Religion in Personality Theory

By Frederick Walborn

Religion in Personality Theory makes clear the link between theory and research and personality and religion. Presently, most personality texts have a limited discussion of religion and reference few theorists other than Freud and Maslow in relation to the subject. This book reviews the theory and the empirical literature on the writings of 14 theorists. Every chapter concludes with a summation of the current research on the theorist’s proposals.

Reviews:

"Frederick Walborn has written an excellent text that explores the degree to which classical personality theorists were personally influenced by and focused upon religion in developing their personality theories. Each theorist is presented in sufficient detail so that their personal views of religion are seen to influence the theories they developed. In addition, the current status of the empirical evidence in the psychology of religion is explored in the context of the theorist and theory to which the data is most relevant. Current and up to date, this text is appropriate for either a course in Personality or as an introduction to the Psychology of Religion. The author's own comprehensive theory of religion and spirituality creatively integrates the positive contributions of the classical personality theorist to the contemporary psychology of religion."

-Ralph W. Hood Jr., Professor of Psychology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

"In this interesting and accessible book, Frederick Walborn thoughtfully probes the place of religion and spirituality in the writings of a broad range of classical psychological thinkers and offers an insightful critique of current empirical research on the complex relation of religion and spirituality to individual well-being."

-Michele Dillon, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

• Identifies what major personality theorists say about religion
• Investigates whether evidence supports or refutes predictions made by different theories
• Concludes with a comprehensive integrative theory on religion and spirituality

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Dec 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9780124079434

Frederick Walborn

Frederick Walborn earned his bachelor of science degree in psychology from Western Illinois University. He received his masters in research psychology Western Illinois Univesity and his masters and PhD in clinical psychology from Alliant International University. In 2011, Dr. Walborn received the Faculty Award of Excellence at Glenville State College’s commencement ceremony. He has been a professor at Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia for the past 8 years.

Book preview

Religion in Personality Theory

Frederick Walborn

Glenville State College, Glenville, WV, USA

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

An Overview of the Psychology of Religion/Spirituality

What to Expect from this Book

Chapter 2. Sigmund Freud

Abstract

Religious Biography

Totem and Taboo

Oceanic Feelings

Oedipal Complex

Religion Being a Crutch

The Documentary Hypothesis

Religion and Rationality

The Life and Death Instincts

The Future of Religion According to Freud

Research on Freud’s Writings on Religion

The Future of Psychoanalysis and Religion/Spirituality

Chapter 3. Carl Jung

Abstract

Religious Biography

An Overview of Jung’s Major Concepts and Religion

Jung and Eastern Religions

Jung and Western Religions

Answer to Job

Quantum Physics and Religion

Does God Evolve?

Religion and the Future

Empirical Evidence

Summary

Chapter 4. Alfred Adler

Abstract

Religious Biography

Coauthor with a Lutheran Minister

Social Interest

Empirical Evidence

Summary

Chapter 5. Karen Horney

Abstract

Horney’s Adolescent Years

Horney’s Writings on Religion/Spirituality

Personality Theory and Religion

Empirical Literature on Personality Disorders and Religion/Spirituality

Horney and Zen Buddhism

Summary

Chapter 6. Erik Erikson

Abstract

Religious Biography

Erikson and Religion

The Psychosocial Stages and Religion

Martin Luther

Gandhi’s Truth

Empirical Evidence

Summary

Chapter 7. Eric Fromm

Abstract

Religious Biography

Fromm’s Definition of Religion

Existentialism and Freedom

The Evolution of God

Old Testament

New Testament

Zen Buddhism

Authoritarian Religions

Humanistic Religions

Summary of Fromm’s Religious/Spiritual Writings

Empirical Literature on Authoritarianism

Summary of the Empirical Literature on Authoritarianism

Chapter 8. Burris Frederic Skinner

Abstract

Religious Biography

Free Will and Dignity

Heaven and Hell

Superstitious Behavior and Religion

Eastern Mysticism

The Virtuous Life

The Evolution of Religion

The Master Culture

Summary of Skinner’s Writings on Religion

Empirical Literature

Summary of the Empirical Literature

Chapter 9. Albert Bandura

Abstract

Spiritual Modeling

Socialization

Guilt, Forgiveness, and Spiritual Self-Efficacy

Summary

Chapter 10. Walter Mischel

Abstract

Spirit Possession

Delay of Gratification

Summary

Chapter 11. Raymond Cattell

Abstract

The Creation of Beyondism

The Practice of Beyondism

Beyondism Goes Beyond

The Universal Reality

Empirical Literature

Summary

Chapter 12. Abraham Maslow

Abstract

Religious Biography

Dichotomized Religion and Science

Deficit Needs and Growth Needs

Self-Actualization

Peak Experiences and Mysticism

Evolution of Religions

Empirical Literature

Summary

Chapter 13. Victor Frankl

Abstract

Religious Biography

Human Search for Meaning

Unconscious Religion

Medical Ministry

Empirical Literature

Summary

Chapter 14. Gordon Allport

Abstract

Religious Biography

Mature versus Immature Religious Sentiment

Religion and Prejudice

The Evolution of Religion

The Empirical Literature

Summary

Chapter 15. John Bowlby

Abstract

Individual Differences in Attachment Patterns

Dependency versus Attachment

Attachment Criteria and Relationship with God

Individual Differences of Attachment with God

Summary

Chapter 16. A Comprehensive Theory of Spirituality and Religion

Abstract

The Formal Characteristics of a Personality Theory

Overview of the Integrative/Comprehensive Theory on Spirituality and Religion

An Integrative/Comprehensive Theory of Spirituality and Religion

The Secure Pathways and Dynamics

The Insecure Pathways and Dynamics

Summary

References

Index

Copyright

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to my parents. Without my mother’s unfaltering faith and love and my father’s modeling and supporting the importance of questioning, this book would never have been written.

Preface

The original reason I wrote this book is because there are so few psychological texts that summarize the religious and spiritual writings of the classic psychologists. In personality theory textbooks, if there is any mention of the religious/spiritual writings of the theorists, the summations are limited and brief. They are frequently limited to the writings of Freud, Jung, Maslow, and Allport. Due to the brevity of the summations, the richness of the original theorists’ writings on religion and spirituality is lost.

Twelve of the 14 theorists reviewed in this book wrote expansively on religion and spirituality. Two of the theorists had little or nothing to write on religion and spirituality, Mischel and Bowlby. Walter Mischel’s writing on religion and spirituality (Mischel & Mischel, 1958) was limited to an article on the primitive religious practices of the Shango worshippers in Trinidad. I decided to include a chapter of his writings in this book because it served as a good introduction to the thought-provoking research conducted by Ralph Hood (1998) on the religious practice of serpent handling. I also included the chapter on Mischel because there is research to support that his concept of delay of gratification is exhibited more frequently by religious compared to nonreligious participants. This delay of gratification is probably an important mediator variable, partially explaining why religious people tend to be emotionally and physically more healthy than nonreligious.

John Bowlby, attachment theory, wrote nothing on religion and spirituality. I included a chapter on attachment theory because in the past twenty years, there has been a surge of research associating attachment theory with a variety of religious and spiritual pathways.

Except for the above two theorists, Mischel and Bowlby, the remaining twelve theorists extensively wrote on religion and spirituality.

Many of the theorists, writing during the 1900s, commented how religions needed to evolve. They noted the exodus of many people from the traditional practices. Reading their words leaves a person with the feeling that civilizations are on the culmination of something equivalent to the Protestant Reformation; otherwise, religions will go the way of the dinosaurs. Europe has particularly encountered the emptying of the churches, temples, and synagogues.

As highlighted in Chapter 1, in the United States the movement within, away, and toward religion is different from the European exodus. Even though most of the people in the United States declare they are religious, their participation in regular religious services is on the decline and the younger generations are less likely to be religious. The definition of the terms religion and spirituality as used throughout this book are also clarified in the first chapter.

The remaining chapters, on individual theorists, each follow a similar format; there are a couple of exceptions due to limited information. The chapters are divided into three major lobes. The chapters open with a religious and spiritual biography of the theorist. Research has supported there is a linkage between the personal lives of theorists and their resulting theories (Runyan, 2006). The second major area covered by the chapter is the writings of the theorists. I extensively use direct quotations from the theorists because it enhances the overall tone of their message and leaves less room for misinterpretation. The third, and final, section of the chapter is an overview of the current research on the theoretical writings. During the past 20 years, there has been a proliferation of research on religion and spirituality. The next 20 years will definitely be even more exciting, as the quality of research also evolves.

It was not my original intent, but the book concludes with an integrative/comprehensive personality theory of spirituality and religion. A comprehensive theory is needed. The quagmire of divergent theories on spirituality and religion has been reflected by the mixed results of research. The structure of the comprehensive theory is based on the suggestions of Salvatore Maddi (1976, 2007).

This book is intended for clergy, clinical therapists, empiricists, personality theorists, and theologians. The majority of people question the role of religion and spirituality in their development of an identity and while making some meaning of life. The resulting answers of peoples’ questioning of religion and spirituality have a profound impact on their personalities and how they live their lives.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Peter Barr, PhD, the president of Glenville State College (GSC), for his support of this endeavor. We had enlightening discussions of the book, and he granted a sabbatical leave to work on this book. Even though we may have varied on some of the tenets of religion, Dr. Barr’s enthusiasm and questioning of this project was always welcomed.

The support of GSC’s library staff was unequivocal in the efficacious retrieval of journal articles. Particularly, I acknowledge Gayle Westbrook and Amanda Lamb. I have benefited greatly from my discussions with Alan Daniels and Mark James on the various topics of this book. When I read the theorist’s original works, I would highlight sentences to consider using as citations. Michaela Grogg enthusiastically took on the tiring job of typing out my highlights so that I might have direct quotes to use in the book.

This book would never have materialized on time if it were not for the computer reclamations of Rob Kerns. I could telephone him and say The computer is doing something screwy, and he would be at my house within a half-hour to fix it. These occurrences happened over eight times. I am thankful to have had such a computer knowledgeable person as Rob to fix things when I was in the midst and mindset of writing. He also read and made grammatical corrections on most of the chapters.

Finally, I am grateful to Nikki Levy and Barbara Makinster at Academic Press. Our telephone conversations and emails were always positive and uplifting. For example, when I informed Nikki that I wanted to stray from the original outline of the book, and conclude it with a comprehensive theory on spirituality and religion, her immediate response was Why not?

Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract

Historically, the classic personality theorists’ writings on religion and spirituality have been neglected in textbooks. Possible reasons for this disregard and the import of revitalizing their religious/spiritual writings are reviewed. To further accentuate this unnecessary neglect, some dark and positive moments from religion’s past are highlighted. Presently, there is an abundance of research to suggest that religious people tend to be healthier on a number of measures. The past and present movements toward, within, and away from religious practices are summarized. The chapter concludes with a number of provocative questions which will be answered in subsequent chapters. Finally, the reader is informed that an integrative/comprehensive theory on spirituality and religion concludes the book.

Keywords

religiosity; spirituality; religious attendance; spiritual endorsement; comprehensive theory

Contents

An Overview of the Psychology of Religion/Spirituality

Defining Religion and Spirituality

Reasons for Studying Religion/Spirituality and Personality Development

Religious/Spiritual People tend to be Healthier

Dark Moments from Religion’s Past

Some Dark Religious Behaviors from the Past

Some Dark Scriptures

Questioning Religion and Spirituality on a Personal Level

Some Bright Moments from Religion’s Past

Some Bright Religious Behaviors of the Past

Some Bright Scriptures

Praising Religion and Spirituality on a Personal Level

Movement Toward, Within, and Away from the Church

Statistics on Religion Survey (2010)

The Gallup Polls (2007 and 1948)

What to Expect from this Book

During the process of writing this book, many students, colleagues, friends, and acquaintances asked me about its content. When I replied that it was a book about the psychology of religion and spirituality, the majority of the people voiced strong opinions about their beliefs regarding the role of religion/spirituality in life. I have known many of these people for a number of years, and I had no idea how strong their beliefs, opinions, and/or attitudes were toward religion/spirituality. It did not matter whether a person was an atheist, agnostic, of a mainstream religion, or evangelical, people had very strong opinions about religion that they were eager to express. It was as if, before I could tell them anything about the book, there was going to be nothing that I could say or write that would change their opinion.

Some of the more honest people who had strong religious/spiritual beliefs questioned me on how psychology could have anything to do with religion. Some of these honest people were reflective of the religious camp that believed that psychology could have nothing to do with religion because their beliefs were based on faith and the mystical. Likewise, there were other honest people of the opposing camp, atheists and agnostics, who questioned what psychology had to do with religion/spirituality. They questioned why such an area of science, such as psychology, would want to study such an esoteric and immeasurable field as religion?

I didn’t try to convince my students, friends, or colleagues of a way for them to think about religion/spirituality. That is neither my purpose in life nor the purpose of this book. It is beyond my writing abilities, let alone my intellect, to understand God and to convey this understanding or lack of understanding to the reader. This book is not a persuasive book pro or con religion/spirituality. I will attempt to control my personal beliefs so that the reader may have as unbiased a presentation as possible of the various writings of the major theoretical psychologists, along with a review of the current empirical literature. I will attempt to maintain the role of a messenger to the best of my abilities. In the final chapter, I present a comprehensive theory on religion and spirituality which follows the various pathways both religious and nonreligious people might follow.

It is only fair, in such a hot-topic area, that the reader knows the author’s biases. I consider myself a religious/spiritual person, because I do believe that there is more to life than simply being rational, following our personal unconscious paths, and/or being a passive recipient of stimulus-response connections. I would also consider myself to be religious in that I have attended and been a member of numerous churches and organizations, all of the Protestant faith. The reason that I have attended churches of this particular denomination is because, like the majority of people, that is what I have known and what has been available. I know I need to reach out more, and become acquainted with the practices of other religions. But, I am still trying to discover the messages of the Protestant religion. I have been fortunate to have found other people that are receptive to an open interpretation of God and the importance that such faith can have in today’s hectic world. I do not interpret the Bible literally. I believe that all of the major religions are basically similar in their writings, because they prize the gift of moving from being self-focused to being other-focused. From such knowledge, we gain a true sense of love.

In this book, I will to keep my personal beliefs and biases at bay, but I fully acknowledge that this will not be totally possible. Even though some of my beliefs about religion/spirituality will emerge, I hope that the presentation will enlighten many readers on the writings of the major classical personality theorists and the current psychological research on religion/spirituality. Many readers will like what some of the theorists in the following chapters have written on religion/spirituality, and they will also find the writings of other theorists to be way off the mark. There is a good deal of variety between the various great theoretical psychologists on how they viewed the role of religion in life. The comprehensive theory, in the final chapter, is an integration of the theorists’ and empiricists’ writings.

Even with the above disclaimers, the reader is forewarned that the vast majority of theorists who wrote on religion/spirituality believed that religion and/or spirituality played a significant role in people’s personality development. Also, a general finding of recent research is that religious/spiritual people tend to be physically and psychologically more healthy than nonreligious/nonspiritual people. A section in this chapter summarizes the empirical studies. However, as the chapters progress, it will become apparent that the relationship between religion/spirituality and health is not so clear. Some theorists and research results conclude that certain religious/spiritual practices are unhealthy. Likewise, as will become evident by the conclusion of the book, there are also positive and negative secular trends.

The following sections of this chapter summarize the present status of the psychology of religion/spirituality, the definitions of the terms religion and spirituality, the importance of studying religion/spirituality, the dark and bright moments of religion, the recent waning and waxing of formal religion, and, finally, what to expect from this book.

An Overview of the Psychology of Religion/Spirituality

A summary of a recent survey conducted with psychologists concluded, On the whole, psychologists remain quite nonreligious (McMinn, Hathaway, Woods, & Snow, 2009, p. 10). On a five point Likert-type scale, 21% of the psychologists reported religion to be very important in their life (4 or 5 rating), 25% endorsed a midpoint rating of 3, and 54% of the psychologists endorsed a 1 or 2 rating (1 = not at all important). The results of this survey are similar to a previous survey of clinical psychologists conducted by Delaney, Miller, and Bisono (2007) and a survey conducted on psychiatrists and other mental health professionals (Shafranske, 2000). Overall, mental health practitioners and psychological scientists do not endorse religion as being an import facet of their lives.

Fifty-four percent of the psychologists in the previously mentioned survey considered themselves to be unaffiliated with a religious organization. In comparison, 16% of the general population of the United States considered themselves to be unaffiliated with a religious group (Statistics on Religion in America, 2010). This relative lack of endorsement of religion by psychologists is partially reflected by the neglect of theorists’ writings in personality theory textbooks. I reviewed ten personality textbooks, and only three had chapters in regard to religion. Of the three personality textbooks that did include significant information on religion, they all made reference to Eastern religions. However, in only one of the ten textbooks was there significant material on the role of Western religion in personality development (Ellis & Abrams, 2009).

Even though psychologists do not tend to endorse being religious, they do endorse being spiritual. Sixty-one percent of the psychologists surveyed rated spirituality as very important in their lives (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale), 21% as fairly important (3), and 18% as not at all important (1 or 2) (McMinn, Hathaway, Woods, and Snow, 2009). Thus, we are already introduced to a major schism in the field, the idea of people being religious and/or spiritual. In the following section, I review some of the current literature on these two divergent-yet-related terms.

One possible reason that current psychologists who write personality theory textbooks and other comprehensive books on psychological theory are not reviewing the literature on religion is because the authors of the textbooks are not religious, even though the majority of the general population do consider themselves religious. The authors of textbooks do not consider religion to be important in their personal lives, so they believe that religion does not actually play a significant role in the majority of peoples’ lives. I would like to believe that this is not the major reason for the neglect of the religious writings of various personality theorists because it would suggest blatant denial of other people’s experiential world and an overt projection of the textbook writer’s beliefs.

A second plausible reason for the lack of a review of the religious and spiritual writings of the theorists is that it is a touchy subject. As I mentioned at the opening of this chapter, people have strong opinions about religion and spirituality. Thus, for some authors of textbooks, it might feel uncomfortable to summarize the religious writings of prominent psychologists.

A third reason for not including religion and spirituality, as I have personally discovered, is that there is a lot of material that can be very confusing and difficult to summarize. The summary of personality theorists’ writings on religion/spirituality could easily be a class in and of itself. Further, reviewing the empirical literature on the different theorists’ vantages takes an inordinate amount of time.

A fourth reasonable reason for this general neglect in personality theory textbooks is that within the realm of scientific psychology there has been a waning of the psychoanalytic research and a waxing of the cognitive approach (Robins, Gosling, & Craik, 1999). Since the 1970s, there has been a tremendous growth of the cognitive perspective, and it has now achieved its prominence in the field. As the reader will discover, very few of the cognitive/behavioral theorists wrote on the role of religion/spirituality in personality development. However, the vast majority of the humanistic and psychodynamic theorists wrote on the role of religion.

Does this mean that the cognitive/behavioral camp will not be represented in this book? No. There will be a review of the major cognitive/behavioral theorists for this book; even though the theorists may have written nothing about religion, their perspective could add some new information about differences between religious and nonreligious people. For example, the cognitive theorist Mischel never wrote on religion in industrialized societies. A major thesis of his in regard to personality development is that some people are able to delay gratification, an admirable trait, while other people are more impulsive (Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989). In two meta-analytic studies, religious people were found to be able to delay gratification significantly more than people who were not religious (Koole, McCullough, Kuhl, & Roelofsma, 2010; McCullough & Willoughby, 2009). Even though Mischel wrote nothing about contemporary religion, his theory does reveal a significant difference between religious and nonreligious groups. Therefore, even though a theorist may not have written on religion, if I was able to find research utilizing their concepts as related to religion, then I report these findings in this book.

A majority of the research articles on religion/spirituality find that mediating variables partially account for the positive impact that religion and spirituality has on mental and physical health. As an example, the previously mentioned meta-analytic studies highlighted that religious people tend to develop the ability to delay gratification. People who are religious have a heightened ability to put off rewards, which means this mediating variable may partially account for the positive relationship between religion/spiritually and health. Hill and Pargament (2008) fully grasp psychologists theorizing and critically studying religion:

Of course, it is possible that improvements in the measurement of mediators or the discovery of other psychological, social, or physiological mediating factors may eventually explain the religion and spirituality–health connection. There is, however, another possibility: Religiousness and spirituality may have direct effects on health (p. 13).

When the dust settles, psychologists identify a number of variables (thoughts, emotions, and/or behaviors) that partially account for the heightened well-being of religious and spiritual people. However, in the end, perhaps just because some people are religious and spiritual is ultimately the main reason they tend to be healthier. That is, being religious/spiritual alone is enough to account for the heightened health of religious/spiritual people. The next few years will be an exciting time of discovery.

Defining Religion and Spirituality

In psychology, it has become common practice to differentiate the terms religion and spirituality. In the past, it was common to use these terms interchangeably. However, it has become apparent that these terms are not synonymous (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009). Religion has generally been subsumed to mean an institutional involvement and/or a social involvement with people of similar faith. It would be expected that religious people would engage in activities such as being members of an organization, regularly attending services, reading sacred writings, following the rules/laws of the belief system, engaging in rituals with other people, and praying with other people.

Spirituality has been reserved for the more personal and psychological aspects of life. That is, spirituality would involve a person’s beliefs, values, and behaviors. These people frequently have strong value commitments that guide their behaviors. A spiritual person may not believe in a deity (e.g., Buddhism).

Based on this distinction between religiosity and spirituality, a person could be religious without being spiritual, and a person could be spiritual without being religious.

In regard to religiousness and spirituality, it has been suggested that the US general population tends to blend spirituality with conventional religiousness, whereas psychologists may keep their spiritual beliefs separate from their religious beliefs (Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2005).

In the vast majority of cases, the boundaries between religion and spirituality are going to be blurred. That is, most spiritual people will be engaged in some form of a community of people with similar beliefs, thus making the demarcation of the two terms unnecessary (Marler & Hadaway, 2002; Zinnbauer et al., 1997).

It has been suggested that separating religion and spirituality could result in dangers of creating a division where none exists (Hill & Pargament, 2008). It has been recommended that it is probably more efficacious to view the two terms as related concepts that probably are not independent constructs (Hill et al., 2000). The central theme that these two constructs focus on is the sacred in people’s lives. It is being sacred that makes religion and spirituality different from other endeavors of people. The belief in the sacred would include belief in God, the divine, Ultimate Reality, and the transcendent.

In a philosophical and clinical paper, Del Rio and White (2012) wrote that spirituality definitely needs to be considered separately from religion. They insist that a person can discover the transcendent via spirituality. That is, spirituality alone is necessary and sufficient to find that oneness with the world, to experience the connection with life in the fullest sense of the word. Whereas religiosity is sufficient, but not necessary, to discover the transcendent.

In the final analysis for this book, it is going to come down to how the various authors of the theory or the research article define religiosity/spirituality. As any experienced empirical psychologist will testify, a strength and a weakness of a research project is within the operational definition of the construct under study. Sometimes the measure might be a reliable measure, but is a questionable measure of the construct (invalidated). For example, church attendance may have little spiritual meaning beyond a few people simply following through the rules of their parents, society, and community. In a similar vein, an esoteric rating scale of how connected a person has felt with life and the universe in the past year is going to provide limited reliable and valid information. When reading the literature, it is important to use measureable constructs that are reliable and valid, thereby helping people to discover more about the relationship of the variables (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009).

In this book, I will clarify the various writers’ definitions of religion and spirituality. Many of the theorists only wrote about religious aspects, whereas other theorists only wrote about the spiritual aspects of life. Many wrote about both.

Reasons for Studying Religion/Spirituality and Personality Development

In the opening of this chapter, I wrote how many of my students, colleagues, friends, and acquaintances would immediately express very strong opinions when I told them that I was writing a book on the psychology of religion and spirituality. As the cognitive revolution in psychology has verified, our thoughts have an impact on our behaviors and emotions. People tend to have strong beliefs when it comes to religion. Whether people are devout practitioners or atheists, it is expected that their cognitions would have an impact on their daily lives. This is a major reason that religion is appropriate for psychological investigation.

Religion/spirituality is warranted to be psychologically studied because of diversity. Most populations in the past century have blended people of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Even though there is still much to be achieved, African-Americans and women have fought and earned their unalienable rights in the past fifty years. The stereotyping of people who are different has become less prominent. Unfortunately, the stereotyping of religion persists. Some Christians group all atheists together. Some atheists group all Christians. Some Presbyterians group all Baptists. Some Buddhists group all Christians. By becoming more knowledgeable of people who are different and who have different beliefs, people are less likely to stereotype and more likely to appreciate individual differences. This book and the psychological study of religion is a movement toward appreciation of diversity. As a result, people are more likely to work and live more harmoniously with people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

A final reason that religion/spirituality is worthy of study is that clinicians and mental health workers need to have an understanding of their own and of other people’s religious/spiritual beliefs. Due to a need to improve cultural sensitivity, in 1994, a new diagnostic category was added in the DSM-IV: Religious or Spiritual Problem. The following criteria for making this diagnosis are taken from the current DSM-IV-TR (2000).

This category can be used when the focus of clinical attention is a religious or spiritual problem. Examples include distressing experiences that involve loss or questioning of faith, problems associated with conversion to a new faith, or questioning of spiritual values that may not necessarily be related to an organized church or religious institution (p. 741).

To be effective, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers need to be aware that religion/spirituality can be a strength and a weakness in therapy. The subsequent chapters highlight some of the assets and pitfalls of religion/spirituality in people’s lives.

Religious/Spiritual People tend to be Healthier

Religious and/or spiritual people tend to be healthier than nonbelievers on a number of dimensions. This finding alone warrants further investigation in regard to possible mediator and moderator variables.

Overall, religious/spiritual people tend to be healthier in many aspects of living. It is interesting that there is overwhelming evidence that religious/spiritual people tend to live longer (La Cour, Avlund, & Schultz-Larsen, 2006; McCullough, Hoyt, Larson, Koenig, & Thoresen, 2000; Musick, House, & Williams, 2004; Powel, Shahabi, and Thoresen, 2003; Teinonen, Vahlberg, Isoaho, & Kivela, 2005; Yeager et al., 2006).

Religiousness, as measured in a variety of ways, was positively correlated with a number of measures of healthy living. Religious people tend to have less ruminative thoughts (Neyrinck, Vansteenkiste, Lens, Duriez, & Hutsebaut, 2006). They are also more likely to report lower levels of inner conflict (Ryan, Rigby, & King, 1993). Religiousness, as measured in a variety of ways in a meta-analytic review article, was clearly associated with less depression (Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003). In another meta-analytic review, religiousness was associated with lower crime rates, delinquency, gambling, and drug use (Baier & Wright, 2001). Married religious people are more likely to stay married and report higher levels of marital satisfaction and commitment (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, & Swank, 2001).

In the last decade, psychology increasingly witnessed an outburst of research articles and psychological books on religion. The next few years will continue to be exciting years in the search for the mediating and moderating variables that might account for this positive relationship between religion/spirituality and health.

Dark Moments from Religion’s Past

I felt compelled to include this section, because some of the following thoughts will emerge for some of the readers. The following are a sampling of the dark moments of religious institutions, scriptures, and personal accounts.

Some Dark Religious Behaviors from the Past

Some people may believe that the formal practice of religion has historically done so much damage that there is no reason to continue the belief and practice of these false myths, and spirituality is just another smoke screen to not be rational and responsible for one’s actions. And these people would be right. There have been many horrendous deeds that were taken under the guise of religion, and I have met some people in my clinical practice that did use their spirituality as a smoke screen, a defense, to keep from having to be responsible for their lives. The following are just a few of the misdeeds and catastrophes that have been undertaken for the sake of God and a person’s religious beliefs.

• Women are portrayed as being of lower status than men. There is a heightening of men’s status and lowering the status of women by equating God as male.

• The denunciation of homosexuality.

• The Crusades.

• The Spanish Inquisition.

• The Catholics’ house imprisonment of Galileo, because he said the planets revolved around the sun and not the Earth.

• The burning at the stake of Tyndale, because he wrote an English version of the Bible that would later be used as the basis to write the King James Version.

• The Mormons slaughtered over one hundred pioneers who were just looking to settle in Utah.

• The Protestants endorsed the enslavement and even lynching of Africans.

• The Muslim’s jihad or holy war that sanctions Muslims to go to war.

• The physical and psychological imprisonment of some Buddhist monks.

Many religious people may dismiss the above by noting that people are infallible. People in their interpretations of religious writings, and also due to socio/political pressures, hide behind the façade of a religious cause to disguise their quest for power and economic gain. The three major religions of the Western World (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have all fallen prey to using religion for egocentric nationalistic purposes.

Some Dark Scriptures

There are scriptures within the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Koran that suggest violence is reasonable for the sake of God. For example, in the Old Testament, God frequently forewarns people to not worship other gods. In some cases, extreme measures must be taken:

If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, Let us go worship other gods, whom neither you nor your ancestors have known any of the gods of the peoples that are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, you must not yield to or heed any such persons. Show them no pity or compassion and do not shield them. But you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them, and afterwards the hand of all the people. (Deuteronomy, 13:7-10)

God has said that if a close relative, close friend, or anyone opts to worship a Hindu god then it is your duty to kill that person. This is an example of when a literal interpretation could definitely get a person into trouble, and the scripture does not seem to fit with the overall message of the Bible. It is beyond the pages of this book and beyond the theological expertise of this writer to provide viable interpretations for such strong statements. If the reader has been deeply disturbed by such apparent malicious writings in the Bible, they might be enlightened by reading some of the following books: Is God a Moral Monster: Making sense of the Old Testament God (Copan, 2011), Almost Christian (Dean, 2010), Hard Questions Real Answers (Craig, 2003), The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask (Mittelberg, 2010), You Lost Me (Kinnaman & Hawkins, 2011), unChristian (Kinnaman & Lyons, 2007), Religion Gone Astray (Mackenzie, Falcon, & Rahman, 2011), and Feminist Philosophy of Religion (Anderson & Clack, 2004).

The New Testament also has some very questionable scriptures. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes a not-so-welcoming entrance: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (10:34). That does not sound very heavenly.

Mainly due to our ignorance of Islam, many people in the Judeo/Christian countries cite the sword verses of the Koran that call for the killing of non-Muslims:

[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, ‘I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike them every fingertip.’ (8:12)

A sword to the neck would suffice. The reference to the fingertips has been interpreted as cutting off their fingers so that they could not grasp and manipulate a weapon. The reader is referred to the following book for a more enriching discussion of these sword verses: Religion Gone Astray: What we found at the heart of interfaith (Mackenzie, Falcon, & Rahman, 2011).

There is a definite bias in the presentation of this edition of the book toward the Judeo/Christian religions at the neglect of the Eastern religions. This does not mean that there is no incorporation of other belief systems (e.g., Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism), but the book is written based upon the religious systems the theorists wrote about.

Questioning Religion and Spirituality on a Personal Level

Some people may question the journey of examining the psychology of religion because they and/or friends have suffered much needless guilt or have even been ostracized from their religious community due to teachings/interpretations of a religion. Some people have had to endure the ridicule and shame of not meeting up to the tenets of their church, temple, or synagogue. The following are a few of these practices that turn people away from religion.

• People of different faiths were not allowed to marry.

• People who were divorced could not remarry.

• People of a homosexual orientation were not allowed to be active in a religion.

• The constant feeling of guilt resulting from feeling like one has sinned.

• People with mental disorders being treated as if they had sinned and the belief that their bodies must be tortured so that the devil would no longer choose to reside in the body of the sinner.

• People of the wrong faith will go to eternal hell.

• People killing other people of the wrong faith.

• People killing because God told them to.

The reason that I cite the above dark moments of religion/spirituality is not to open old wounds. The purpose is that many readers may silently be questioning why we even talk about a way of life, an institution that has harmed so many people. Yes, most of the leaders of the major institutions of religions recognize that things were done in the past that represent the opposite of their teachings.

I had a personal encounter which is not as severe as the above examples, however it was still a disturbing, bittersweet experience. A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to go to Jerusalem. While I was walking within the walls of Old Jerusalem, there were numerous stores and vendors selling a variety of religious artifacts. And there it hung in one of the small quaint shops, a Pittsburgh Steelers T-shirt for sale.

Some readers may believe that I am being too harsh on the various religions. I do believe many people have left the church that they were raised in as children because of the above reasons that do not seem very compassionate. In an interesting book, unChristian (Kinnaman & Lyons, 2007), the authors asked hundreds of non-Christians for their perceptions of Christians.

• 91% of those adults surveyed who were outside the Christian faith believed Christians were anti-homosexual.

• 87% believed Christians were judgmental.

• 85% believed Christians were hypercritical.

• 75% believed Christians were too political.

• 70% thought Christians were insensitive.

And, these were just non-Christians’ views about Christians, not including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus.

This book is about diversity. One of the major diversities facing us is our different views on religion and spirituality. People tend to only see the negative in people, cultures, countries, and institutions that they know very little about. Hopefully this book will raise the knowledge level of the readers so that there is less stereotyping of different people and less harsh punishments for people who have different beliefs than ours, whether we are religious, spiritual, or atheist.

Sometimes, people have made horrendous mistakes in the interpretation and the practice of religious writings. However, numerous acts of kindness and charity have been conducted under the auspices of religiosity/spirituality.

Some Bright Moments from Religion’s Past

Just as there have been some dark moments in religion’s past, there have also been numerous religious/spiritual acts on a societal and personal level that have benefitted numerous people throughout the history of humankind.

Some Bright Religious Behaviors of the Past

It is an interesting phenomenon of human nature that many people can easily recall the misdeeds of other people and institutions, but are reticent in recalling the numerous virtuous deeds that have been done under the auspices of God. The following is a brief list of the plentiful acts of giving that have been conducted by various religious organizations:

• Thousands of ministries of compassionate people helping other people in need.

• Thousands of schools, hospitals, and charities operated by religious organizations.

• Monasteries providing a safe place for the advancement of learning following the fall of Rome.

• In all three of the Abrahamic religions, believers are to be charitable and help others in need by tithing 10% of their income or by giving to others in need in some form.

• Catholic Charities have provided help and created hope for over 10 million people each year, regardless of religious, social, or economic backgrounds.

• During 2011, the Jewish Federations of North America assisted people in over 70 countries and raised $910 million for people in need.

• Islamic Relief operates support for numerous ventures: education, water, orphan support, health and nutrition, emergency relief, homeless feedings, healthcare in underserved areas, medical care, and hygiene kits. One of its largest domestic projects was providing assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• The world’s largest Buddhist charity, Tzu Chi Foundation, has a staff of around 100,000 full and part-time volunteers and has provided free medical care to illegal immigrants in the United States, distributed emergency supplies following Hurricane Katrina, and provided care in some countries that otherwise receive limited assistance, including Afghanistan, China, and Iran. They are Taiwan’s largest recycler and have the world’s largest non-government database of bone marrow donors.

The above list is by no means exhaustive, and I know that I have left out some very notable charitable programs. The point that I am trying to make is that, under the leadership of some dubious characters, some terrible things were done under the guise of religion. However, this does not negate the powerful acts of giving to those in need by religious organizations.

Some Bright Scriptures

Earlier, I cited a few scriptures that, taken literally, were of questionable virtue. However, there are also numerous scriptures in the Old Testament, New Testament, and Koran that, taken literally, can be uplifting and positive messages. For example, the following famous Old Testament scripture makes it clear that our lives should be focused on giving, rather than revenge:

When you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.

When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help set it free. (Exodus 23: 4-5)

If people and nations were less focused on revenge and more on healing relationships, our world would definitely be a healthier place to live.

In the New Testament, there is a frequently cited scripture about not being judgmental of other people:

Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, Let me take the speck out of your eye. While the log is in your own eye? You, hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7: 1-5)

The link between psychology and religion is clear in this scripture. It is a wonderfully accurate, 2,000-year-old description of Freud’s defense mechanism of projection. As so eloquently written in the scriptures, few would deny that we must first remove the log from our eye before we insist that the other person takes the speck out of their eye. It is rather ironic that the most judgmental people are the people that accuse others for being judgmental.

And, if the following quote is taken literally, it means that people of differing religious faiths will eventually go to heaven to be with their god:

Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (Koran 2:62)

Within the writings of the Koran, it is written that Jews and Christians, who have faith and practice their faith, will not go to hell and will indeed go to heaven to be with their God.

People can pick and choose scriptures of the major religions to favor their vantage. Whether a person is a neo-Nazi, a hateful, frightened, and dangerous individual, or a loving, brave, supportive, accepting individual, people can find scriptures to favor their viewpoint and beliefs.

Praising Religion and Spirituality on a Personal Level

Many people have significantly gained from their religious and spiritual practices. Even with varying practices and scriptures, some people have gained much from their faith.

• The religious experiences of some people have been the pinnacle of their lives.

• Practicing their religion on a weekly basis has been the one sane moment of some people’s weeks.

• Surrendering their lives to a higher power has been critical to the recovery of thousands of alcoholics and drug abusers.

• Clergy have saved numerous marriages by their active involvement.

• For many, the comfort provided by the clergy during times of ill health and the death of a loved one cannot be replaced by a counselor, psychologist, or social worker.

• The daily rituals of prayers and/or readings are, for many, the major sources of strength that they can return to and draw upon to persevere during hectic and troubling times.

• Being with people of similar faith helps take the sting out of the awareness of being alone.

• The promise of a better future than what they have and are currently living keeps many people optimistic and hopeful.

• As a clinician, I have been thankful of the many times that clients did not kill themselves because they were taught they would go to hell if they committed suicide.

For some people, their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices are the essence of their lives. It is the foundation that they need and/or want to live a full and productive life.

In summary, historically, numerous terrible actions and also numerous wondrous actions have been made under the auspices of religion. If read literally, some scriptures are very egocentric, whereas other scriptures teach compassion for those less fortunate. Some people have been wounded by the church; for other people, the church has been the major source of strength in their lives. With these opposing vantages about religion, what is the status of people attending religious services at a church, temple, or synagogue?

Movement Toward, Within, and Away from the Church

Two current surveys have been conducted on the transitions happening in religious institutions. Much of the resulting data of the two studies overlap. The Gallup Poll also includes data from 1948 that provides temporal comparisons on religious involvement. The following two sections provide a brief summary of some of the data from these comprehensive surveys.

Statistics on Religion Survey (2010)

A large survey was conducted during 2007 on 35,000 US adults in regard to their religious affiliation (Statistics on Religion in America, 2010). Christians as a whole encompass 78.4% of the US adult population. However, the prominence of formal religion is in a state of flux.

The largest religious affiliation is Protestantism. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans claim that they are members of a Protestant denomination. There are a wide variety of definitions in regard to what it means to be a Protestant. There are hundreds of different denominations of the Protestant faith that can be reduced to three major religious traditions: evangelical Protestant churches (26.3% of the overall adult population), mainline Protestant churches (18.1%), and historically black Protestant churches (6.9%).

The Catholic faith is the second largest affiliation. However, Catholicism has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes. Even though approximately 33% of American adults said they were raised in a home that practiced Catholicism, only 24% described themselves as presently being Catholic. This equates to almost one out of three adults leaving the Catholic faith.

The third major branch of global Christianity, Orthodoxy, accounted for only 0.6% of the US adult population. Mormons (1.7%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.7%), and other Christian groups (0.3%) made up the remaining Christian groups in America.

Of the 35,000 survey participants, 4.7% said they are practicing a different religion than Christianity, with the following breakdown: Jewish (1.7%), Buddhist (0.7%), Muslim (0.6%), Hindu (0.4%), other world religions (<0.3%), and other faiths (1.2%). The other faiths category includes New Age, which represented 0.4% of the population. Given the amount of press the New Age movement has received over the past couple of decades, I was surprised this figure was not higher. Also, given the number of famous people who have declared themselves to be active in the Buddhist faith (e.g., Tina Turner and Phil Jackson—the coach for LA Lakers), I was surprised that only 0.7% of the population was practicing Buddhism.

The most remarkable finding of this survey has been the movement from and to the unaffiliated group (atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular). Of the adults sampled, 16.1% said that they were atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular. Of all the different categories, the unaffiliated group had the greatest change. Of the people who said that as a child they did not practice a religion, now over half of those people as adults are practicing one of the formal religions. The unaffiliated group had the lowest retention of any of the groups. That is a profound finding. One-half of the people who were not raised in a religious home now practice some form of religion.

Yet if people are going to make a change in affiliation, it is going to be from being religious to nonreligious. The category of people moving into the unaffiliated group from a religious organization experienced the greatest gain of any category by more than a three-to-one margin. That is, people are leaving in significant numbers from their church to an unaffiliated group.

There is also a recent movement toward younger people increasingly declaring themselves as not affiliated to any specific religion or faith. Eight percent of people over the age of 70 claimed they were not affiliated with a particular religion. However, 25% of respondents between the ages of 18–29 claimed that they had no religious affiliation.

In summary, there is an exodus from formal religion. Younger people are moving away from the church.

The Gallup Polls (2007 and 1948)

A Gallup poll that was conducted during 2007, like the survey discussed earlier, found very similar results (Newport, 2004). In this survey, they also found that just a little over one-half (51%) of the people said they practiced the Protestant faith. The author of the study also had access to data from the 1948 Gallup poll, in which 69% of the adult population polled as Protestant. There was an 18% reduction