Research In The Social Scientific Study Of Religion Volume 19

This volume provides a wide range of research on the psychological and sociological aspects of spirituality and religiousness. Volume 19 also contains a special section focusing on issues related to adolescent spirituality.

This work showcases two approaches to the socio-scientific study of religion: the analysis of data collected about congregational life in the Australian National Church Life Surveys (from 1991 to present), and the application of feminist approaches within the sociology of religion.

This volume provides a wide range of research on the psychological and sociological aspects of spirituality and religiousness. Volume 19 also contains a special section focusing on issues related to adolescent spirituality.

The social scientific study of religion is a crucial arena of human endeavor, as questions about the existence and nature of God interact with the study of religion as a human phenomenon. The twenty-third volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion continues the tradition of promoting extended debate of current issues in the field. The special section on Theism and Non-Theism in Psychological Science includes contributions from leading researchers in this area. This landmark collection of papers draws on a range of perspectives that both summarize the theism debate in psychology and help to move it forward in new directions. In addition, the volume includes papers on other key areas in the study of religion such as spirituality and social capital.

Various articles are presented covering psychological, sociological and cross-cultural topics or relevance to religious/spiritual researchers and academics.

This volume includes a wide range of studies from Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia that explore individual and institutional aspects of religion from a social-science perspective. The special section is on practices of prayer.

The general papers in Volume 29 of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion cover a range of topics including psychological type, prayer, nature and well-being, psychobiography, coping with addiction, and the role of place in spirituality. The first special section on congregational studies draws on a range of large datasets from the National Church Life Surveys in Australia. Papers examine the factors that predict individual sense of belonging in Catholic parishes as well as congregational-level aspects of vitality, collective confidence, and innovativeness. The second special section examines the Ideological Surround Model and how it can help to better understand expressions of faith related to psychological constructs such as mindfulness, fundamentalism, and the ‘Dark Triad’ of Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy. Contributors are: Tania ap Siôn, Amanda (Mandy) Aspland, Dharma Arunachalam, Joel Gruneau Brulin, Zhuo Job Chen, Victor Counted, Giuseppe Crea, Robert Dixon, Martin Dowson, Deepti B. Duggi, Leslie J. Francis, Nima Ghorbani, Pehr Granqvist, Gill Hall, Douglas Hall, Nicole Hancock, Magnhild Høie, Ralph W. Hood Jr., Shanmukh Vasant Kamble, Thomas Lindgren, Ronald J. Morris, Miriam Pepper, Ruth Powell, Brooke M. Ruf, Sam Sterland, Fazlollaha Tavakoli, John-Kåre Vederhus, David C. Wang, P. J. Watson, and John K. Williams.

The purpose of this book is to provide an outlet for original research articles examining the role and value of religious and spiritual constructs across the social sciences. The aim of the series is to include an international and interfaith voice to this research dialogue. An effort is made to be interdisciplinary and academically eclectic. The articles in each volume represent a wide array of perspectives and research projects. Most of the articles report the findings of quantitative or qualitative investigations, but some deal with methodology, theory, or applications of social science studies in the field of religion, and some are applied, demonstrating the relevance of the social sciences to religious organizations and their clergy. The value of the volume is that it gives to researchers in this area a broad perspective on the issues and methods of religious research across a spectrum of academic disciplines. The aim of the book is to stimulate a creative, integrative dialogue that will enhance interdisciplinary research.