The Psychology of Religion and Spirituality? Yes and No

This article considers the question of whether our field should relabel itself the psychology of religion and spirituality. The meanings of religion and spirituality appear to be evolving. Religion is moving from a broadband construct-one that includes both the institutional and the individual, and the good and the bad-to a narrowband institutional construct that restricts and inhibits human potential. Spirituality, on the other hand, is becoming differentiated from religion as an individual expression that speaks to the greatest of human capacities. Several dangers in these trends are consiciered, including the danger of losing the sacred core of our field. An alternate approach to defining religion and spirituality is presented that preserves the heart of our discipline while encouraging the study of new pathways to the sacred and new meanings of the sacred itself.