Malony, H.Newton
PSYCHOLOGISTS have conducted research into évéry conceivable as- pect of human behavior. Yet for nearly fifty years most of them have neglected religion as a topič of investigation, From 1880 to 1925, American psychologists, notably J. H. Leuba, G. Stanley Hall, and William James, pioneered in the "psychology of religion" movement. At the end of the 1920's, constrained by the movement's theoretical and ideological limitations and influenced by pressures arising from within and without academic psychology, all but a few psychologists had abandoned religion as a legitimate field of study. Articles by such experts as Gordon W. Allport, Walter Houston

Clark, and Richard A. Hunt indicate that psychologists have begun to place increased importance on the investigation of religion. Studies of the relationship between religious orientation and mental health, deviancy, authoritarianism, prejudice, and social concern, and be- tween one's image of God and personality traits have yielded fascinat- ing and provocative results. An up-to-date, comprehensive introduction to the psychology of

religion, this collection provides a representative survey of theory, method, and research, which makes it an invaluable resource for scholars and for students enrolled in a growing number of courses in the psychology of religion.