Cultural Psychology Of Religion: Profile Of An Interdisciplinary Approach

Abstract

Cultural psychology and psychology of religion have a good deal in common: being major fields at the inception of psychology, they have become marginalized during the 20th century, but are both returning to the fore in impressive ways. This chapter distinguishes three variants in cultural psychology, and reviews contemporary research in cultural psychology. It then turns to cultural psychological approaches to the study of religion. The chapter points out the interdisciplinary character of cultural psychology of religion. It discusses some current cultural psychological theories and their application to religion. The chapter also presents some examples of current efforts in cultural psychology of religion. Keywords: cultural psychology; interdisciplinary approach; religion