Autobiography and the psychological study of religious lives / ed. by Jacob A. Belzen & Antoon Geels.

• Superior document: International series in the psychology of religion, 15
• TeilnehmendeR: Belzen, J. A. van 1959-; Geels, Antoon.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: International series in the psychology of religion ; 15.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (389 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This volume positions itself on the cutting edge of two fields in psychology that enjoy rapidly increasing attention: both the study of human lives and some core domains of such lives as religion and spirituality are high on the agenda of current research and teaching. Biographies and autobiographies are being approached in new ways and have become central to the study of human lives as an object of research and a preferred method for obtaining unique data about subjective human experiences. Ever since the beginning of the psychology of religion, autobiographies have also been pointed out as an important source of information about psychic processes involved in religiosity. In this volume, a number of leading theoreticians and researchers from Europe and the USA try to bring them back to this field by drawing on new insights and latest developments in psychological theory.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- MODERN MEANS, CLASSIC GOALS: BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION / Jacob A. Belzen -- LIFETIME AND ETERNITY / Jens Brockmeier -- LIFE STORIES AND PHILOSOPHIES OF LIFE: A PERSPECTIVE FOR RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION / Ulrike Popp-Baier -- TOWARD A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONCEPTION OF FAITH DEVELOPMENT: DECONVERSION NARRATIVES IN BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT / Barbara Keller -- THE NIGHT IS THE MOTHER OF DAY: METHODOLOGICAL COMMENTS ON THREE CASES OF RELIGIOUS VISIONS AS SUICIDE PREVENTION / Antoon Geels -- AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PSYCHIC FUNCTIONING AND MENTAL HEALTH: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PERSONAL LIFE / Jacob A. Belzen -- METHODIST RITUAL MOURNING AND THE RESOLUTION OF TRAUMATIC GRIEF: THE CASE OF RICHARD MOSS / Keith Haartman -- THE PERSONAL AND BEYOND: SIMONEWEIL AND THE NECESSITY/LIMITS OF BIOGRAPHY / Mark Freeman -- FROM PARADISE TO PARADOX: THE PSYCHOSPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF JOHN HEIDER / Jeffrey Kripal -- THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN THE EXPERIENCE OF WAR-ORPHANS AS CONSTRUCTED IN THEIR LIFE STORIES / Amia Lieblich -- THE REDEMPTIVE SELF, GENERATIVITY, AND AMERICAN CHRISTIANS AT MIDLIFE: EXPLORATIONS OF THE LIFE STORIES OF EVANGELICAL AND MAINLINE PROTESTANTS / Dan P. McAdams and Michelle Albaugh -- SPIRITUALITY, NARRATIVE, AND CHARACTER: TWO PRIESTS ON PATHS TO SPIRITUAL MATURITY AND INTEGRITY IN LATE LIFE / Melvin E. Miller -- ACTING AS MISSIONARIES:THE RELIGIOUS SELF IN INTERCULTURAL PRACTICE: AN APPROACH FROM ACTION THEORY AND CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY / Jürgen Straub and Maik Arnold -- REFLECTIONS OF A NARRATIVE RESEARCHER / Ruthellen Josselson -- Notes on contributors -- Index.