Putting the Science Back in the Scientific Study of Religiousness and Spirituality: A Commentary on Paloutzian and Park (2021)

Paloutzian and Park (2021) take on a number of important issues in the psychology of religion and spirituality. Although an active area of work, the field is bogged down by a wide variety of disconnected terms, perspectives, and methods that prevent the development of a more cohesive, focused, and c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology of religion and spirituality 2021-02, Vol.13 (1), p.19-23
Main Author: Piedmont, Ralph L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Epistemology
Experimental Methods
Human
Ontology (Philosophy)
Psychology of religion
Psychosocial factors
Psychosocial Outcomes
Religion
Religiosity
Sciences
Spirituality
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Summary:Paloutzian and Park (2021) take on a number of important issues in the psychology of religion and spirituality. Although an active area of work, the field is bogged down by a wide variety of disconnected terms, perspectives, and methods that prevent the development of a more cohesive, focused, and cumulative approach. These authors attempt to overcome this bottleneck by advocating the need for those working in the field to employ more rigorous scientific methods in their endeavors. Although an idea to be endorsed and embraced, I believe that Paloutzian and Park's recommendations do not go far enough in identifying both what the field still needs to do scientifically and what goals it should seek to attain. I argue that the field needs to create psychologically based ontological and epistemological models to structure and guide research, with the aim of identifying unique, universal aspects of the numinous that can predict important psychosocial outcomes.
ISSN:1941-1022
1943-1562
DOI:10.1037/rel0000298