WM: Psychology of religion: Social, developmental, clinical, and cross-cultural aspects

średnio-zaawansowany

PS_W02; PS_W03; PS_W08; PS_U13; PS_K03; PS_K07

Does religion positively affect well-being or promote psychopathology? What leads to fundamentalism? Do religious beliefs make us more moral or rather moral hypocrites? The course explores the often contradictory ideas people have about religion and religious faiths, spirituality, fundamentalism, and atheism. It examines whether we choose to be religious, or whether it is down to factors such as genes, environment, personality, cognition, and emotion. It analyses religion’s effects on morality, health, and social behavior and asks whether religion will survive in our modern society.

Offering a balanced view based on empirical psychological research but also being open to interdisciplinary issues, the course aims to showing that both religiosity and atheism have their own psychological costs and benefits, with some of them becoming more salient in certain environments.

Seven themes x 2 sessions of 45 min:

1. Introduction: definitions, forms of religion/irreligion, research methods, interdisciplinary issues

2. Personality, cognition, and religion

3. Emotions and religious rituals

4. Lifespan human development and religion

5. Values, morality, and religion

6. Well-being, psychopathology and religion

7. Culture, evolution, and religion

8. 15th session: Q&A

Mandatory for exam:

Saroglou V. (2021). The psychology of religion. Routledge. This will serve for

thematic units:

1: ch. 1 - Can we study religion in the lab?

2: ch. 2 - Believers and atheists: What makes the difference?

4: ch. 3 - Theist children, apostate adolescents, bigot late adults?

5: ch. 4 - Does religion make us more moral?

6: ch. 5 - Is religion good for you?

7: ch. 6 - Will religion survive?

Total number of pages: 102

Also for thematic 7:

Saroglou, V. (2014). Religion, personality, and social behavior. Ch. 16:

Conclusion- Understanding religion and irreligion (pp. 361-384). Psychology

Press.

For thematic 3:

Vishkin, A. (2021). Variation and consistency in the links between religion and

emotion regulation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 40, 6-9.

Van Cappellen et al. (2021). Upward spirals of positive emotions and religious

behaviors. Current Opinion in Psychology, 40, 92-98.

Total number of pages: 35

Optional, for further, personal, reading:

30 very short review articles in Current Opinion in Psychology, 40. (see a structured Table of Contents https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/current-opinion-in-psychology/vol/40/suppl/C)

Exam:

Multiple Choice Questionnaire with 20 questions, each followed by three answers, one being correct (the most true).

No ponderation: each correct answer means 1 point / 20. No negative points for incorrect answers.

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