Psychology of religion in Post-soviet Russia (from the 2000s to the present)

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the development of psychology of religion in post-Soviet Russia from the 2000s to the present. The author evaluates this period as a stage of reviving of research in the fi eld in question. This trend is supposed to be associated with the infl uence of the personal factor and the objectively existing white spot in this fi eld rather than with a social request or the improvement in the fi nancialsituation of Russian science compared with the 1990s. There is positive dynamics in the nuber of defended academic theses in the fi eld of psychology of religion. The number of publications has also been increasing. The article outlines key thematic areas of research on psychology of religion, discusses the problem of developing methodological instruments, analyses the educational literature published in 2000‒2010 as well as signifi cant scientifi c events. The author of the article states that psychology of religion in Russia is currently going through the phase when the scientifi c community of psychologists and researchers of religion begins to identify itself and to consolidate its research eff orts. However, despite the clear though moderate growth, psychology of religion still remains in the shadow of institutionalised Christian psychology on the one hand and a range of other religious disciplines on the other hand.

Keywords

• psychology of religion
• Christian psychology
• history of psychology
• religious studies
• post-Soviet Russia
• research areas
• scientifi c community