Psychology of Religion: Debate and Dialogue

In the early half of the 20th century, the relationship between Psychology and Religion was considered difficult. There are two basic reasons why the relationship between science and religiosity is difficult to harmonize.

On the one hand, psychology is a scientific discipline that emphasizes observation of human behavior. The keyword is "observation". Something is considered psychological as long as it can be observed and explained scientifically.

On the other hand, in that era, religious aspects were more accessible from writings, such as holy books and religious treatises. Personal experiences related to religiosity and spirituality were understood as things outside the study of psychology because they were individual.

A scientific and observational study of human behavior. From this conception, it is actually known that in that era, psychologists initially considered religious experiences solely as psychic and affective experiences, without linking them to the metaphysical aspects of religion.

In contrast, the emergence of Humanistic, Existential, and Transpersonal Psychology in the 1960s influenced psychological concepts that later developed into increasingly complex ones. One example of the debate in that era was the emergence of discourse that reason is not the main determinant of human development. There are emotions, and other things beyond reason, which also influence human development.

The next development, academics agreed to term the realm of psychological research on religious phenomena with the term "psychology of religious behavior". The discipline of psychology itself then not only studies physical phenomena, not only empirical behavior, but also aspects of the human "inner world". Then, although the scope of psychology and religion both include the "inner world", both position and analyze this non-physical differently.

Mainstream psychologists tend to be hostile to religion because religion is considered to cause physical and mental illness. In contrast, psychologists who support religion tend to consider mental illness to be more caused by the psychological aspect itself, not by religion.

Psychology of Religion

This period lasted from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. The main assumption of this era is that psychology is a series of methods and analysis of religious phenomena, and places religious practices and patterns into psychological meanings and patterns. With this conception, the psychology of religion is assumed to be a field of study that is solely part of psychology.

Some examples of conceptions that place religion lower than psychology are Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis, which is based on the concept that Libido, or biological aspects, influence the human psyche. Humans, as Freud put forward, are more determined by drives from within themselves. With this axiom, Freud continued his view that religion is produced by human libido in the unconscious.

Skinner's behaviorism, assumes that religious behavior is limited to a form of human physiological response to external phenomena, which is the same as not recognizing metaphysical factors. Because it ignores metaphysics, this school of psychology is very secular.

Psychology and Religion Dialogue

Since the 1960s, Psychology and Religion have entered a dialogical period.

If previously Psychology of Religion was part of Psychology Studies, then the era of “in dialogue with” means that Psychology and Religion are not cohesive fields. On the contrary, this era is marked by the assumption that religion is understood as a category that goes beyond the parameters of psychology.

The emergence of mental illness in the 1960s, such as “existential psychosis”, raises the question of how the crisis of the meaning of life is caused by the spiritual crisis experienced by most humans. Secularism and materialism cause the emptiness of the meaning of human life. Existential psychologists such as Victor Frankl suggest that the “ultimate meanings” sought by humans should not be reduced to the principles of materialism, or in Freud's language “pleasure”, but rather based on the principle of “self-transformation” (self-transcendent).

The increasing number of mental illnesses can be balanced, even cured, through religious psychology therapy. Secular Psychology turns out to be unable to fulfill, or even replace, the role of aspects of spirituality. Psychoanalysis only stops at diagnosing the cause of mental disorders, only able to diagnose the roots of the problem, without being able to offer effective therapy.

Religion and the Reconstruction of Personality Psychology

The most prominent dialogue between psychology and religion is the contribution of religion in reviewing the concepts of Personality Psychology. If previously Personality Psychology was too focused on biological and physical factors as the main factors in human mental development, thus ignoring non-physical aspects, the contribution of religion then encouraged non-physical or Spiritual aspects to become elements that must be taken into account in psychological studies.

Robert A. Emmons details why in the history of Psychology, the Spiritual aspect was ignored for quite a long time. The history of Psychology cannot be separated from the ontological search that underlies human personality. Secular schools of Psychology tend to ignore the inner elements of humans. One example, Behaviorism considers a person's personality to be a product of external stimuli that then shape a person's behavior. Behaviorism rejects the inner elements of humans. Another example, the drive theory represented by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the libido aspect, fantasy, as the dominant element, and ignores the Spiritual aspect.

Spiritual and Religious Development

One form of conversation between Psychology and Religion developed in the West when several academics introduced the study Religious and Spiritual Development, which focused on the development of faith, belief, religiosity, and spirituality. The majority of his studies were conducted on children.

Chris J. Boyatzis said that there are two major theories about children's religiosity and spirituality, namely (1). The cognitive-development model, namely how children think about religion in stages, and (2). The socialization model, namely the influence of parents' religious behavior on children. The majority of research uses the theory of Psychological stages of Personality Development according to Jean Piaget which was adopted by Gordon Allport, Ronald Goldman, and Elkind, in the theory of Religious Psychology and Personality.

In 1962, David Elkind published Varieties of Religious Experience in Young Adolescents, a study of 142 9th graders in America. Elkind used the theory of Jean Piaget's Developmental Psychology, with Quantitative methods and IQ Test techniques. The title of Elkind's book echoes the work of William James Varieties of Religious Experience, a monumental work of the pioneer of the Psychology of Religion. Elkind's research was continued by Ronald J. Goldman in Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence, 1964. Goldman studied Catholic Education in Elementary Schools (6-17 years) in England. He also used Jean Piaget's Developmental Psychology theory, with Qualitative methods and Structured Interview techniques. The majority of the research, which was later also conducted by Fritz K. Oser, Kathrin Kaiser & Ulrich Riegel, focused on Christian and Catholic theology.