Psychology of religion WF-PS-N-PRL
Lectures in psychology of religion help students to acquire the knowledge of the relation of man toward transcendental reality, including genesis, structure, and function of religious experiences.
Special attention is put on the specificity of religious experiences connected with prayer, meditation, asceticism, and contemplation. Social context of experiences and religious behavior is stressed together with their distortions in sects. Majority of lectures is devoted to religious development, criteria of mature religious attitudes, surfacing religious crises, conversion and apostasy. The course has cognitive and educational aims. There is room for discussing religious attitudes, in particular religious experiences and behaviors. There is an opportunity to get to know the literature on the subject and enhance discussion on religiousness of individuals and social groups.
Topics:
1. Survey of approaches to the psychology of religion: anthropological and methodological assumptions out- of the system (reductionist and non-reductionist movements)
2. Religious experience
3. Faith and superstitions
4. Religious manifestations: asceticism, prayer, meditation.
5. Religious development: developmental phases, criteria of mature religiousness
6. Religiousness in difficult circumstances: religious crises, conversions, apostasy, atheism.
7. Movements and small religious groups: psychosocial functioning of religious groups and movements, psychological characteristics of main religious movements on Poland, chances and dangers of belonging to religious movements.
8. Fanaticism, pseudo-religious groups, sects: definition and division of sects, sects’ destructive functioning, prevention, therapy.
9. New Age
10. Religiousness and psychotherapy
11. Psychopathology versus religious life: disorders of religious life; religious life of individuals with psychic disorders
12. Types of religiousness
13. Methods of researching religiousness
14. Cross cultural and cross denominational research on religiousness
15. Review of contemporary psychological research on religiousness.
(in Polish) E-Learning
Subject level
Learning outcome code/codes
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
K_W02 - students know and understand differences in interpretations of man's religious behavior from various eprspectives (evolutionistic, psychoanalytical, behavioral, cornitive- social, humanistic).
K_w17 - know basic dimensions used to describe individual differences concerning living through religious experiences
Skills:
K-U01 - cna voice opinions and judgements concerning the value of various approaches and psychologicakl inteprretations concerning man's religious behaviors
K_U04 - can choose sluitable techniques to diagnose personality, fitness of other psychic functions (cognitive processes, emotional, motivational, prefered values, religious attitudes, etc.), adaptive abilities, functioning in various social relations, especially religious groups.
Competence:
K_K03 - can individually supplement knowledge and skills depending on the actua; needs and changes in psychology
ECTS [1 ECTS = 30(25)hours.]:
lecture attendance: 15 hours
reading for the exam: 45 hours
Total: 60 [60/30(25)=2]
ECTS points: 2
Assessment criteria
The condition for passing will be attendance at lectures (two absences allowed) and passing a written exam in the form of a structured statement for a few questions asked.
Bibliography
Lektury obowiązkowe:
Głaz, S. (red.) (2006) Podstawowe zagadnienia psychologii religii. Kraków: WAM.
Grom, B. (2009) Psychologia religii. Kraków: WAM.
Grzymała-Moszczyńska, H. (2004) Religia a kultura. Wybrane zagadnienia z kulturowej psychologii religii. Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ.
Jaworski, R. (1989) Psychologiczne korelaty religijności personalnej. Lublin: RW KUL.
Kuczkowski, S.(1993). Psychologia religii. Kraków: Wydz. Filoz. Towarzystwa Jezusowego.
Walesa, Cz.(2005) Rozwój religijności czlowieka Tom I Dziecko. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL.
Wulff, D.(1999). Psychologia religii. Warszawa: WSiP.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: