The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience

"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.

Because society is increasingly secular, 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. What are the social consequences of religion? Every day the news is full of events that can be blamed on religion perpetrated by a range of groups from whole societies to individuals. Beit-Hallami and Argyle are renowned for their clear, analytical approach to topics and this new, state-of-the-art study of psychology and religion is no exception. It will be welcomed as an update to their previous work in the area by social psychologists, sociologists and theologians worldwide.

Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, Michael Argyle