Religious Experience: A Sociological Perspective

This paper draws on a wide range of researches to stress the importance of social context to the sociological understanding of religious experiences. It argues that individualistic definitions fail to take into account real group experiences such as those resulting from the reforms of Vatican II. For the sociologist, it is important to explore general patterns of group experiences and the meanings attributed to them. The paper discusses some of the methodological and conceptual problems in this area before considering evidence for the patterning of religious experience according to differences of generation, gender, class, level of urbanization, institutional involvement, and status inconsistency. The paper concludes by locating religious experiences in the context of modernity. In contrast to related theories of secularization, it draws attention to the recent work of Hervieu-Léger which suggests that utopian future expectations create space which can only be met by new forms of religious experience.     

音乐与个体发展

人类对音乐的感知体验起始于生命早期。近年来认知神经科学领域的研究表明, 音乐对个体发展具有深远的影响。在大脑发育的过程中, 音乐经验主要调节大脑加工信息的方式, 同时会影响语言、空间、以及运动能力的发展。本文回顾了近年来研究者们在音乐认知领域的新发现, 重点关注于音乐对脑发育的影响。     

Elements of Healthy Religious Beliefs

Rather than characterizing religious beliefs in general as healthy or unhealthy, this article suggests criteria by which one might differentiate between healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs.     

Pain and Sacrifice: Experience and Modulation of Pain in a Religious Piercing Ritual

Fascinating pain-related rituals have been observed throughout the world, but so far no systematic evidence exists to support previous ethnographic reports of analgesic states and dissociative symptoms during these events. To address this issue, we combined quantitative and qualitative measures with the aim of investigating pain experience and modulation of pain during the Thaipusam Kavadi ritual in Mauritius. In Study 1, results indicated low levels of pain intensity during the ritual, and regression analyses showed that expectations of pain were significantly predictive of actual pain intensity ratings. In Study 2, the meanings surrounding the ritual were found to generate expectations of low pain and a positive outcome, and intense prayer was reported as the main coping strategy. In addition, most participants expressed symptoms of dissociation (including amnesia, absorption, and depersonalisation) during Thaipusam, and a high prevalence of these symptoms was associated with low levels of pain.     

宗教研究的心理学视角:历史、理论与方法

宗教心理学在西方已有100多年的历史,在中国还是个新学科。本文从宗教心理学的定义、历史、代表人物、重要理论及研究方法几方面,简要勾勒出西方对宗教现象进行心理学研究的概貌。希望以此启示中国宗教心理学研究的起步和发展。     

Religious Conversion in a Psychotic Individual

The authors describe the case of a man who appeared to have psychotic symptoms, including self-injurious behavior, but who understood his own experience as a religious conversion. The symptoms, clinical course, and treatment response are described with reference to the works of Kurt Schneider and William James. Empirical studies of the attitudes of psychiatrists, psychiatric patients, and clergypersons about the relationship between religious belief and psychiatric illness are described, and various theoretical models used to understand this relationship are articulated.     

Premenstrual Syndrome and Misattribution: A Self-Perception,Individual Differences Perspective

Self-perception theory suggests that premenstrual syndrome (PMS) may arise from the misattribution of hormone-induced bodily changes. If so, individual differences in the role of bodily responses in emotional feelings, measured in a separate expression-manipulation procedure, should be related to susceptibility to PMS. In Study 1, women responsive to cues from their bodies showed significant mood changes, both negative and positive, with their cycle, over a 60 day span; whereas women relatively unresponsive to personal, bodily cues showed no consistent cycle effects. PMS was also predicted by a measure of emotional complexity. In Study 2 women whose moods were based on bodily cues also rated their moods as less positive if they were in their premenstrual week, and women unresponsive to their bodies were unaffected by their cycle. A reminder of their cycle-stage prevented PMS in the body cue group, which is a kind of discounting effect. Women who were unresponsive to their bodies also did not show PMS, and were unaffected by the reminder.     

Theistic Dissonance Among Religious Jewish Holocaust Survivors: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Coining the term theistic dissonance to capture conflicted attitudes and feelings toward God, this article examines faith-based reactions to the Holocaust. The theological weltanschauung of religious Jewish Holocaust survivors is analyzed, with a particular focus on their attempts to reconcile the notion of a benevolent and caring God with their harrowing experience. Basic religious sources and contemporary literature are presented to elucidate the realm of resolutions of theistic dissonance. It is suggested that elements of defense mechanisms are adapted from the emotional into the cognitive realm, and are used by survivors to facilitate respective interpretations of God’s role during the Holocaust. Dissonance resolution is seen as being informed theologically and experientially for these victims who confronted stark challenges to their religious integrity.     

宗教权威视角下的宗教组织变迁——对湘北某基督教堂的个案研究

大街教堂是地处湘北某地的一个基督教堂。该教堂自1999年成立以来,迅速发展成为当地人数最多、影响最大的基督教堂。但是,大街教堂在当地取得迅速增长的同时,也与其他基督教教堂和宗教管理部门之间发生了诸多复杂的互动现象。本研究在详细阐述大街教堂的发展历程和经验事实的基础之上,尝试从"宗教权威"视角来理解这一宗教变迁,并以"宗教权威的建构与表达"为概念工具来把握个案。最后,本文提出了"宗教权威"的定义,并对其加以了进一步讨论。     

The Role of Religious Leaders in Promoting Healthy Habits in Religious Institutions

The growing obesity epidemic in the West, in general, and the USA, in particular, is resulting in deteriorating health, premature and avoidable onset of disease, and excessive health care costs. The religious community is not immune to these societal conditions. Changing health behavior in the community requires both input from individuals who possess knowledge and credibility and a receptive audience. One group of individuals who may be uniquely positioned to promote community change but have been virtually ignored in the applied health and consulting psychology literature is religious leaders. These individuals possess extraordinary credibility and influence in promoting healthy behaviors by virtue of their association with time-honored religious traditions and the status which this affords them—as well as their communication skills, powers of persuasion, a weekly (captive) audience, mastery over religious texts that espouse the virtues of healthy living, and the ability to anchor health-related actions and rituals in a person’s values and spirituality. This article focuses on ways in which religious leaders might promote healthy habits among their congregants. By addressing matters of health, nutrition, and fitness from the pulpit and in congregational programs, as well as by visibly adopting the tenets of a healthier lifestyle, clergy can deliver an important message regarding the need for healthy living. Through such actions, religious leaders can be effective agents in promoting critical change in these areas.     

个体情绪智力与任务绩效：社会网络的视角

基于社会网络视角, 分别以社会资本的关系性维度为中介变量, 以社会资本的结构性维度为跨层调节变量, 探讨了个体情绪智力对任务绩效的影响。通过收集模拟网络实验背景中46个项目团队210位个体的调查数据, 运用多元统计分析方法对提出的假设模型进行了实证检验。研究发现：在控制个性的前提下, 关系性社会资本在个体情绪智力影响任务绩效过程中起到中介作用, 结构性社会资本(咨询网络密度)跨层正向调节影响个体情绪智力与任务绩效的关系。结果表明, 不同层次的社会资本及其维度在情绪智力影响绩效过程中扮演着不同角色, 运用社会资本概念框架有助于解释情绪智力的作用机制。     

Making Space for a Dialogical Notion of Religious Subjects: A Critical Discussion From the Perspective of Postsecularity and Religious Change in the West

In this article I address some topical themes from the ongoing discussion on contemporary religious change in the West and how it poses conceptual challenges to the study of religion. The academic discussion on religious change is vast and my observations are, of course, by necessity limited to my particular interest and argument in this article. On the one hand, I draw on some of the literature that has evolved within and around the concept of postsecularity and, on the other, on more general literature on contemporary religious change. Based on some selected observations, I underline the need to critically rethink how we conceptualize both religion and religious subjects. In my view, current research fosters a greater attentiveness of complexity with regard to religion, but simultaneously it requires us to take seriously a dialogical notion of religious subjects that provides a conceptual account of a subject constituted by being located within and emerging through ongoing social process. This dialogical notion provides a better tool for how current social and cultural reconfigurations of religion are simultaneously played out as a diversity of identities that challenge received categories, such as the religious and the secular.     

数学能力与决策的关系：个体差异的视角

即便在相同的情形中, 每个人所做的决策也有千差万别, 导致决策个体差异的因素之一就是数学能力。文章综述了算术能力、数量表征、概率推理能力以及数学认知启发式对各种决策的影响。目前这方面的研究或者采用相关范式将数学能力作为决策的外部关联因素, 或者采用成分范式确定决策过程所需要的特定数学认知成分; 观点上的主要争论在于是一般认知能力还是数学能力在预测决策表现, 以及数学能力是否总是对决策有积极作用; 此外, 双系统模型和模糊痕迹理论有望为决策的个体差异提供理论解释。今后研究应该澄清上述争论, 确定合适的研究范式和结果解释框架, 并探讨更多提高决策能力的措施。     

Addressing Shared Vulnerability for Comorbid PTSD and Chronic Pain: A Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently co-occurs with other conditions and symptoms that can complicate assessment and treatment. Of these, chronic musculoskeletal pain and related avoidance behaviors are amongst the most common and, unfortunately, the most often overlooked. In this paper we discuss issues that warrant consideration in developing and implementing a treatment plan that may maximize chances of successful outcome for GH, a patient with PTSD and chronic pain. Assessment strategies used in arriving at a case formulation are presented and, based on the emerging state-of-the-art, a tentative cognitive-behavioral treatment program targeting shared vulnerability for PTSD and chronic musculoskeletal pain is presented. Issues pertinent to anticipated treatment outcome are also discussed.