Challenging Topic to Study
    • How Can Psychologists Study Religious Extremism?
    • Talking to the Terrorists
    • Other Methodological Approaches
    • Avoiding Islamophobia, Taking Islamic Extremism Seriously
  • Why Do People Become Religious Extremists?
    • Some Appeals of Extremism
    • The Role of Religion in Religious Extremism
  • The Psychology of Radicalization
    • Controversies
    • Points of Agreement
    • Theories of Radicalization

6: Using the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

Chapter 11: The Challenge of Real-world Application

  • Applying the Psychology of Religion
  • Competing Agendas, Competing Values, Competing Goals
    • One Approach: Limiting the Audience
  • Some Partisan Projects
    • Promoting Particular Religions
    • Promoting Religion in General
    • Promoting Atheism and Agnosticism
    • Promoting Spirituality
    • Promoting Mystic Experiences via Entheogens
    • Promoting Identification with All Humanity
    • Promoting Religious Diversity
    • Promoting Religious Unity
    • Promoting Interfaith Cooperation
    • Promoting Religious Moderation
    • Promoting Religious Intensity
    • Improving Religious Literacy
    • Fighting Religion-based Terrorism
    • Opposing Bigotry Within Religious Groups
    • Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Communal Institutions
  • Improving Clinical and Counseling Psychology
    • Pastoral Counseling
    • Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Mainstream Psychotherapy
    • Religion, Spirituality, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Spiritual and Religious Competencies for Psychologists
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