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Sources of "Psychology of Religion" Journal Articles: 1950-1974

1979; Wiley; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1385382

1468-5906

Bruce Hunsberger,

Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Recently, Capps, Rambo and Ransohoff (1976a) published the most thorough bibliography available regarding the of religion, including references to 858 books and 1869 articles. In an article based on this bibliography, Capps, Ransohoff, and Rambo (1976b) analyzed their bibliography in order to assess trends in the psychology of religion between 1950 and 1974 with respect to frequency of articles published in various categories. However, their bibliography and analysis do not give any summary indication of where articles on the psychology of religion tend to be published, nor do the authors look for possible trends over time regarding which journals publish relevant articles. It was the purpose of the present study to carry out such an investigation. An analysis of Capps et al.'s (1976a) bibliography was carried out to assess the frequency of publications appearing in various journals over the years 1950-1974-both within the dimensions derived for their 1976 classification, and overall. Briefly, the dimensions used by Capps et al., in organizing their bibliography, were as follows: (1) the mythological dimension includes publications dealing with myths, legends, and folklore; (2) the ritual dimension includes those publications dealing with ritual and cultic practices; (3) the experiential dimension involves publications concerning personal religious experiences; (4) the dispositional dimension includes publications dealing with religious beliefs, attitudes, and values; (5) the social dimension involves articles dealing with religious organizations and groups; and (6) the directional dimension addresses the relation of religion and personal growth. In addition to these six dimensions, Capps et al., included a category for those works which did not fit neatly into the aforementioned dimensions. A more detailed description of the six dimensions and the general category is available in Capps et al., (1976b), while the selection process involved in compiling the bibliography, as well as consequent limitations, are described in Capps et al., (1976a). Table 1 shows the five most frequently cited journals for each of the six dimensions and the general category, over the entire 1950-1974 period. Table 2 collapses these data over dimensions, and shows the 10 most frequently cited journals for each five-year period. Table 1 shows clear differences among the six dimensions regarding which journals published most frequently in each dimension. For example, American