JCCP Special Issue – Religion and Culture
Call for abstracts / DUE: August 1
Special Issue on Religion and culture:
Perspectives from cultural and cross-cultural psychology
Guest editors: Vassilis Saroglou (Université catholique de Louvain) and Adam B. Cohen (Arizona State University)
The Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology announces a call for submissions of paper proposals on religion and culture. Religion is – at least to some extent – part of culture, interacts with other components of culture, and thus plays a role in many aspects of the psychological functioning of individuals and groups. It is then of particular interest for cultural and cross-cultural psychology. Differences and universals across religions may parallel, if not contribute to and explain, cross-cultural differences and universals. Therefore, the way groups (cultural-ethnic and/or cultural-religious ones) differ or resemble on their religious beliefs, emotions, and practices may reflect, or have an impact on, the way these groups’ members deal with most if not all the psychological aspects of their life: identities, cognitions, emotions, values, morality, interpersonal and intergroup relations, life span development, health, and social behaviors related to work, marriage, leisure, economics, and politics.
The objective of this special issue is to make a step ahead through innovative papers that initiate empirically-based and theoretically driven systematic knowledge and reflection on religion from a cultural and cross-cultural psychology perspective. More precisely, this special issue will aim to identify and ideally explain:
(a) cross-religious differences or similarities in various aspects of psychological functioning such as the ones mentioned above (all of them are welcomed);
(b) the way religion – across different cultural groups (differing, for instance in ethnicity, socio-economic status, religious tradition) – functions in individuals’ lives in predicting significant outcomes;
(c) the way religion parallels or interacts with other components of culture (e.g., ethnicity, socio-economic status, language, values, personality, stereotypes) that define and distinguish groups from each other.
We will welcome proposals for empirical papers that (a) use quantitative methods, (b) compare multiple (at least two but ideally more) groups either across or within nations, and (c) do not simply explore and document findings but interpret them on the basis of solid theoretical argumentation and, ideally, empirical evidence (e.g., in terms of possible mediators). Experimental studies are also welcomed. Theoretical papers are not excluded, but they have to be conceived as psychological theory-driven papers making a specific theoretical argument heavily based on review of relevant empirical research. In all cases, papers have to be creative, expanding the present state of the art, and opening avenues for future research. Finally, it is not to be excluded that, in selecting between proposals of equal quality, a concern for a complementarity of topics to be treated may apply.
To give one simply indicative example of topic: are religions equal on their propensity to produce/legitimize altruism (or violence)? If differences exist, are they strictly religious (and if yes, what may be the origin) or can be (partially or totally) explained by other psychological and social factors at the individual or group level? Are the social consequences (e.g., forgiveness, prejudice) of religious propensity for altruism (or violence) moderated by other cultural factors?
Proposals of 400-500 words outlining the authors’ plan for a full manuscript should be sent to both guest editors at vassilis.saroglou@uclouvain.be and adamcohen@asu.edu by August 1, 2009. Authors of successful proposals will be invited in October 2009 to submit a full-scale manuscript (25-30 double pages all included) to be received by March 1, 2010. A standard peer-review process will be applied; and selected papers will be accepted provided they meet the standards of JCCP articles and the objectives of the special issue. For more information please contact either guest editor.
— Adam B. Cohen Ph.D. Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Arizona State University
PO Box 871104
(For non-PO Box mail: 950 South McAllister)
Tempe, AZ 85287-1104 USA
Email: adamcohen@asu.edu (there is no dot between adam and cohen)
http://psychology.clas.asu.edu/Cohen
Phone: (480) 965-7345
Fax: (480) 965-8544
Office: 294A Psychology Building