ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Psychology of Religion Module The Scope of Religion and Links Between Psychology and Religion How many religious people are there? Looking at news events and casual observation of various peoples and cultures would seem to suggest that people believe in and follow many diverse religions and faith traditions. What do the data tell us?

The Scope of Religion One psychologist commented that religion is gradually disappearing from the face of the earth, and that what remains of it exerts little influence in most cases (Beit-Hallahmi, 1989). How accurate is this belief? Probably not very accurate. In one recent survey of a diverse sample of Americans, 78 percent rated themselves as religious and 90 percent said they were spiritual (Zinnbauer & others, 1999).

About 60 percent of individuals attend religious services and 95 percent say they believe in God. Seventy-five percent say they pray ( Religion in America , 1993). Religion also is an important dimension of people’s lives around the world - 98 percent of the population in India, 88 percent in Italy, 72 percent in France, and 63 percent in Scandinavia say that they believe in God (Gallup, 1985).

Of the world’s 6 billion people, approximately two-thirds are either involved in religion or have been affected by religion in important ways. Interestingly, females have shown a consistently stronger interest in religion than males have (Bijur & others, 1993; Francis & Wilcox, 1998; Miller & Hoffman, 1996).

They participate more in both organized and personal forms of religion, are more likely to believe in a higher power or presence, and feel, more than men do, that religion is a very important dimension of their lives. In one recent study, men viewed God as more controlling than women did (Krejci, 1998). The worldwide interest in religion suggests that knowledge of the psychological dimensions of religion would improve our understanding of human behavior and mental processes.

A psychology of mental processes and behavior would be incomplete without an exploration of the psychology of religion. The History of Psychology of Religion Psychology of religion is among both the oldest and the newest research areas in psychology. It was part of the field of psychology from the beginning. The famous psychologist William James wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience in 1902, shortly after The Psychology of Religion (Starbuck, 1899) was published.