Ways of Studying the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

Abstract

Psychology is far from a unified discipline. There are strongly differing opinions on how it is to be defined. One consequence of this diversity is methodological pluralism. Methodological pluralism includes the descriptive fact that different schools of psychology favor different research methods as well as the philosophical position that psychology cannot and ought not be defined in terms of a single methodology assumed appropriate for all investigations. Thus, while some would argue for the experimental method combined with the quantitative assessment of change in measured variables as the gold standard for research in religion and spirituality, this position must be balanced by a consideration of a wide variety of other methods used in the study of religion and spirituality. These include quasi-experimental methods when participants cannot be randomly assigned to treatment groups and ethnographic and participant observation often focused on qualitative assessments. The psychological study of religion and spirituality has always been identified with questionnaires and scales designed to measure particular phenomena of interest. Phenomenological studies are of descriptive value in their own right, as well as providing means to operationalize and measure reports of religious and spiritual experiences. Advances in neurophysiological imaging techniques are providing a rich database for correlating brain states with the report of religious and spiritual experiences. Finally, survey research allows the placing of religious and spiritual phenomena within a normative cultural context. A commitment to methodological pluralism assures that both religion and spirituality can be studied in ways appropriate to the richness and diversity that these terms connate.