About this Cambridge Elements Series

This series offers authoritative introductions to central topics in the psychology of religion, covering the psychological causes, consequences, and correlates of religion, as well as conceptual and methodological issues. The Elements reflect diverse perspectives, including from developmental, evolutionary, cognitive, social, personality and clinical psychology, and neuroscience.

Overview

Why is religion so widespread across human societies? Why are some people religious, but others not? Are there different ways of being religious? What are the psychological benefits of religion, and what are its downsides? In the past thirty years, researchers from across psychology’s subdisciplines have been making much theoretical, methodological, and empirical progress on these and other questions about the nature, function, causes, consequences, and correlates of religion. This series will showcase this progress from a variety of perspectives, including cognitive, developmental, social, personality and clinical psychology, and neuroscience. Elements in the Psychology of Religion aims to inspire and encourage further research in this field by offering an encyclopaedic view of recent research, which provides a secure base from which novel and innovative research programmes can develop. Each Element is written by an expert in the field, often drawing on their own important contributions to the literature.