This handbook aims to bridge the gap between the fields of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality. It is the authoritative guide to the intersections among religion, spirituality, and positive psychology and includes the following sections: (1) historical and theoretical considerations, (2) methodological considerations, (3) cultural considerations, (4) developmental considerations, (5) empirical research on happiness and well-being in relation to religion and spirituality, (6) empirical research on character strengths and virtues in relation to religion and spirituality, (7) clinical and applied considerations, and (8) field unification and advancement. Leading positive psychologists and psychologists of religion/spirituality have coauthored the chapters, drawing on expertise from their respective fields. The handbook is useful for social and clinical scientists, practitioners in helping professions, practitioners in religious and spiritual fields, and students of psychology and religion/spirituality. This is an open access book.

Widely regarded as the definitive reference, this volume comprehensively examines the psychological processes associated with religion and spirituality. Leading scholars from multiple psychological subdisciplines present developmental, cognitive, social psychological, cultural, and clinical perspectives on this core aspect of human experience. The forms and functions of religious practices and rituals, conversion experiences, and spiritual struggles are explored. Other key topics include religion as a meaning system, religious influences on prosocial and antisocial behavior, and connections to health, coping, and psychotherapy. New to This Edition *Two chapters on cross-cultural issues. *Chapters on spiritual goals, emotional values, and mindfulness. *Reflects significant theoretical and empirical developments in the field. *Many new authors and extensively revised chapters. *Robust index amplifies the volume's usefulness as a reference tool.

This updated edition of The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality codifies the leading empirical evidence in the support and application of postmaterial psychological science. Lisa J. Miller has gathered together a group of ground-breaking scholars to showcase their work of many decades that has come further to fruition in the past ten years with the collective momentum of a Spiritual Renaissance in Psychological Science. With new and updated chapters from leading scholars in psychology, medicine, physics, and biology, the Handbook is an interdisciplinary reference for a rapidly emerging approach to contemporary science. Highlighting fresh ideas and supporting science, this overarching work provides both a foundation and a roadmap for what is truly a new ideological age.

A multidisciplinary team of scholars shows how spiritual and religious practices actually do power psychological, physical, and social benefits, producing stronger individuals and healthier societies. In recent years, scholars from an array of disciplines applied cutting-edge research techniques to determining the effects of faith. Religion, Spirituality, and Positive Psychology: Understanding the Psychological Fruits of Faith brings those scholars together to share what they learned. Through their thoughtful, evidence-based reflections, this insightful book demonstrates the positive benefits of spiritual and religious engagement, both for individual practitioners and for society as a whole. The book covers Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other major traditions across culture in two sections. The first focuses on ways in which religious and spiritual engagement improves psychological and behavioral health. The second highlights the application of this knowledge to physical, psychological, and social problems. Each chapter focuses on a spiritual "fruit," among them humility, hope, tolerance, gratitude, forgiveness, better health, and recovery from disease or addiction, explaining how the fruit is "planted" and why faith helps it flourish.

This book highlights religious faith from a positive psychology perspective, examining the relationship between religious faith and optimal psychological functioning. It takes a perspective of religious diversity that incorporates international and cross-cultural work. The empirical literature on the role of faith and cognition, faith and emotion, and faith and behaviour is addressed including how these topics relate to individuals’ mental health, well-being, strength, and resilience. Information on how these faith concepts are relevant to the broader context of relational functioning in families, friendships, and communities is also incorporated. Psychologists have traditionally focused on the treatment of mental illness from a perspective of repairing damaged habits, damaged drives, damaged childhoods, and damaged brains. In recent years, however, many psychological researchers and practitioners have attempted to re-focus the field away from the study of human weakness and damage toward the promotion of a positive psychology of well-being among individuals, families, and communities. One domain within the field of positive psychology is the study of religious faith as a human strength that has the potential to enhance individuals’ optimal existence and well-being.

Research has indicated that spiritual and religious factors are strongly tied to a host of mental health variables, both positive and negative. That body of research has significantly grown since publication of the first edition 20 years ago. The second edition of the Handbook of Spirituality and Religion and Mental Health identifies not only whether religion and spirituality influence mental health and vice versa, but also how and for whom. The contents have been re-organized to speak specifically to categories of disorders in the first part of the book and then more broadly to life satisfaction issues in the latter part of the book. Hence 100% of the book is now revised with new chapters and new contributors.