Psychology and Religion

Michael Argyle is Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Oxford Brookes University. He is the best-selling author of over twenty books, including The Psychology of Money (with Adrian Furnham), The Psychology of Religious Behaviour, Belief and Experience (with Benjamin, Beit-Hallahmi), The Psychology of Happiness, Bodily Communication, The Psychology of Social Class, and The Social Psychology of Everyday Life (all available from Routledge).

• PREFACE 1 The relation between psychology and religion 2 Socialisation 3 The effect of personality 4 The extent and varieties of religious experience 5 The causes and effects of religious experience 6 Religious beliefs 7 Freud’s and Jung’s accounts of religious belief 8 Worship and prayer 9 Ritual and charisma 10 Happiness and the other benefits and costs of religion 11 Physical and mental health 12 Religious and other origins of morals 13 The effect of religion on behaviour 14 Secularisation and the present state of religion 15 The growth of new religious movements 16 Conclusions for religion