Religion's encouragement and inhibition of psychological maturity
The secure feelings that religious faith instills can help strengthen people against the anxieties experienced in life. They can strengthen people against anxiety in a mature and immature way. When religion makes people feel secure by providing an image of God that magically removes anxiety, rather...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[1990]
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| In: |
Journal of religion and health
Year: 1990, Volume: 29, Issue: 4, Pages: 309-316 |
| Further subjects: | B
Clinical Case
B Secure Feeling B Religious Faith B Psychological Maturity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | The secure feelings that religious faith instills can help strengthen people against the anxieties experienced in life. They can strengthen people against anxiety in a mature and immature way. When religion makes people feel secure by providing an image of God that magically removes anxiety, rather than that stimulates the strength to make people feel confident enough to manage anxiety, then religion is of the latter type. However, even religion of this type can lead gradually to growth, rather then permanently to immaturity. It can temporarily free people of their anxieties in order to make them feel secure enough to confront the fears and manage the conflicts which, when they were anxious, they were unable to do. A clinical case is provided to demonstrate this process. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-6571 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/BF00992986 |