Empirical Studies in the Psychology of Religion: An Assessment of the Period 1960–1970

Abstract

Developments in the psychology of religion during the 1960s are discussed. The upsurge in interest in the area since 1950 is noted. Special attention is given to advances in (1) the definition of religion; (2) the relation of religion and prejudice; and (3) personality correlates of religious behavior. However, it is suggested that the field still suffers from a paucity of experimental data, sampling deficiencies, the problem of legitimate control subjects, overenthusiastic generalization of findings, and lack of programmatic designs.