Home : Book details : Book description

Description of  The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience

What are the social consequences of religion? In an increasingly secular society, it may seem irrelevant to consider the psychology of religion. But the diversity of our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society in fact makes religion more important to the social sciences than it has ever been before. The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience is the most comprehensive survey of theories and research on religion from the perspective of psychology. From miracles, visions and zeal to more mundane religious experiences, the authors compare different cultures and different parts of society and use their findings to test explanations of the origins and functions of religion. They conclude that religiosity is social--a product of learning, gender, personality characteristics and culture. They also consider social consequences of religiosity, religious experience, the effect of religion on health, conversion, and the benefit or otherwise of religion.