Psychohistory in Psychology of Religion

Book excerpt: Psychology of religion is one of the rare fields in psychology where an interdisciplinary approach has been preserved. Psychohistory especially, understood as the systematic application of psychological knowledge in explorations of the past, has enjoyed substantial attention. Traditionally, the emphasis in such studies has been on biographical research. This volume attempts to broaden the horizon and to include studies of phenomena as well on a group or subcultural level. The volume contains chapters on such subjects as apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Belgium, attitudes towards suicide in seventeenth-century Sweden, the pillarization of Dutch Calvinists. There are also studies of famous individuals such as Hitler, Stalin, Freud, Van Gogh and J.H. Newman. Among the contributors are well-known authors like Donald Capps, Michael P. Carroll, William W. Meissner, Ana-Marìa Rizzuto and Antoine Vergote.