Abstract

Psychological Inquiry Copyright © 2002 by 2002, Vol. 13, No. 3, 165–167 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. INTRODUCTION Roy F. Baumeister Psychology purports to be the science of behavior, This volume was conceived as a way of bringing the with behavior defined broadly enough to include inner study of religion closer to mainstream psychology. processes such as thoughts and emotions. Psycho- Like television, money, sex, and aggression, religion is logists have built an impressive stock of knowledge an important fact of life, and psychology cannot pre- about many spheres and forms of behavior, including tend to be complete unless it understands religion alongside these other phenomena. Moreover, it is es- learning, aggression, love, sexuality, mental illness, sential that religion be studied in a balanced, open- coping with stress, attitudes and influence, competi- tion, first impressions, relationships, helping, and too minded, objective fashion rather than being left to the many others to name. However, some areas remain pro-religious and antireligious zealots who are seeking strangely neglected, constituting holes in our field’s to support predetermined conclusions. One major advantage of taking the study of religion understanding. Religion is one of these. out of the hands of people with strong personal invest- Why