Worldview in psychology

"A worldview (or “world view”) is a set of assumptions about physical and social reality that may have powerful effects on cognition and behavior." Koltko-Rivera, 2004, p. 3)

There are other names for the concept worldview such as philosophy of life, outlook, cultural themes and more. See Koltko-Rivera, 2004) for a review of worldview models and possible categories or dimensions that are components of a worldview..

Koltco-Rivera (2004)  notes that there are a variety of worldview models, which generally fall into two types: (1) categorical approaches and (b) dimensional approaches.

Worldview is a metaconstruct consisting of several subordinate constructs. 

As noted above, the subordinate constructs can include categories like belief in a deity or belief about the origins of the universe or dimensions that allow for a range of of values. In general, psychology, like other sciences, relies on the assumption that behavior may be understood by observation and that causes of behavior may be discovered by carrying out controlled experiments or careful analyses of the correlated of behavior and simultaneously excluding consideration of supernatural causes. Mainstream psychological science has been considered as relying on naturalism and materialism by Christian scholars (e.g., Knabb et al., 2022; Slife & Reber, 2009).

Some writers consider a religion to be a worldview (e.g., Juergensmeyer, 2010); however, there are so many religions and within each one there are variations of belief (e.g., different Christian views on the role of women in society, the church, and the home).

Thinkers have offered different possibilities for what categories or dimensions should be considered when studying worldviews. 

Koltco-Rivera (2004) offered a collated model of possible worldview dimensions as a starting point to modify based on the results of empirical studies. he organized these dimensions in a Table (2), by group and suggested options for those dimensions. For example, the group of dimensions labeled Human Nature has three dimensions of Moral Orientation, Mutability, and Complexity. The Moral Orientation dimension has two options of good and evil.

Christian Worldview

Many psychologists in the West who identify as Christian have suggested what might be included in a Christian worldview that includes the three main branches of contemporary Christian traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant). For example, Knabb et al. (2022) provided a definition of a Christian worldview in their article describing the Christian Worldview Scale. Following is their definition.

A comprehensive view of life, mindset, or narrative among Christians, revealed through the Bible as divine revelation and creation as general revelation, based on foundational beliefs and untestable assumptions about an infinitely powerful, knowing, and loving Triune God, who is at the center of a physical and spiritual reality, the creator and sustainer of all that exists, including humanity, and the ultimate source of all human knowledge, morals/values, and meaning/purpose. (Knabb et al., 2022, p. 3.)

Nonreligious Worldviews

Taves and her colleagues (2018) addressed the problem of examining the beliefs of people who identify as atheists or agnostics, which are concepts presented as negating the concept theism. Rather than conceptualizing the perspectives of atheists and agnostics as nonreligious, Taves et al. (2018) suggest the concept worldview would be a better term for the larger construct, which includes the study of meaning-making. Worldview is an alternative term to conceptualizing meaningful beliefs systems as theism, atheism, and agnosticism.

Measuring Worldviews

Knabb et al. (2022) found no measures of the major world religions in the literature review preceding the Christian Worldview Scale. The measure includes six dimensions.

Related posts

Naturalism

Materialism

Schema

Reference

Juergensmeyer, M. (2010). 2009 Presidential Address: Beyond war and words: The global future of religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 78, 882–895. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfq048

Knabb, J. J., Wang, K. T., Hall, M. E. L., & Vazquez, V. E. (2022). The Christian Worldview Scale: An emic measure for assessing a comprehensive view of life within the Christian tradition. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000306

Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2004). The Psychology of Worldviews. Review of General Psychology, 8(1), 3–58. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.8.1.3

Slife, B. D., & Reber, J. S. (2009). Is there a pervasive implicit bias against theism in psychology? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 29(2), 63–79. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016985

Taves, A., Asprem, E., & Ihm, E. (2018). Psychology, meaning making, and the study of worldviews: Beyond religion and non-religion. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000201

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation. 

Rambo's Stage Theory of Religious Conversion

Changing Churches 2023
by Geoffrey W Sutton & Bing AI

Lewis Rambo, a leading theorist associated with the study of religious conversions, has presented a seven-stage process model of change from one religion to another. The model draws upon multidisciplinary sources of evidence and ideas focused on the process of religious conversion.

The model has been used to identify the stages of conversion and deconversion. The seven stages are:

1 Context: The dynamic personal, social, and cultural environment of the person. Contexts may be large such as a nation or as small as family and friends (microcontexts).

2 Crisis: The person becomes aware of difficulties and the lack of effectiveness. A crisis event is common in stories of conversion. Rambo suggests a variety of crises such as religious, psychological, cultural, and political. Crises may be described by five variables: Intensity, Duration, Scope, Source, Old/New. Crises may also be viewed from the perspective of research on Religious Struggles.

3 Quest: Possibly in response to a crisis, the person searches for meaning and a purpose in life.

4 Encounter: The person meets a key person who connects them with the new religion.

5 Interaction: The person develops an interest in the new way of living including new beliefs, practices, and experiences.

6 Commitment: The person goes public with their new faith. For example, a Christian becomes baptised. In some faiths, the person gives their testimony. To use a Christian phrase, they have become born again.

7 Consequences: Following conversion, there are consequences for the person and the group. The consequences may be dramatic or slow and the consequences are varied. On a personal level, some converts report a powerful sense of love, relief from guilt, and even a calling.

 

 The seven stages do not indicate a rigid stepwise process but allows for variation in a person’s movement from one religion to another. 

Along with the model that describes the process of change, the theory posits five types of conversions: apostasy, intensification, affiliation, institutional transition, tradition transition.

Although the model focuses on the process of conversion, it may also be seen as a model of deconversion for those already in a religion who enter a process of changing within their religion to another group, to another religion, or even leaving religion.

Related Concepts

Big Four Religious Dimensions

Religious Deidentification

Religious Residue Effect

Reference

Rambo, L. R. (1993). Understanding religious conversion. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Key concepts

Psychology of Religious Conversion

Psychology of Religious Deconversion

Religious Commitment

Religious or Spiritual Quest

Big Four Religious Dimensions Model and Psychology

 

The Big Four Religious Dimensions Model is a theoretical model of the psychological dimensions of religion proposed by Vassilis Saroglou (2011). The model illustrates four basic dimensions, which are universally true of religions across multiple cultures and distinguish religion from other social constructs.

See the paragraphs below for a summary of The Big Four Religious Dimensions. The concepts in parentheses link to the SCOPES model of psychosocial functioning.

Believing (Cognition)

The key feature of believing, a cognitive function, are beliefs in transcendence; that is, in God, gods, or spiritual forces beyond people and the natural world. This dimension sets the religious apart from atheists, the nonreligious, and the nonspiritual. This dimension is also relevant to understanding religion as a meaning-making process.

Bonding (Emotion)

The key feature of bonding is the emotional experience people find through religious practices or rituals. The experiences bond the religious to their ultimate reality. Examples of common rituals which vary across religions and cultures are prayer, meditation, worship, public ceremonies, and pilgrimages.

Behaving (Behavior Patterns)

Morality is the key feature of behaving in right or wrong ways according to one’s religion. The moral values promote social order and reciprocal altruism. Religions offer higher moral standards than found in the host culture and provide taboos that are nonnegotiable. Examples of this moral feature include the widely acclaimed virtues such as altruism, sacrifice, and humility.

Belonging (Social Context)

Religions offer people a social identity and meet a universal need to belong. They are transcultural and transhistorical thus promoting a valuable social identity and group self-esteem. People sharing the same religion celebrate a connectedness when they meet at international events. And religions connect people with an illustrious past and a hope-filled perspective on eternity.

Saroglou suggests how the combination of two dimensions may link to recognizable forms of religious communities or expressions.

Believing + Bonding = Spirituality

Believing + Behaving = Intrinsic Religion

Believing + Belonging = Orthodox religious groups

Bonding + Behaving = Asceticism

Bonding + Belonging = Charismatic communities

Behaving + Belonging = Moral communities

Related Posts

Rambo's Stage Theory of Religious Conversion

Religious Deidentification

SCOPES model of human functioning

Reference

Saroglou, V. (2011). Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Big Four Religious Dimensions and Cultural Variation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(8), 1320–1340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111412267

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Religious Deidentification and Psychology

Leaving church behind 2023
Geoffrey W Sutton & Bing Images

In the psychology of religion, religious deidentification refers to a change from endorsing a religious self-identity to no longer identifying as religious.

Although the concept appears similar to deconversion, it is different because the focus is on a change in self-identity rather than a focus on leaving a religious tradition.  Also, deidentification may be nuanced as people continue some aspects of a previous religious identity. The persistent features have been called religious residue. See Van Tongeren & DeWall (2021).

Reference

Van Tongeren, D. R., & DeWall, C. N. (2021). Disbelief, disengagement, discontinuance, and disaffiliation: An integrative framework for the study of religious deidentification. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000434

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Religious Residue Effect in Psychology

 

Religious Residue Effect 2023
Geoffrey W Sutton with Bing Images

The religious residue effect describes the finding that features of people's previous religiosity continue to be a part of a their life after they no longer identify as religious. 

These residual effects may be evident in beliefs and attitudes, bonding practices (e.g., baptisms, ceremonies), moral behavior, and interactions with religious people maintaining a sense of belonging. See Van Tongeren et al. (2021).

Van Tongeren and DeWall draw upon the work of Saroglou (e.g., Saroglou et al., 2020), who present the Big Four of religion, which refer to four components of religion. When people leave religion (deidentification), they continue to reveal their former religious identity.

The Big Four are:

Believing- what people believe about God or gods and the supernatural

Bonding- faith practices that bring people together and create emotional bonds

Behaving- the way people ought to behave-- the moral influence of religion

Belonging- the social dimension of faith that connects people to their community

References

Saroglou, V., Clobert, M., Cohen, A. B., Johnson, K. A., Ladd, K. L., Van Pachterbeke, M., Adamovova, L., Blogowska, J., Brandt, P.-Y., Çukur, C. S., Hwang, K.-K., Miglietta, A., Motti-Stefanidi, F., Munoz-García, A., ˜ Murken, S., Roussiau, N., & Tapia Valladares, J. (2020). Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The cognitive, emotional, moral, and social dimensions of religiousness across cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 51(7–8), 551–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0022022120946488

Van Tongeren, D. R., & DeWall, C. N. (2021). Disbelief, disengagement, discontinuance, and disaffiliation: An integrative framework for the study of religious deidentification. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000434

Van Tongeren, D. R., DeWall, C. N., Chen, Z., Sibley, C. G., & Bulbulia, J. (2021). Religious residue: Cross-Cultural evidence that religious psychology and behavior persist following deidentification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(2), 484–503. https://doi.org/10.1037/ pspp0000288

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Spiritual Bypassing and Psychotherapy

Spiritual bypassing (Welwood, 1984) refers to the use of spirituality to avoid dealing with psychological factors important to psychological wellbeing.

The phenomenon was known to psychotherapists who observed people using their religiosity or spirituality to avoid doing the hard work needed to deal with their mental health issues.

The construct was operationally defined by Fox and others (2017) in the Spiritual Bypass Scale. Two factors appear to represent the construct: One is Psychological Avoidance and the other is Spiritualizing.

Comments

A spiritual bypass is analogous to a drug that temporarily reduces distress without offering a long-lasting cure.

A spiritual bypass may be evident in sayings that distract a patient from their symptoms or getting the treatment they need. 

A few examples:

"When God closes a door, He opens a window."

"All things happen for a reason."

"God doesn't give you more than you can handle."

"God will protect you."

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"God has you in the palm of his hand."

"I'll pray about it."

"God works in mysterious ways."

Although some find the foregoing sayings comforting, the expressions may interfere with health or mental health if they are used to avoid treatment or end treatment too soon. Thus the examples are not about a particular saying or belief, but rather cues to think about any spiritual message that is a barrier to improved functioning.

Hypothesis: Patients prone to using a spiritual bypass may benefit from faith-based counseling or pastoral counseling.

Related post

See the Spiritual Bypass Scale

    Spiritual Bypass Scale-13

Fox, J., Cashwell, C. S., & Picciotto, G. (2017). The opiate of the masses: Measuring spiritual bypass and its relationship to spirituality, religion, mindfulness, psychological distress, and personality. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 4(4), 274-287. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/scp0000141

Sutton, G. W. (2023, September 4). Spiritual bypassing and psychotherapy. PSYCHOLOGY Concepts and Theories. Retrieved from https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2023/09/spiritual-bypassing-and-psychotherapy.html

Welwood, J. (1984). Principles of inner work: Psychological and spiritual. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 16, 63–73.

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

For measures related to Spirituality and Religiosity, see 

Assessing Spirituality and Religiosity   

Available On AMAZON

Apathist in Psychology of Religion

In psychology of religion studies, apathists are people with low levels of religious or atheist beliefs.

References

Alsuhibani, Azzam, Shevlin, Mark, & Bentall, Richard P. (Jun 24, 2021). Atheism is not the absence of religion: Development of the monotheist and atheist belief scales and associations with death anxiety and analytic thinking. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 14(3), 362-370. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rel0000425

Rauch, J. (2003). Let it be. Atlantic Monthly. https://www.theatlantic.com/ magazine/archive/2003/05/let-it-be/302726/

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Religious Orientation - Psychology of Religion

Religious orientation is a psychological construct that refers to the way in which individuals relate to their religious beliefs and practices. There are three main types of religious orientation: intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest.

Intrinsic religious orientation is characterized by a deep and personal commitment to religion. People with this orientation view religion as a central and important part of their lives, and they use it to guide their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They find comfort and strength in their religious beliefs, and they often turn to religion in times of need.

Extrinsic religious orientation is characterized by the use of religion to achieve non-religious goals. People with this orientation may use religion to feel good about themselves, to gain social approval, or to cope with stress. They may not be deeply committed to their religious beliefs, and they may not see religion as a central part of their lives.

Quest religious orientation is characterized by a search for meaning and understanding in life. People with this orientation are open to new ideas and experiences, and they are willing to question their religious beliefs. They are not satisfied with easy answers, and they are constantly seeking to deepen their understanding of religion.

The concept of religious orientation was first proposed by Gordon Allport and James M. Ross in their 1967 book "Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice." Allport and Ross argued that there are two main types of religious orientation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic religious orientation is characterized by a deep and personal commitment to religion, while extrinsic religious orientation is characterized by the use of religion to achieve non-religious goals.

In 1971, C. Daniel Batson proposed a third type of religious orientation: quest orientation. Quest orientation is characterized by a search for meaning and understanding in life. Batson argued that quest orientation is an important part of mature religion, and that it is associated with a number of positive outcomes, such as greater cognitive complexity and openness to new experiences.

Research on religious orientation has shown that it is a significant predictor of a variety of behaviors and attitudes. For example, intrinsic religious orientation is associated with greater prosocial behavior, while extrinsic religious orientation is associated with greater prejudice. Quest religious orientation is associated with greater cognitive complexity and openness to new experiences.

Religious orientation is a complex construct that has been studied by psychologists for many years. It is a useful framework for understanding the ways in which individuals relate to their religious beliefs and practices.

 👉Related Posts

Resource Link to more tests: A – Z Test Index

Religious Life Inventories

Resource Link to measures of spirituality

New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO)

Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation Revised 3-item

Scrupulosity / Religious OCD

 

Scrupulosity is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) characterized by religious obsessions and behavior to relieve the anxiety. Scrupulosity is also known as religous OCD and moral OCD.

In a mild form, people who regularly practice their religion are viewed as pious, which can be a coverup. For some, the obsessions and attendant compulsions become out of control when they interfere with one or more spheres of life.

Children may miss out on social activities and stay in their rooms reading religious texts and repeatedly praying over minor faults.

An adult may struggle with repetitive immoral thoughts, which they cannot seem to get rid of.

Obsessions

Obsessions are intrusive thoughts and images the person finds anxiety provoking and worrisome to an extreme. Their efforts to get rid of these thoughts don’t seem to work for long.

The powerful anxiety is often expressed as fearful thoughts. Some common examples include fear of:

Sinning against God

Eternal punishment in hell

Sexual sin

Doubting one’s faith

Being forgiven for sin

  Also-

            Repetitive thoughts about past mistakes

            Repeated thoughts about one’s sinful state

 

Compulsions

Compulsions may be mental or behavioral. A few examples follow.

Frequently going to confession or in other traditions,

            Frequently confessing sin to God and seeking forgiveness

Frequently speaking with clergy to gain reassurance of their faith

Repeating religious texts

Frequent praying that interferes with other responsibilities

Frequent efforts to suppress immoral thoughts

 

In their research that developed into a 15-item questionnaire (Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity; PIOS), Abramowitz and his colleagues discovered there are two dimensions to scrupulosity in religious persons.

1. Fear of God- and God’s punishment

2. Fear of Sin – and its consequences

 

Perfectionism

Perfectionism may overlap with scrupulosity in those who are excessively concerned, that is obsessed with, being perfect.

Read more about perfectionism.

Assessment

Olatunji and his colleagues (2007) provide a 15-item measure of scrupulosity useful for mental health clinicians. The scale is called PIOS (Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity).

 

References

Miller CH, Hedges DW. Scrupulosity disorder: an overview and introductory analysis. J Anxiety Disord. 2008 Aug;22(6):1042-58. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2007.11.004. Epub 2007 Nov 21. PMID: 18226490.

Olatunji BO, Abramowitz JS, Williams NL, Connolly KM, Lohr JM. Scrupulosity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: confirmatory factor analysis and validity of the Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2007, 21(6), 771-87. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2006.12.002.

Notice

Scrupulosity can be severe and can be treated by mental health professionals.

Scrupulosity has been linked to suicide and suicidal ideation.

Help is available:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number 988.

Call 911.

Go to the nearest emergency room.

 

 **********

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.