The Individual and His Religion: A Psychological Interpretation

by Gordon W. Allport

Examines the role of subjective religion in the total personality of the individual.

Genres: Psychology, Religion, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality

147 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Gordon Willard Allport was an American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality, and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personality psychology. He contributed to the formation of Values Scales and rejected both a psychoanalytic approach to personality, which he thought often went too deep, and a behavioral approach, which he thought often did not go deep enough. He emphasized the uniqueness of each individual, and the importance of the present context, as opposed to past history, for understanding the personality.

Allport had a profound and lasting influence on the field of psychology, even though his work is cited much less often than other well known figures. Part of his influence stemmed from his knack for attacking and broadly conceptualizing important and interesting topics (e.g. rumor, prejudice, religion, traits). Part of his influence was a result of the deep and lasting impression he made on his students during his long teaching career, many of whom went on to have important psychological careers. Among his many students were Jerome S. Bruner, Anthony Greenwald, Stanley Milgram, Leo Postman, Thomas Pettigrew, and M. Brewster Smith.

Reviews

[Mary Blendermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was a really incredible book.

I feel like I've been searching for a long time for a book that gently lays out the connections between human psychology and our impulse towards religion in a non-dogmatic way, and this is the one. I mean, of course it is - it's Gordon Allport.

There's a lovely section towards the end where he talks about faith and belief in a very Polanyian way. I thought that was interesting. He leaves space for people to have faith, not in an absolutist way, but because they end up leaning towards it more than towards the alternative.

Highly recommended.

[Aria Izik-Dzurko · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great foray into religious psychology, Allport very nearly talked me into religious sentiment simply because his argument that religion enables one to more effectively direct and orient one's desires is so convincing. Touching on art, education, society, ritual, and tradition, he expertly outlines the psychological framework of religions, and how they affect society.

Below are a few favourite highlights:

"Art may become an adolescent passion, and youth often finds that religion is only art transposed to a higher key, for like art it seeks to unify and harmonize that with which it deals. But while art unifies within tiny frames of space, religion works within the proscenium of the firmament."

"Prayer is continuous with hope, as hope is continuous with fear. Religious activity thus grows imperceptibly out of desire. The mind finds itself gradually stretching beyond the limits of its own adaptive capacity, seeking to add to its natural powers a reasonable complement."

"What many unbelievers do not realize is that the mature believer's eyes are wide open. The latter knows that he is finally uncertain of his ground. But he feels, reasonably enough, that in a world where optimistic bias and faith are largely responsible for human accomplishment, it would be silly for him to lapse into unproductive skepticism, so long as he has a chance of being correct. The believer is often closer to the agnostic than we think.
Both, with equal candor, may concede that the nature of Being cannot be known; but the believer, banking on a probability, slight though he may deem it to be, finds that the energy engendered and the values conserved prove the superiority of affirmation over indecisiveness."

[Shane Westfall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a classic in the field of the psychology of religion, so anyone with a serious interest in that area should probably give it a quick read. That said, I had several issues with the work. One of those is probably not fair, and I am probably judging past science by today's standards, but there aren't enough citations in the work to support an undergrad research paper. Much of it is simply Allport giving lengthy spiels on his own opinions. Of course I disagree with many of those opinions, so it was hard for me to get behind the book. He attempts at times to give other views equal treatment, but whether intentional or not it seems if he is merely setting up straw men. Many sections delve more into apologetics rather than psychology. There is a place for pondering ontological arguments and delving into Descartes, but a book claiming to be a modern (1950's) scientific treatise is not the time nor the place, and it simply appears to tip of the reader to his hand.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated: C-

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

really well written analysis of the psychology of religion, what it does, how we come to it and what purpose it serves. well worth the time to read.

[Reza · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think good