The psychology of virtue: Integrating positive psychology and the psychology of religion.

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Abstract

It has been almost a decade and a half since the field of the psychology of religion was appraised in the prestigious Annual Review of Psychology series (Emmons & Paloutzian, 2003). One of the themes these authors called attention to was the psychology of virtue. At the nexus of the psychology of religion, personality psychology, moral philosophy, and the psychology of emotion, virtue psychology was beginning to make a comeback in psychology. Partly responsible for this resurgence was the positive psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), which sought to systematically classify human strengths and virtues into a comprehensive taxonomy (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Concepts such as forgiveness, love, hope, humility, gratitude, selfcontrol, and wisdom appear as highly prized human dispositions in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu thought and are affirmed universal principles in world philosophies and ethical systems. Basic research as well as interventions to cultivate these virtues is well underway. Since 2003, additional virtues have appeared on the scientific scene, some of which are explored by contributors to this special issue. Stepping back for just a moment, let’s consider an early effort by Sandage and Hill (2001) to articulate an outline of the construct of virtue that drew on moral philosophy and social science research related to virtue. Sandage and Hill suggested six dimensions for the definition of virtue. These include the understanding that virtues (a) integrate ethics and health; (b) are embodied traits of character; (c) are sources of human strength and resilience; (d) are embedded within a cultural context and community; (e) contribute to a sense of meaningful life purpose; and (f) are grounded in the cognitive capacity for wisdom. Threads of each of these dimensions run through the papers in this special issue. The articles in this special issue underscore the centrality of mooring the positive psychological examination of virtue in religious and spiritual traditions. The psychological study of the sociomoral functions of religion has grown exponentially as researchers from a variety of approaches have begun to systematically study the psychological mechanisms by which religions “bind people together into cooperative communities organized around deities” (Graham & Haidt, 2010). Much of this research has examined how religion fosters the formation of virtues in people through individual and communal spiritual practices (e.g., prayer fosters gratitude; Lambert, Fincham, Braithwaite, Graham, & Beach, 2009), teachings and cognitions (e.g., priming religious cognitions increases honesty; Randolph-Seng & Nielsen, 2007), relationships (e.g., secure attachment to God increases ability to love; Granqvist, Mikulincer, Gewirtz, & Shaver, 2012), and experiences (e.g., mystical experiences occasioned by psilocybin leads to awe and openness; MacLean, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2011). Likewise, since the late 1990s, researchers in positive psychology have been investigating how intentional activities can promote the development of character strengths and virtues in efforts to promote happiness and eudaimonia in adults (e.g., Proyer, Ruch, & Buschor, 2012; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009) and youth (e.g., Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008; Gollwitzer, Oettingen, Kirby, Duckworth, & Mayer, 2011). Despite their shared interest in understanding the development of virtues, researchers from psychology of religion and positive psychology have not always shared insights from their respective fields. Moreover, researchers from both fields have neglected to fully engage theological and philosophical perspectives throughout the research process; rather, they attended to them primarily during the development of constructs. Yet scholars in positive psychology and theological studies may have more in common than is normally recognized. Philosophical anthropologies of the human condition tend to support a balanced view of human nature, one in which persons are capable of great good and profound evil. Parallel to the development of positive psychology is the field of positive theology, a movement within theological studies that seeks to reorient the field from one that has been largely preoccupied with innate badness and pathology to a focus on well-being and flourishing. We envisioned this special issue as fostering cross-disciplinary conversation that engages current scholarship in psychology of religion and spirituality, positive psychology, theology, and phiEditor’s Note. This is an introduction to the special issue “The Psychology of Virtue: Integrating Positive Psychology and the Psychology of Religion.” Please see the Table of