Authors: Bassett, Rodney L.; Smith, Abigail; Thrower, Jacquelyn; Tindall, Meridith; Barclay, Jaime; Tiuch, Karrie; Powers, Colleen; Monroe, John

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(3), Fall 2005, pp 210-218

Abstract:

Thirty students from a Christian liberal arts college participated in an effort to measure implicit and explicit attitudes toward religion and spirituality. The implicit attitudes were assessed using A modification of the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, Mcghee, & Schwartz, 1998), The researchers selected words with a religious flavor and words with a spiritual flavor and then used the Implicit Association Test to assess student reactions to those two groups of words, Explicit attitudes toward religion and spirituality’ were assessed through two questionnaires: the Religion Scale (Bardis, 1961) and the Spiritual Well-being Scale (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982), The pattern of results revealed meaningful connections among the explicit measures and meaningful connections among the implicit measures but relative autonomy between the explicit and implicit measures.

Authors: Looy, Heather; Reimer, Kevin; Seybold, Kevin

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 101-104

Abstract:

Scientific studies of religion often lead to reductive, materialist explanations for religious phenomena. Yet this reduction is not necessary. Religion is a multi-leveled reality, and any particular definition or method of study can capture only some aspects. Science cannot be used to prove God’s existence or reveal God’s nature, but it can illuminate the embodied and embedded character of religion; how it is expressed within and through our bodies, over history, and within our communities. Rather than reduction, science provides various points of entry or perspectives on religion, and ultimately cannot ever fully capture its complex, communal, dynamic, and transcendent character.

Authors: Hill, Peter C.; McMinn, Mark R.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 23(4), Win 2004, pp. 293-297

Abstract:

The importance of research training at explicitly Christian doctoral programs is suggested on the basis of four reasons: the need to hold science and practice together, the need for skills to evaluate interventions, the need to serve a society with a growing interest in religion and spirituality, and the need to assess the effectiveness of explicitly Christian doctoral programs. A discussion of these issues serves as an introduction to the rest of this special issue that focuses on research training at seven explicitly Christian programs.

Author: Thayer, O. Jane

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 23(3), Fall 2004, pp. 195-207

Abstract:

Based on the assumption that processes of learning and processes of spiritual growth are analogous, this study used learning theory and theology to develop the Christian Spiritual Participation Profile (CSPP), a measure to predict spiritual growth. Basic spiritual disciplines and KoIb’s experiential learning theory were integrated in the construction of the CSPP. The measure produces four scores, each indicate ing the extent to which a person uses one of four spiritual development modes. Study samples totaling 1,687 participants came from four groups of evangelical Protestants: Baptist/Free Church, Pentecostal, Reformed, and Wesleyan/Arminian. High reliability was found for all scales in terms of internal consistency using coefficient alphas. Evidence for criterion-related validity came from correlations with 15 scales or subscales from 6 different measures.

Author: Beck, Richard.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 23(3), Fall 2004, pp. 208-218

Abstract:

The article is a theoretical and empirical review attempting to describe two modes of religious motivation: defensive versus existential religion. The article begins by seriously considering theoretical and empirical evidence that religion may function as a defense mechanism. It is argued that this description of religious belief is coherent and cannot be ignored by psychology of religion researchers. However, the article goes on to argue for the existence of a non-defensive, existentially aware religious motivation. Theoretical and empirical support for this model, defensive versus existential religion, is presented.