Because society is increasingly secular, it may seem irrelevant to consider the psychology of religion. But the diversity of our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society in fact makes religion more important to the social sciences than it has ever been before. What are the social consequences of religion? Every day the news is full of events that can be blamed on religion perpetrated by a range of groups from whole societies to individuals. Beit-Hallami and Argyle are renowned for their clear, analytical approach to topics and this new, state-of-the-art study of psychology and religion is no exception. It will be welcomed as an update to their previous work in the area by social psychologists, sociologists and theologians worldwide.

No study of religious practice ancient or modern is complete without reference to the work of sociologists on religious practice. The volumes in The Sociology of Religion set of the International Library of Sociology explore the social, economic and behavioural contexts of religious activity.

Describes eight common personality disorders, presents Biblical guidelines for dealing with difficult people, and explains how Christian faith can help their real personalities to emerge.

Spiritual life and its experiences seem to elude ordinary understanding. Can spiritual truths be investigated by scientific techniques? Why do people take to spiritual life? Is there a scientific truth behind supra-normal experiences? This book published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India, deals with scientific exploration of spiritual experiences and answers these questions.

Offers a fresh and detailed take on the evolution of religious behavior from a biobehavioral perspective, promoting a new understanding that may help build bridges across the religious divide. There has been much recent interest in the study of religion from the perspective of Darwinian evolution. The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion offers a broad overview of the topic, written by internationally recognized experts. In addition to its primary focus on religious behavior, the book addresses other important aspects of religion, such as values, beliefs, and emotions as they affect behavior. The contributors approach the evolution of religion by examining the behavior of individuals in their everyday lives. After describing various religious behaviors, the contributors consider the behaviors with reference to their evolutionary history, development during the lifetime of the individual, proximate causes, and adaptive value. Happily, this foray into understanding religion from a biobehavioral perspective demonstrates that, at the biological and behavioral levels, what unites the different religions of the world is far greater than what divides them.