Includes bibliographical references, author and subject indexes.

Contents -- 1. The psychological nature and functions of religion (the why, what, and how of the psychology of religion, what is religion, the need for meaning as a framework for the psychology or religion) -- 2. Foundations for an empirical psychology of religion (the empirical study of religion and spirituality, reductionism in conceptualizing religious issues, qualitative and quantitative research methods, the many varieties of religious experience, measurement in the psychology of religion, attribution in the psychology of religion) -- 3. Evolution, neuropsychology, and other biological aspects of religion (understanding religious concepts, theories of the origins of religion: heritage and direction, assessing genetic influence, what has evolution accomplished?, health in religious groups) -- 4. Religion in childhood (religious and spiritual development in childhood, evolutionary psychology and attachment theory, socialization theory, concepts and images of God, children and prayer, other work on religion and spirituality in childhood) -- 5. Religion in adolescence and young adulthood (influences on religiousness and spirituality in adolescence, does religious socialization influence adjustment and nonreligious behavior in adolescence?, religious thinking and reasoning in adolescence and young adulthood, religious doubts, apostasy, religion and identity development in adolescence) -- 6. Adult religious issues (the faith of American adults, religious beliefs and behaviors, religion in love, sex, and marriage, the traditional importance of religion among women, religion, work, and occupation) -- 7. Religion, aging, and death (some basic considerations, the faith of the elderly, the role of religion in late life, religion and health among the elderly, religion and mortality, death and religion-a complex relationship, religion-death-and immortality, religion and fear/anxiety about death, religion and euthanasia, religion and suicide, religion-grief-bereavement, death and the clergy) -- 8. Conversion, spiritual transformation, and conversion (conversion and spiritual transformation: definition and approaches, the classic research paradigm: psychological dominance, the social-scientific research paradigm: sociological dominance, the global research paradigm: interdisciplinary dominance, major differences among the three paradigms, processes involved in conversion and spiritual transformation, deconversion and related phenomena, the complexity of conversion-spiritual transformation-and deconversion) -- 9. Relationships between individuals and religious groups (the classification of religious organizations, church-sect theory, organizational dynamics, cults, the anti-cult movement, groups that advocate terrorist tactics, social-psychological processes in religious participation, atheists-agnostics-and secularists, a focus on atheism) -- 10. Religious and spiritual experience (what makes an experience religious or spiritual?, conceptual considerations in defining religious and spiritual experience, the body in religious and spiritual experience, religious imagery: the return of the ostracized, entheogens and religious experience) -- 11. Mysticism (conceptual issues in the study of mysticism, representative classical views of mysticism, the empirical study of mysticism, mysticism and psychopathology, toward a theory of mysticism: religious and spiritual) -- 12. religion, morality, and prejudice (moral attitudes, moral behavior, helping behavior, prejudice-discrimination-and stereotyping, positive psychology and religion) -- 13. Religion, health, psychopathology, and coping (the religion-health connection, religion and psychopathology, religion and coping) -- 14. Epilogue (research in the psychology of religion, the need for theory in the psychology of religion, extremism-conflict-and the psychology of religion, final thoughts: needs for today and the future).