Methodological Issues in Psychology of Religion Research in the Chinese Context

The present study investigates methodological issues in psychology of religion in Mainland China. Beginning with an overview of Western and Eastern scholars’ representative views on methodological issues relative to psychology of religion, this essay then analyzes the distinctive Chinese cultural background in terms of influences exerted by mainstream ideology, opportunities provided by the goal of building a harmonious society, and the real demand for the development of psychology of religion. Finally, this study puts forward several methodological strategies for constructing a Chinese psychology of religion including advanced theoretical research to strengthen the basis of research methods in Chinese psychology of religion; understanding more precisely the basis of constructing localized methods with Chinese features; and encouraging exploration on diversification and promotion of methodological innovation for psychology of religion in China.     

Studying the specificity of spirituality: lessons from the psychology of religion

Psychological research on spirituality need not start from scratch: the psychology of religion provides substantial knowledge and experience that can be drawn on when psychologists want to do research on spirituality. Spirituality, while certainly not identical with religion or religiosity, is a human phenomenon to which many methodological insights from the study of religion may be applied, although it is also a domain where many mistakes from the history of the psychology of religion are likely to be repeated. After presenting some thoughts on the conceptualization of spirituality, and reflecting on the type of psychology required to do research on spirituality, the paper points out some hidden agenda's in the psychologies of religion and spirituality. Focusing on and keeping in mind the specificity of spiritual conduct, the paper discusses a number of practical aspects of empirical research on spirituality.     

The Replication Crisis and Qualitative Research in the Psychology of Religion

ABSTRACT

This article forms a contribution to the discussion on the “replication crisis” in psychology from the qualitative research perspective and qualitative-oriented psychology of religion. The main theme of our article is, how should we deal, as qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, with the issue of replicability? The introductory part of the article concentrates on validity criteria within qualitative-oriented research, and why qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion should take them into consideration in their research projects. Next, a typology of approaches (Intuitive, Field, Pragmatic, Synthetic), toward replication within qualitative studies is presented. Alongside discussing the possible ways of making qualitative research more replicable, examples of good practices in that matter are discussed. Some takeaway tips for qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, that are to be used in order to make their research more replicable, are presented in the concluding part. Promoting CAQDAS, developing clear research protocols and procedures, describing the cultural context of the research in detail and discussing methodological issues and barriers/limitations of the study in a separate section are one of the main ideas postulated in the article, that should be included in the future qualitative studies on religion (s). The article concludes with a plea of sorts, that qualitative-oriented researchers do need to pay more attention to methodological issues while designing a research project, keeping in mind that it can (and should) be replicated in the future.     

Methodological concerns in the psychology of religion: Continuities,losses and transforming perspectives

This article seeks solutions to what has recently been called the ‘crisis' in the psychology of religion by returning to the programs of its founding fathers. It explores some of the methodological debates that followed the translation of William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience into German. More was at stake than the commonly drawn distinction between empirical and hermeneutical approaches to religion, or between quantitative and qualitative methods. What was at stake was the need for another kind of psychology in general. This article pays special attention to Wilhelm Wundt's fundamental criticism of James and of others in the psychology of religion. Despite the problems inherent in both James' and Wundt's aborted general psychology programs, each nonetheless contains approaches that may yet serve as an impetus to contemporary research on religion. Contemporary developments in cultural psychology in particular complement current research in the psychology of religion.     

Methodological concerns in the psychology of religion: Continuities, losses and transforming perspectives

This article seeks solutions to what has recently been called the ‘crisis’ in the psychology of religion by returning to the programs of its founding fathers. It explores some of the methodological debates that followed the translation of William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience into German. More was at stake than the commonly drawn distinction between empirical and hermeneutical approaches to religion, or between quantitative and qualitative methods. What was at stake was the need for another kind of psychology in general. This article pays special attention to Wilhelm Wundt's fundamental criticism of James and of others in the psychology of religion. Despite the problems inherent in both James' and Wundt's aborted general psychology programs, each nonetheless contains approaches that may yet serve as an impetus to contemporary research on religion. Contemporary developments in cultural psychology in particular complement current research in the psychology of religion.     

美国宗教心理学研究的历史、现状与问题

在回顾美国宗教心理学发展历史的基础上,分析了美国宗教心理学研究的现状,并从中揭示出美国宗教心理学研究存在的问题。美国的宗教心理学经历了兴起、衰落、复兴的曲折发展过程。宗教观念、宗教体验、宗教行为系美国宗教心理学研究的基本维度,宗教同人格和心理健康的关系在美国宗教心理学研究中处于突出地位。两支研究队伍（心理学背景的宗教心理学研究者和宗教学背景的宗教心理学研究者）的分歧及心理学取向的研究者在研究方法方面的分歧,是美国宗教心理学研究值得重视的问题。     

Taking Community Seriously: A Theory and Method for a Community-Oriented Psychology of Religion

In contemporary scholarship, the psychology of religion involves the scientific study of religious life. Traditionally, psychologists have pursued a strikingly individualistic approach to their study of the topic, which seems at odds with the emphasis on groups or society in most definitions of religion. What would happen if we took this relational aspect of religion seriously? The paper investigates the question by asking (1) how might the underlying philosophy of science for the field differ if we took a more relational approach to the topic, and (2) how might our altered assumptions affect the scientific study of religion in psychology. The result is a modest proposal for a community-oriented psychology of religion that embraces a greater diversity of methods and a sharper emphasis on goals that will be directly beneficial to the people we study.     

History, Present Situation, and Problems of Chinese Psychology of Religion

There have been few research studies on the psychology of religion in Mainland China because of the “leftist” ideology that shaped the People’s Republic of China from its foundation until the introduction of reform and open policy. Since the 1980s, research in the field of psychology of religion in Mainland China has made remarkable progress. The main efforts include translating and introducing representative works from the former Soviet Union and the West, while theoretical studies have concentrated mainly on the origins, features, functions, and schools of psychology of religion. Researchers have developed new measurement tools based on local culture in psychology of religion. Empirical studies pay special attention to the relationship between religious belief and mental health, the features of religious thinking of the Chinese, the psychological state of professionals, and characteristic emotions of religious experiences as well as their correlation with biological processes. The problems that currently exist in the field in Mainland China include the following: lack of critical in-depth studies on the history of Western psychology of religion, absence of diversity in research methods, and disconnection of theoretical study from practical application. Obviously, these issues should influence the direction of future efforts.     

The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology (Book)

The growth of religious psychology with specific reference to the Malay people as the majority culture is discussed. This article describes attitudes of the Malays toward religion, and reviews related programs and developments in Malaysian universities and institutes. It covers contents of major seminars and conferences held in recent years; the application of religious psychology in the general Malay population and an analysis of some problems and prospects relevant to the general psychology of religion area. The article concludes that, although psychology of religion does not exist here in the Western sense, immense opportunities exist for psychological research on religion. Suggestions for improving the psychology-religion interface are given.     

Commentary on the Special Issue: Religion in the Psychology of Personality

The author comments on the special issue on religion in the psychology of personality. She focuses her discussion on the following topics: the historical tripartite theory of cognition-affection-conation; ways that family psychology and theories of language clarify the "problem" of adherence to "false realities"; the multidimensionality of personality and religion and their cultural embeddedness as illuminated in clinical assessment by way of contextual family theory (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Krasner, 1986) and the Kantor and Lehr (1975) systems theory; the role of the investigator's personality in theory and research about personality and religion; the one-sided emphasis on the empirical tradition in the psychology of religion; and the omission of the personalist tradition.     

Mortal Body,Studying Lives: Restoring Eros to the Psychology of Religion

Implications of the complicity of the psychology of religion in the post- modern condition of knowledge are countered by an argument that the body should be given more account in this field of research. Such an emphasis is exemplified by the work of Henry Murray, who himself located his research somewhere between biology (science) and literature (art) (Murray, 1938, p. 607). A revival of Murray's emphasis suggests that embodied knowledge de- rives not from the study of individuals' meanings in living but their needs and acts, which together articulate two laws of the mortal body namely, the turnover of generations (mortality-natality) and gender complementarity (sexuality). Specific accounting for these laws in the study of lives (e.g., biography, autobiography) will restore eros-or an aspiration to higher value-to the psychology of religion: How do subjects construe their pasts and futures and their changing location in temporality? How do subjects link themselves to their pasts and futures in terms of overall strategies and practical tactics for living in the present? Such an accounting also will make the psychology of re- ligion an inherently soteriological enterprise for researchers.     

Indian Spirituality: How Relevant is Pargament’s Framework?

The psychology of religion and spirituality is a topic of increasing interest in India as well as in the West. An internationally influential framework for defining religion and spirituality has been developed by US psychologist Kenneth Pargament, who conceptualizes spirituality and religion as search processes related to sacred realities. Pargament’s framework has been found to resonate across multiple cultures and has guided and informed empirical research in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations. The present paper argues that Pargament’s framework can also coherently resonate with Hinduism and other indigenous Indian religious beliefs and practices. We conclude that future studies of religion and spirituality in Indian contexts may benefit by framing their investigations with reference to Pargament’s approach. Such framing need not be uncritical and would help bring Indian psychology of spirituality/religion in closer contact with psychology of spirituality/religion in other parts of the world, benefiting both India and the worldwide psychology of religion and spirituality.     

Methodological issues in the psychology of religion: toward another paradigm?

Recent evaluations have identified the psychology of religion as a field in crisis and have called for a new multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm. However, a critical meta-perspective on methods reveals a broad range of methodologies, each appropriate for particular levels of complexity in the psychology of religion. No single methodology is appropriate for every level, nor can higher levels of complexity be explained by data from lower levels. The authors identify the different types of research practiced in the psychology of religion and critically discuss philosophical presuppositions involved in two major methodological traditions, the empiricist-analytical and the hermeneutical, often identified as quantitative and qualitative traditions, respectively.     

Spirituality,Culture and Mental Health: Prospects and Risks for Contemporary Psychology of Religion

This paper asks whether: (1) psychology of religion is doing what it is supposed to do, (2) the contemporary psychological attention to religion and spirituality is perhaps of a transgressive nature, and (3) conceptualizations of spirituality in psychological publications are biased. It makes a plea for phenomenologically well-informed research on real forms of religion and spirituality, from a perspective that is as broad as psychology at present has become, with due regard for both the cultural make-up of the phenomena and the unavoidable limits of psychologists' professional competence.     

Communication with Older Persons: Part I-Looking Within

ABSTRACT

How is healthy (salugenic) religion to be distinguished from sick (pathogenic) religion in modern life? Humanistic psychology and religion have benchmarks by which they can be defined. The healthy religion indicators can be related to aging and to physical wellness or wholeness. Such a correlation is especially helpful in a changing 21st century world.     

Psychology: Twentieth century religion? A psychologist's view

Conclusion In conclusion, then, let me ask again the question: Is psychology our century's religion ? My answer is that psychology is not, and can never be, a full-fledged organized religion with comparable characteristics to Judaism, Catholicism, or Protestantism. Psychology is a modern science and has no coherent system of religious attitudes and beliefs, no conception of ultimate values, no dogmas supernatural in character, and no God. At most psychology is, or can be, a religious-like substitute for religion for a certain subgroup of our population, mainly intellectuals.However, both religion and depth psychology are deeply concerned with modern man's predicament. It is my belief that many people may experience religious — like phenomena within a therapeutic relationship and as a consequence of successful psychotherapy. Therefore, the roles of the clergyman and of the therapist overlap in their efforts to help modern man in his suffering and creative growth. But religion will always have its unique function and so will psychology.This article is a revised version of a talk prepared for the symposium during the Campus Conference on Religion at Cornell University, October 23, 1961.     

The Psychometric Properties of the Italian Translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity: A Study among Catholic Adolescents

The Italian translation of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity was developed and tested among a sample of 575 young people between 16 and 17?years of age attending secular secondary schools in Rome, Italy. The data supported the unidimensionality, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of this instrument and commend it for further use in contributing to comparative empirical research within the psychology of religion.     

Metapsychology and Discourse: A Note on Some Neglected issues in the Psychology of Religion

Based on a brief discussion of some of the classic problems in the psychology of religion, the concepts metapsychology and discourse are introduced as pointing to the hitherto neglected task of developing adequate models of the inner world (metapsy- chology) and analyzing the written or spoken discourse of religious experience. Finally, it is argued that an inclusion of this more hermeneutic research agenda points in the direction of a reconceptualized psychology of religion, that is, a scientific discipline with a broadened self-understanding and a more independent status vis-a-vis mainstream psychology.     

Switching tracks in psychotherapy: Parallel paradigms in psychology and religion

Can a practitioner work with patients who frame their concerns in religious terms and are ignorant of or hostile to psychological theory? A “roundhouse” metaphor, predicated upon the assumption that psychology and religion employ models wherein individuals are influenced byagencies that expressintentions in service ofdesigns, is proposed to facilitate movement from psychology to religion and back again. Utilizing the personality theory of C. G. Jung, a case is analyzed to see how well the roundhouse assists in using psychology to address the religious issues of the patient.     

An Attachment-Theory Approach Psychology of Religion

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that attachment theory, as origi- nally proposed by John Bowlby and subsequently refined by a host of other researchers, provides a powerful framework for integrating research and theory concerning the psychology of religion. The essay begins with a brief over- view of contemporary models of attachment, with particular emphasis on adult attachment relationships. Selected literature is reviewed concerning a variety of topics in the psychology of religion, including research on images of God, conversion, and prayer, and attachment theory is shown to provide a useful conceptual framework for integrating these findings. It is argued that extending attachment theory in this direction may benefit religion researchers as well as social and developmental psychologists interested in such topics as interpersonal relationships, stress and coping, and loneliness.