49960 IDS: PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY

Religion and spirituality are an essential part of culture. Whether they are implicit or explicit, religious and spiritual orientations can affect our daily lives, including an individual's attitudes, motivations, cognition, emotions, and behaviors. Religious and spiritual perspectives also affect the way people express, suppress and regulate emotions, define themselves within the family system, experience their sexuality, conduct interpersonal relationships, plan their future etc. This course will examine religion through different theoretical approaches: neurobiological, psycho-dynamic, behavioral, cognitive, evolutionary, humanistic, existential, etc. This course will be research and case-study oriented and will consider measurements of religiosity and spirituality in a research and/or clinical context.  Prerequisite: PSY 12053 General Psychology. Cross-listed with PSY 49960.