The Psychology of Religion and Place [electronic resource] Emerging Perspectives / edited by Victor Counted, Fraser Watts.

This book examines the role of religious and spiritual experiences in people’s understanding of their environment, and how their place experiences are transformed in the process. The contributors consider how understandings and experiences of religious and place connections are motivated by the need to seek and maintain contact with perceptual objects, so as to form meaningful relationship experiences. The purpose is not to engage in comparative religion or analyse different religious traditions in relation to place, but rather to understand how people's perceptions of physical, imaginary and transpersonal objects shape their religious and place experiences. This book is one of the first scholarly attempts to discuss the psychological links between place and religious experiences. The chapters provide insights for understanding how people’s experiences with geographical places and the sacred serve as agencies for meaning-making, pro-social behaviour, and psychological adjustment in everyday life.