Taboo Religion? A contextual analysis of the marginalization of German psychology of religion

Abstract

Taking the history of the psychology of religion as a case, two theses are presented: (1) Psychology has always been determined by a multitude of contextual factors, among them seemingly trivial ones such as "market" and "fashion," and (2) research on its history readily turns into critical reflection on contemporary psychology. Psychology of religion is discussed as a subdiscipline of psychology at large, and it is pointed out that it is both a field of application of psychology in general and a part of theoretical psychology. To explain the lack of institutionalization of this subdiscipline in Germany, a comparison is made with the neighboring country of the Netherlands (where institutionalization has been remarkable). It is claimed that work on the history of psychology is necessary for the development of psychology itself and that if it is to make an impact within psychology it should not be left to professional historians without training in psychology.