CHAPTER 3: The Psychology of Religion, Spirituality, and Diversity

Over the past 50 years, researchers in the psychology of religion have continued to investigate and debate the complex associations between religion, spirituality, and “alterity,” or ways of relating toward others who are different (Sandage, Jensen, & Jass, 2008). A historical and global review highlights the reality that most religious and spiritual traditions have included adherents characterized by compassion and peacemaking across differences, on the one hand, and other followers marked by prejudice and violence toward outsiders. The sacred is a referent used to validate both xenophobia and generosity toward out-group members, depending on the psychological dynamics of the individual or relational system considered.