This volume includes a wide range of papers that explore individual and institutional aspects of religion from a social-science perspective. The special section has articles from research groups in Europe, the USA and Australia on clergy work-related psychological health, stress, burnout and coping strategies. The general papers include studies on coping strategies among Buddhists, gender differences in response to church decline, teenage participation in religion, social capital among Friends of Cathedrals, psychological profiles of clergy, education effects on Roman Catholic deacons, and an analysis of prayer requests. Together these papers form a valuable collection indicating the depth and vibrancy of research in these fields. Contributors are: Tania Ap Sion, Rachel Blouin, Christine Brewster, the late Deborah Bruce, Cheng Clara Michelle, Giuseppe Crea, Benjamin Doolittle, Joseph Ferrari, Leslie J. Francis, Philip Hughes, Patrick Laycock, Steve McMullin, Judith Muskett, Gemma Penny, Russell Phillips, Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, Kelvin Randall, Mandy Robbins, Jenny Rolph, Paul Rolph, Greg Smith, Sam Sterland, Andrew Village, Kay William, Cynthia Woolever, and Keith Wulff.

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) publishes reports of innovative studies that pertain empirically or theoretically to the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, regardless of their academic discipline or professional orientation. It is academically eclectic, not restricted to any one particular theoretical orientation or research method. Most articles report the findings of quantitative or qualitative investigations, but some deal with methodology, theory, or applications of social science studies in the field of religion.

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) publishes reports of innovative studies that pertain empirically or theoretically to the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, regardless of their academic discipline or professional orientation. RSSSR is published annually with the kind support of Loyola College, Maryland, USA. This volume of RSSSR contains several articles on spiritual development among adolescents, spiritual transcendence, Jung and pastoral counseling and spirituality and religiosity. In addition to this, a special section of nine articles is devoted to several aspects of positive psychology and its usage in practice.

Volume 33 of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion brings together an open section and two special sections that illuminate new vistas in the study of religious and non-religious belief. Special section 1 examines the historical roots of religious practice emerging from Greater Khurāsān – a historical ‘cross-road’ for many world religions. Special section 2 initiates a paradigm shift in study of religious and non-religious belief in relation to children, insisting upon foregrounding children’s narratives. Both special sections explore under-researched areas, underlining the significance of historical and contextual approaches. At an intrinsic level the volume interrogates the power dynamics that determine why particular voices and approaches are prioritised in the study of religious and non-religious belief, and why others remain under- or mis-heard.

This volume of RSSSR contains articles on conversion narratives of Jehovah’s witnesses, belief in an active Satan, afterlife beliefs, religiosity and parenting and spirituality as coping resource.

The social scientific study of religion is a crucial arena of human endeavor, as questions about the existence and nature of God interact with the study of religion as a human phenomenon. The twenty-third volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion continues the tradition of promoting extended debate of current issues in the field. The special section on Theism and Non-Theism in Psychological Science includes contributions from leading researchers in this area. This landmark collection of papers draws on a range of perspectives that both summarize the theism debate in psychology and help to move it forward in new directions. In addition, the volume includes papers on other key areas in the study of religion such as spirituality and social capital.

Various articles are presented covering psychological, sociological and cross-cultural topics or relevance to religious/spiritual researchers and academics.