The Theory Of Belief And Its Effect On Human Psychology

It is said that man, to survive, has always needed something or some belief to hold on; be it science, religion or magic. Man without a belief lacks hope (Walker, 1997). Lack of hope makes a man vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. To avoid this vulnerability man has been holding onto different belief systems.

James Fowler developed his stages of faith after conduction in-depth interviews of 359 people. The sample subjects were predominately white, with equal numbers of males and females and included a wide range of ages, from three and a half to 84 years old. Fowler’s interviews consisted of 30 plus questions regarding the subject’s life experiences, relationships, values, commitments and religion. After analyzing the responses, Fowler placed each subject in one of six faith stages. The responses indicated that as the subject’s age increased, so did their stage of faith (Hutchison, 2015).

What does psychology have to do with the Christian faith? In Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, by Myers, Jones, Roberts, Watson, Coe, Hall, and Powlison (2010) is an introductory textbook for Christian psychology that provides sound arguments for an array of positions on psychology and faith. Each author contributed an essay and in return the other essayist respond by either agreeing or disagreeing by pointing out faults and explaining why.

The topic of knowledge and belief has been a subject of investigation and a primary field in philosophical research for centuries. Whether it was Aristotle or Descartes, multiple ideas on knowledge and belief arise, such as the epistemological theories of foundationalism or coherentism, which provide philosophical explanations to this debate. For the sake of this essay, and in my own opinion, knowledge should be distinguished from belief. Everyone is subject to different types of beliefs based on upbringing, however knowledge of basic items is universal, therefore it immediately becomes apparent that there is a clear distinction between the two concepts.

Developmental psychologists have provided evidence that children are naturally tuned to believe from figures of authority.A child’s brain is set-up to believe what is told by elders, even if what is told is nonsense. Children usually acquire the religious views of their parents.

Consider how the effect of a new perspective has been reflected and developed in a literary text or texts you have studied. Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the effect an individual’s perspective has on personal beliefs.

Presented with the task of assessing someone’s faith development required the answers to three essential questions. How has social learning played a part in the individual’s religious development? How has attachment played a part in the individual’s religious development? Upon answering these questions we must then evaluate the stages of faith development in which the individual is in according to James Fowler and David Elkind. After thorough evaluation has occurred the question pertaining to the role of doubt can then be answered. With these questions in mind, the theory that religious beliefs and adherence to spiritual faith are ultimately tested and proved during adolescence was the driving thought throughout the process of interviewing

Psychology has been primarily viewed as a methodical system that seeks empirical evidence to explain nature, while theology is often viewed as reasoning based on man’s eternal destiny as discussed in biblical teachings. Falsities are held within both of these historical beliefs. Psychology often “considers questions for which empirical evidence is not available, or even possible,” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 125). Theology must not “ignore the fact that man is solidly a part of nature,” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 125). By drawing attention

It is impossible to get at the roots of one’s religious attitudes without taking in account the psychological and historical factors that play upon the individual.  (Hamilton 19).

We as individuals ordinarily go through life looking at life through our own views of how things should be grounded on our own worldviews. While, a worldview is how a person views the world and the theories that they personally have of the world. Nevertheless, Entwistle provides a fresh outlook for the observer on how psychology is integrated into our worldviews, as a source of guidance and faith. In addition, this is addressed on theology in which, the bible stems from. I found the assimilation of psychology and theology that the author provides, to be essential in assisting individuals with a variety of issues. For some individuals this can be a challenge, being that some Christians have a hard time with integrating

Finally, the third section will dwell on the controversial topic of faith, and human’s need for belief. Religion has done an excellent job in manipulating human’s need for trust. Therefore, the combination of these three sections should compel the reader to better understand why such a false belief, such as religion has had such success throughout history.

Religion can be defined as a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. It contains a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices that allow its followers to live their life a certain way. The world consists of 19 major religions, which are further subdivided into 270 larger groups. According to David Barrett et al, editor of the “World Christian Encyclopedia,” there are 34,000 separate Christian groups around the world. Just from those numbers alone, we can conclude that religion has a prevalent effect on people and society. Religion is viewed as a positive influence on an individual both psychologically and physically. Throughout history we can study the various effects that religion has on society. Studies generally provide great evidence in favor of religion having a positive effect on individuals and society as a whole.

Religious faith is important to most Americans, with approximately 95% of Americans reporting belief in God and about 50% being active in church organizations (Gallup & Castelli, 1989). Despite the widespread prevalence of religious beliefs in society, some researchers have maintained that religion and religious beliefs are often neglected in psychological research (Jones, 1994; Plante, 1996). This neglect stems from a couple of different factors. First, it is difficult for psychologists to overcome the fact that believers in many religions claim to have unique access to the truth. Secondly, truly theological questions such as the existence of God or the nature of an afterlife are often ignored by scientists. This may be in part a

The purpose of this paper is to discuss spirituality and how it can influence individuals’ faith and affect their way of prosper in their chosen religion. Spirituality applies a connection with faith; both create confidence and trust in searching for a meaning for life or a superior being, depending on the individual’s chosen religion. The research completed for this paper was determined from the results of Stephen P. Robbins’ self-assessment test IV.A.4: How Spiritual Am I? From the results and conclusion, the self-assessment presented that I have a high spirituality score. Since a child, I was raised to understand my spirituality and use of faith as

Research studies have shown efforts to distinguish differences between religious and nonreligious individuals in areas of physiological studies. In an article called The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief (Harris, Kaplan, Curiel, Bookheimer, Lacoboni, and Cohen 2009), the topic of physiological studies attempts to discover differences between religious believers and the non- religious is expanded. The researchers intend to discover the difference in brain activity of religious believers and non-religious believers when presented with questions of fact and questions of fiction. This critique will present the researchers main questions, the methods used, the results of the experiments, and conclusions. The study’s strengths, validity, consistency and weaknesses will also be assessed throughout this critique.