A Response to “Participation: A Religious Worldview” by James M. Gustafson

This response offers an interpretation of James Gustafson's “Participation: A Religious Worldview,” which thinks with Gustafson on the theme of “participation,” while highlighting points where my own thoughts diverge from his. The essay begins by drawing the reader's attention to Gustafson's style, arguing that the simple elegance of his writing constitutes part of his larger claim about the need to remove ourselves from the center of our thought. Next, the essay analyzes Gustafson's use of “participation” by putting it in context and connecting it with his broader methodology. Finally, I draw the reader's attention to important loci in the text in order to show how Gustafson's essay helps address various extant misinterpretations of his thought but also to point to ways in which my “thinking with” Gustafson leads me to think otherwise than he does.     

Religion,Religious Tradition,and Nationalism: Jewish Revival in Poland and “Religious Heritage” in Québec

This article uses and develops Martin Riesebrodt's distinction between religion and religious tradition to shed light on the making of various articulations of religious identities and political projects. Based on extensive research on the Polish and Québécois cases, I show how social and state actors in these societies reactivate past religious traditions to respond to current social transformations and articulate societal projects and advance political agendas in the present. In both cases, religion and religious tradition are juxtaposed to articulate new national identities or fortify older ones, and to respond more specifically to the challenges posed by “pluralism.” I suggest that sociologists who work at the intersection of religion and politics can contribute to our understanding of the various registers through which religion, religious action, and religious tradition are rendered meaningful to social actors, used for different goals (religious and not) and transformed in the process.     

THE PROBLEM OF “GOD” IN PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION: LONERGAN'S “COMMON SENSE” (RELIGION) VERSUS “THEORY” (THEOLOGY)

The emphasis on God in American psychology of religion generates the problem of explaining divine‐versus‐natural causality in “spiritual experiences.” Especially “theistic psychology” champions divine involvement. However, its argument exposes a methodological error: to pit popular religious opinions against technical scientific conclusions. Countering such homogenizing “postmodern agnosticism,” Bernard Lonergan explained these two as different modes of thinking: “common sense” and “theory”—which resolves the problem: When theoretical science is matched with theoretical theology, “the God‐hypothesis” explains the existence of things whereas science explains their natures; and, barring miracles, God is irrelevant to natural science. A review of the field shows that the problem is pervasive; attention to “miracles”—popularly so‐named versus technically—focuses the claims of divine‐versus‐natural causality; and specifications of the meaning of spiritual, spirituality, science, worldview, and meaning itself (suffering that same ambiguity: personal import versus cognitive content) offer further clarity. The problem is not naturalism versus theism, but commonsensical versus theoretical thinking. This solution demands “hard” social science.     

“A Part of Who I Am”: Material Objects as “Plot Devices” in the Formation of Religious Selves

What role do material objects play in the formation of religious subjects? Drawing from an ethnographic investigation of the evolving relationships between a group of Eastern Orthodox converts and their religious icons, this article develops a theoretical approach to this question that conceptualizes material artifacts as “plot devices” in the formation of religious identity narratives. Integrating insights from studies of material religious culture with narrative theories of identity, this article argues that religious artifacts become significant to religious identity construction to the extent they act as resources for the configuration of a narrative structure in which transcendent or sacred others play a part. As the empirical details of this study demonstrate, attending to how religious objects’ symbolic meanings (i.e., who or what they represent) are mediated by their unique material characteristics (how they make meanings physically present to social actors in embodied social interaction) is of vital importance for explaining the significant role material artifacts play in the religious emplotment of action and experience.     

“Be careful what you wish for…”: A quantitative and qualitative investigation of “fata1 attractions”

This study uses questionnaire data from 301 terminated romantic relationships to investigate hypotheses concerning the conditions under which a quality that is initially appealing in a partner is later disliked (i.e., a “fatal attraction”). Individuals are expected to be prone to fatal attractions when they are attracted to a quality in a romantic partner that is “different” in any of three ways: (1) different from the individual's own qualities (i.e., dissimilar); (2) different from average (i.e., extreme, or unique); or (3) different from normative expectations (i.e., gender atypical). Such attractions are less likely, however, when individuals are drawn to similarity in another. Findings from a logistic regression analysis provide support for four of the five hypotheses. Fatal attractions are significantly more likely when an individual is drawn to partner characteristics seen either as “dissimilar” from her or his own, as “unique,” or as “extreme” in nature. When these characteristics are viewed as “similar,” disenchantment is less likely. Fatal attractions are neither more, nor less, probable, however, when partner qualities contradict gender stereotypes. A qualitative analysis of open-ended questionnaire responses provides further support for these attraction patterns. The findings have implications for diverse theories, including those of mate selection and dialectics.     

FOLLOWING A TRAJECTORY: ON “TRACING A TRAJECTORY” AND “EXPLAINING AND VALUING,” BY JAMES M. GUSTAFSON

Abstract. The roots of religious faith–and the provenance of ethical thought–may be sought in the human sciences, the physical sciences, literature, religious traditions, and deep human intuitions. Gustafson's religious stance and the author's, while different on their face, in common reflect a mingling–and tangling–of skepticism, understanding, and transcendence. Let all of us hope and believe what we can.     

Attaining “a Sophisticated Maturity:” A Brief History of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

An historical overview of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion considers both the aspirations of the founders and the extent to which those aspirations have been realized, modified, or exceeded. Appropriate secondary sources are reviewed for an understanding of the intellectual and organizational contexts giving rise to the Journal and for a qualitative consideration of its earliest decades. Then we introduce quantitative data derived from tabulations of all articles and research notes that have appeared in the Journal beginning with its inception in 1961 through 1998. Major trends across time are identified in theories, methods, topics, author characteristics, editor characteristics, and other important traits. The article concludes with evidence of the Journal's premier and significant impact on the social‐scientific study of religion.     

The “Flash” System: A Field Study of Altruism1

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an experimental automated highway-help system for stranded motorists (the Flash system). Direct and indirect helping behavior rates as a function of the race and sex of supposedly stranded drivers on the Flash-equipped highway were compared to helping rates on a comparable, non-Flash-equipped highway. The results indicated that the automated system produced (a) higher overall helping rates and (b) higher helping rates for white persons, with type of help (direct or indirect) interacting with confederate sex.     

Attitudes Toward “Gays in the Military”: A Functional Perspective1

The functions associated with attitudes toward gays in the military were investigated. In Study I, secondary analyses of data compiled by the Gallup Organization indicated that ego-defensive and value-expressive functions are associated with attitudes toward lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military. In Study 2, results from a questionnaire specifically designed to assess reasons to lift or keep the ban replicated the findings of Study 1. In addition, Study 2 indicated that the functions both uniquely contribute to the prediction of attitudinal stance. Results from both studies indicated that approval of lifting the ban was associated with the endorsement of value-expressive reasons to lift the ban and the rejection of ego-defensive and value-expressive reasons to keep the ban; by contrast, disapproval of lifting the ban was associated with the endorsement of ego-defensive and value-expressive reasons to keep the ban and the rejection of value-expressive reasons to lift the ban. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for the functional approach to attitudes and persuasion.     

“Lest we become beasts who devour each other”: A Lutheran Calling to Higher Education in Multi‐Religious Settings1

Abstract : Lagerquist argues that in view of growing American religious diversity and awareness of religious diversity worldwide, Lutheran theology provides warrants for revising educational practice at Lutheran colleges to better serve the students and in the hope of a transformation of church and theology. American Lutheran colleges and universities are suited to this task by their theological heritage, by their educational experience, and by their place within the ecology of their churches.     

Effects of Viewing “Holocaust” on Germans and Americans: A Just-World Analysis1

This study examines attributions of blame to the Nazis and the Jews for the events of the holocaust. The sample consisted of Germans and Americans who had viewed the television series “Holocaust” and comparison groups who had not seen the program. It was found that among viewers who identified with the Nazis, attributions of blame to the Jews were higher than among nonviewers or viewers who identified with the Jews. Attributions of blame to the Nazis did not vary as a function of viewing the television series. However, people who identified with the Nazis blamed the Nazis less for the holocaust than people who identified with the Jews. These results are discussed in terms of the justworld hypothesis (Lerner & Miller, 1978) and their implications for media presentations on the victims of oppression.     

Outcome Severity and Judgments of “Responsibility”: A Meta‐Analytic Review1

Research has provided mixed support for the hypothesis that when an incident results in a more severe outcome, more responsibility will be attributed to a potentially responsible actor. This paper uses the techniques of meta‐analysis to examine this literature. The results support the contention that people attribute greater responsibility for the outcome of a negative incident when that outcome is more severe than when the outcome is minor. The direction of this relationship is consistent across methodologies. However, the strength of the correlation varies depending on which type of judgment participants are asked to make. Because many of these variables are tied to legal concepts, the results are discussed in the context of the expectations of the legal system regarding the impact of outcome severity on each variable.     

Third-Party Consent Searches: Legal vs. Social Perceptions of “Common Authority”1

We investigate the degree of correspondence between legal concepts underpinning third-party consent searches (a co-resident permits police search of shared living space and belongings) and laypersons' sociocultural expectations. In accord with the legal concepts, we hypothesized that laypersons would be able to distinguish between authority over (1) exclusive-use vs. common-use areas, and (2) personal effects in exclusive-use vs. common-use areas. But, we also expected that (3) the interpretation of “common authority” would be influenced by the presence vs. absence of the co-resident, and (4) the type of intruder (social, commercial, civil authority, or criminal justice authority) would influence responses to requests for entry. These hypotheses were tested using a fully between-subjects, factorial design (N= 160). Results supported our first three hypotheses. Subjects understood the concept of a warrantless search and distinguished between “exclusive use” areas and “common authority” areas at the level of rooms within the shared residence. Subjects' interpretation of “common authority” for third-party consent purposes was influenced by physical presence of the co-resident. If the co-resident was absent, “common authority” was interpreted as independent consent power. There was no consensual interpretation of “common authority” when the co-resident was present and protested the proposed search. Results suggest situational dependence of lay understandings of “common authority” over jointly used areas.     

Normalizing the Supernormal: The Formation of the “Gesellschaft Für Psychologische Forschung” (“Society for Psychological Research”), c. 1886–1890

This paper traces the formation of the German “Gesellschaft für psychologische Forschung” (“Society for Psychological Research”), whose constitutive branches in Munich and Berlin were originally founded as inlets for alternatives to Wundtian experimental psychology from France and England, that is, experimental researches into hypnotism and alleged supernormal phenomena. By utilizing the career trajectories of Max Dessoir and Albert von Schrenck‐Notzing as founding members of the “Gesellschaft,” this paper aims to open up novel perspectives regarding extra‐scientific factors involved in historically determining the epistemological and methodological boundaries of nascent psychology in Germany.