Attribution Theory and the Psychology of Religion
W. Proudfoot, P. Shaver
The Psychology of Religion December 1, 1975 DOI: 10.2307/1384404 (opens in new tab)
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AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that attribution theory, which examines how people interpret their own experiences and behavior, offers a promising framework for understanding religious phenomena such as conversion and mystical experience, and that it can be applied to historical accounts and contemporary religious groups to generate experimental hypotheses. |
Abstract
Recent anthropological and sociological studies have emphasized the cognitive functions of religion, but few have drawn on relevant work by cognitive social psychologists. One current social psychological approach, attribution theory, is especially promising for the study of religion because it deals directly with individuals' interpretations of their own experiences and behavior. Three lines of attribution research are reviewed and each is shown to be useful for understanding certain religious phenomena. A classic conversion experience discussed by William James, the experiences of the apostles at Pentecost, an experimental study of mystical experience, and several examples from an American Nichiren Shoshu group are considered in the light of attribution theory. Possibilities for experimental research are briefly considered.
Citations in the library
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- Spontaneous mystical experience among atheists: meaning-making, psychological distress, and wellbeing October 20, 2020
- The neuropsychology of religious experience. A review of different scientific approaches to the phenomenon / Neuropsicología de la experiencia religiosa. Una revisión de distintas aproximaciones científicas al fenómeno Studies in Psychology Estudios de Psicología May 4, 2019
- Experiments with truth. A sociological variation on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour March 1, 2018
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