In the article, the problem of new religious movements (NRM) is regarded as a a specific form of modern religiosity, shaped under the influence of the deconstruction of traditional religious normative conventions. The special attention is paid to the identification processes, influenced by NRMs, particularly to such controversial aspects as its destructive potential for the human personality. A...

The major objective of this research was to assess the impact of corruption upon the prevalent religious values in Peshawar. The conceptual framework comprise of perception of religious values as independent variable, and corruption perception as dependent variable. The objectives were to find out people’s perception, causes and institutional role regarding corruption and social values, and sug...

My goal is to outline an evolutionary neuropsychological foundation for spiritual and religious experiences. Central to this account are concepts from archetypal psychology, which, on the one hand, explain the structure of common religious experiences, but, on the other, are grounded in ethology and evolutionary biology. From this it follows that certain religious phenomena are objective, in th...

The role of religious orientation in group boundary maintenance was explored in the context of Fundamentalist Mormon polygamy. A sample of 2330 Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, Fundamentalist (polygamous) Mormons, and religious ‘‘nones’’ responded to a series of questions regarding sexuality, polygamy, religious orientation, religious doubt, and whether Mormons are considered Christian. Regress...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the correlates of religious participation among older Black Caribbeans. METHODS Data from the older Black Caribbean subsample of the National Survey of American Life were used to examine selected measures of organizational, nonorganizational, and subjective religious participation. RESULT The findings indicated important demographic differe...

Integrating spirituality into mental health care, psychiatry and psychotherapy is still controversial, albeit a growing body of evidence is showing beneficial effects and a real need for such integration. In this review, past and recent research as well as evidence from the integrative concept of a Swiss clinic is summarized. Religious coping is highly prevalent among patients with psychiatric ...

Participation in religious services is associated with numerous aspects of human flourishing, including happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. Evidence for the effects of religious communities on these flourishing outcomes now comes from rigorous longitudinal study designs with extensive confounding...

This article gives an overview of 4 important lacunae in political liberalism and identifies, in a preliminary fashion, some trends in the literature that can come in for support in filling these blind spots, which prevent political liberalism from a correct assessment of the diverse nature of religious claims. Political liberalism operates with implicit assumptions about religious actors being...

BACKGROUND Although childhood vaccination programs have been very successful, vaccination coverage in minority groups may be considerably lower than in the general population. In order to increase vaccination coverage in such minority groups involvement of faith-based organizations and religious leaders has been advocated. We assessed the role of religious leaders in promoting acceptance or ref...

The transmission of religious affiliation is analyzed in a sample of 3810 Australian twin pairs and their parents. Twins were classified by sex, zygosity, and whether they were living together or apart. Analysis of twin, spousal, and parent-offspring resemblance shows that several different forms of cultural inheritance operate jointly in the transmission of religious affiliation. Model-fitting...