Lecture I. The problem of language and consciousness The problem of the psychological structure of language, its role in communication and the formation of consciousness is perhaps the most important section of psychology.

Chapter 10. William James and the Psychology of Consciousness William James believed that psychology on one side borders on biology, and on the other - on metaphysics, penetrating into all areas of human existence. James actually introduced the United States to psychology, became its

ETERNAL PSYCHOLOGY: THE SPECTRUM OF CONSCIOUSNESS Ken Wilber Over the past few decades, psychologists, theologians and philosophers in the West have shown huge interest to the universal doctrine of human nature and reality, which underlies every significant

74. Psychology of religion Religion is a specific form of social consciousness based on belief in supernatural forces. Religious ideas are a system of ideas about God, the universe, society and man. Religious ideology includes theology

This part of the book deals with a number of specific manifestations of mass psychology. All of them have long since become natural facts of social life, but they continue to raise numerous questions and remain at the center of rather heated discussions. Sometimes these questions and discussions are connected with an underestimation of the naturalness of the socio-psychological nature of these phenomena and the psychology of the masses, which underlies them. Analysis shows that outwardly different phenomena are connected by a common nature. With all their diversity, they are equally necessary for people to express mass human psychology. Changing historically, all these phenomena fulfilled one main function- formed significant communities of people that made up huge segments of social life, and served both as its socio-psychological regulators and as special factors of social, economic and other progress.
Human nature is dual: the psyche is individual and at the same time mass character. It develops in a dialectical contradiction, in the unity and struggle of individual consciousness and mass behavior. This contradiction serves as a dynamic source of development. The phenomena of mass psychology discussed below demonstrate this dialectical relationship, which reflects the complex, social-individual psychological nature of man. From primal gods to modern means mass communication humanity has come a long way. But it will never be exhausted - just as the dialectical unity of the individual and the masses is eternal and inexhaustible, so are the known and still unknown forms of manifestation of the psychology of the masses.

Chapter 3.1. Psychology of religion

As is known, the very concept of religion is still one of the most difficult to define in empirical, operational categories. There is no single definition of religion, which is why researchers use literally hundreds of definitions. Most of them are sociological, while psychological definitions are practically non-existent. And there are certain reasons for this: according to P. Berger, for example, the adoption of some definition of religion, in the end, is generally a matter of taste.
E. Durkheim and M. Weber at one time created the basis for distinguishing two polar types of the definition of religion: nominal and real, as well as functional and meaningful ones close to them. Functional definitions are usually characterized by the fact that the function that these phenomena perform is taken as a criterion for identifying and classifying phenomena: first, the functions that a certain social system “requires” are singled out, and then, on the basis of the functions performed, observable social and social systems are identified and classified. cultural phenomena. On the contrary, the content of these phenomena actually acts as a criterion for a meaningful definition. R. Robertson proposed to associate nominal, functional definitions with definitions of an inclusive type, and real definitions - with exclusive definitions.
Durkheim strove to cover almost all systems recognized as "religious" with the definitions of religion, including theistic and non-theistic belief systems. Such broad definition he based on the distinction between the spiritual and the secular, as well as on the allocation of the most general functions of religion. However, such a sociological approach is undoubtedly too general and not quite precise character. Another position was taken by Weber, who believed that religion as social phenomenon manifests itself in the religious behavior of people guided by the corresponding type of motivation, the analysis of which is especially necessary both for understanding religion and for classifying its varieties. Weber believed that it was impossible to give an empirical, non-dogmatic definition of religion before the start of the study - the definition appears as an ideal-typical construction of the phenomenon at one of the stages of work.
Among functional definitions religions, the first group consists of those that, as the constructions of M. Weber and P. Tillich, are closely connected with the so-called

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ultimate problems of existence. The most common and representative definition of this type belongs to D. Yingren. He sees religion as a system of beliefs and practices by which a group of people cope with finite problems. human life. It is clear that B. Malinovsky (by the way, an ardent follower of E. Durkheim) easily “reads” behind these views with his idea that religion helps to solve the inevitable problems of human life (for example, the death of a member of a group). Similar definitions were proposed by W. L. Kolb, K. Dunlop and other authors. Close to this point of view are those researchers who define religion as the highest and most general level development of culture - such a position is typical for the older generation of functionalists, sociologists and anthropologists such as T. Parsons, R. Bellach and K. Geertz. V. Pivovarsky believes that such an approach is a convenient position for the socio-psychological approach as well (Piwowarski, 1974).
With psychological point view, the main thing in religion is the phenomenon of faith. The main components that form the psychological level of the study of religion are connected with it - from the presence of quite definite psychological roots of religion to the psychology of the religiosity of believers and individual psychological manifestations of this religiosity in the form of both faith itself and superstitions derived from it, religious cult, ecstasy, fanaticism and etc.

The roots of religion

Few now object to the understanding of religion as a form of social consciousness. From a psychological point of view, “the main object of the psychology of religion as a section of social psychology is the ordinary religious consciousness of the broad masses of believers or religious psychology as one of the elements of ordinary consciousness in general” (Evgenyeva, 1988). It is customary to single out the social, epistemological and psychological roots of religion.
Social roots of religion. The militant socialist atheists, of course, somewhat simplified the matter when they wrote: “The impotence of the exploited classes in the struggle against the exploiters inevitably gives rise to faith in a better life after death, just as the impotence of the savage in the struggle with nature gives rise to faith in gods, devils, miracles, etc. . P." (Lenin, 1967-1984). However social functions religions were recognized by Western secular scientific community. A. Radcliffe-Brown, for example, believed that the social function of religion is to force members of the group to support common fears and hopes and thereby strengthen social connections. Thus, he wrote: “We proceed from the hypothesis that the social functions of religion do not depend on its truth or falsity, that religions that we consider erroneous or even absurd ... can be parts of the social mechanism and that without these “false” religions, social evolution and development modern civilization impossible” (Radcliffe-Braun, 1959). F. Engels wrote: "... Any religion is nothing but a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those external forces that dominate them in their daily life - a reflection in which earthly forces take the form of unearthly ones." And he continued: “Fantastic images in which

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originally reflected only the mysterious forces of nature, now they also acquire social attributes and become representatives historical forces"(Marx, Engels, 1951-1984). It is in this sense that religion is the opium of the people.
It must be admitted that at certain stages of history, religion really acts as a kind of "pain reliever" for many social adversities and turmoil. To a large extent, this function is still preserved, but now it should already be considered as a socio-psychological function.
Gnoseological roots of religion. The first primitive religious beliefs of man originated many millennia ago and were a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of their dependence on nature, a sense of fear of its mysterious forces and the search for means to influence them. primitive man without necessary knowledge about the environment outside world, being at a low level of development of productive forces, almost completely dependent on nature. Accordingly, he needed an explanation of what was happening to him and around him. This is how mythological images and whole "pictures" of the world were born - the primordial basis of religious pictures of the creation of the world.
All materialists usually explain the general methodological inevitability of the appearance of religion by the spiral nature of the very process of cognition. If we try to turn "a piece of this curved line ... into an independent, whole, straight line" (Lenin, 1967-1984), that is, in modern terms, to absolutize one of the sides of a phenomenon or process, tear it away from other sides, then as a result we will get in the mind an illusory reflection of the phenomenon or process as a whole, including in the form of religious ideas. With this, most researchers now agree.
Thus, neither the social nor the epistemological roots of religion themselves are clearly unable to independently explain this phenomenon. Even the most militant materialists, faced with these difficulties, were eventually forced to turn to subjective factors. It is difficult to object to a thought that is still fair today: “Religions are created by people who themselves feel the need for it and understand the religious needs of the masses” (Marx, Engels, 1951-1984).
Psychological roots of religion. Obviously, from a secular point of view, religion is one of the forms of mythological, primitive consciousness. It is a reflection of a certain stage in the development of this consciousness, associated with the prehistory of human development. In a certain sense, the history of religion coincides with the history of the development of mass psychology.
When considering the psychological roots of religion, four groups of factors are distinguished. First, it is the ability of human consciousness to form rather abstract concepts. Secondly, these are unconscious components of thinking and activity. Thirdly, it is human emotions. Finally, fourthly, this is the psychological dichotomy "we" - "they", which underlies the formation of all human communities.
With the first group of factors, everything is quite clear. Let us confine ourselves to a quote: “The process of human cognition of the surrounding reality is based on the ability of human consciousness to form abstract concepts, to highlight the common, most significant aspects of this reality and its constituent phenomena.

Socio-psychological functions of religion

Analysis special literature shows that it is customary to distinguish five main socio-psychological functions of religion.
The same analysis easily shows that the main function of religion in the socio-psychological context is undoubtedly integrating function. From O. Comte and G. Spencer, almost all researchers considered religion as a means of achieving "unity", "unification", "systematization", "coordination" and, finally, "integration". Religion unites individuals into masses of believers. World religions in their development contributed to the unity of significant masses of people. So. only one Roman Empire, having eliminated political and social differences in the lives of many individual peoples, eliminated the differences between religions, giving rise to a single Christianity for all. It, in turn, consolidated those achievements.

The Psychology of Faith

The whole history of the study of religion can be seen as a continuous search for what could be designated as the "minimum of religion", as its kind of "molecular unit", inherent in all religions - from the most primitive to the most complex.

Religious Cult: The Psychology of Religious Actions

Each religion includes a set of special actions necessary for believers both to express their belonging to a religious community and to strengthen their faith, their identification with this community. The totality of these actions is usually religious cult.
A religious cult for believers is practically almost any symbolic action based on the belief in the possibility of influencing supernatural objects and their properties with their help. The cult actions of primitive people were extremely specific. The shaman, turning to the gods and involving fellow tribesmen in ritual actions, asked to send rain or good luck in hunting. In modern religions, specific requests are not required. The cult is necessary for believers to prove their faith, which they demonstrate to God with the help of a special system of actions that usually take place in a temple (religious building) under the guidance of clergymen. Participation in such activities partially satisfies the basic needs of social life: the need for communication, for belonging to a community.

The psychology of superstition

According to K. K. Platonov, superstition are vestigial fragments of past religions. It is like a cemetery of former gods and cults associated with them in mass psychology. Sometimes, however, these are also acquired, new beliefs, close in psychological origin to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because of this, it is almost impossible to fight them - they constitute the "everyday lining" of our consciousness.
Typical example superstition is a notion of a connection that allegedly exists between an object that acts as an amulet and good luck in business. Also, conversely, between bad omen and subsequent failures and even misfortunes of man. Any common and common occurrence in life can serve as a sign. So, in European countries it is customary to consider a meeting with a black cat as a harbinger of misfortune. In the United States and Latin America, it is believed that anyone who passes under a stepladder will get into big trouble. To test in 1939, during the World Exhibition in New York, a kind of psychological experiment. A large ladder was placed in the lobby. It did not interfere with the passage in any way, but 70% of the several million visitors to the exhibition chose to take a special detour to bypass it.
The psychological explanation for most of the existing superstitions is the search for a logical connection between events that occur one after the other. The well-known formula works here: after that, it means, because of that. Of course, this logic error. However, in the psychology of the masses, the notion of a completely possible supernatural connection between phenomena close or coinciding in time still continues to be preserved and serve as a source of faith in omens, forebodings, and divination. The special selectivity of our memory also helps here: one omen that has come true or some kind of prediction is remembered better than a dozen that have not come true. F. Bacon wrote about this: “This is the basis of almost all superstitions - in astrology, in dreams, in omens, in divine definitions, and the like. People who indulge themselves in this kind of fuss mark the event that has come true, and ignore the one that deceived, although the latter happens much more often ”(Bacon, 1935).

Motives for turning to religion

Numerous sociological surveys and specialized socio-psychological studies make it possible to differentiate the religious psychology of the masses, to isolate groups of believers whose religious community is built on various motives for turning to religion. It is the motive of conversion that stands at the center of the mass that is psychologically formed around the church. There are six rather obviously different motives - accordingly, we can talk about six variants of the religious psychology of the masses.
The first group of believers are people for whom religion acts as their own form of knowing the world. Usually these are extremely poorly educated people who simply do not have any other “picture of the world”. On the other hand, they know very well the biblical ontology, the entire mythological basis of religion. God's creation of the world and man, the presence of heaven and hell, the afterlife are quite real things for them.
The second group includes believers whose main motive is the expectation of heavenly bliss after death. Such a motive is generated by difficult living conditions, many unsatisfied needs, as well as the fear of death. As you know, in most religions, the description of paradise is just filled with the most pleasant things. The Koran, born in the drought of the Arabian desert, teaches about paradise: “In it are rivers of water that does not spoil, and rivers of milk, the taste of which does not change, and rivers of wine, pleasant for drinkers; rivers of purified honey” (Koran, 1963). Of all religious theory, these believers best know and remember the principles of the immortality of the soul and the existence of an afterlife. The fear of death, although not always in a conscious form, occupies a significant place in the minds of modern believers. It is impossible for the body to avoid it, which means that one should console oneself with the immortality of the soul.
The third group of believers in religion is not interested in belief in the supernatural, but in itself a religious cult. The motive for their participation in cult activities is not so much the belief that with their help they can influence supernatural forces, but the satisfaction of the need for communication, in identifying themselves with a certain large group, which such participation gives. As a rule, these are lonely people who have not found their place in the groups to which they objectively belong in secular life, deeply experiencing the phenomenon of alienation. Usually they do not know religious dogmas well - except for those related to cult activities. The number of such people is increasing as society is marginalized.
The fourth group of believers is characterized by the conviction that religion is necessary for the preservation of human morality. There are especially many such people among Muslims, whose life is almost completely regulated by Sharia - a set of both religious and moral, legal and many other norms based on the Koran. The basis of their religiosity is the belief that without religion, without the fear of God's punishment, any universal moral norms will be constantly violated. The main thing for them is not participation in a religious cult, but the dissemination of moral and ethical religious principles.
The fifth real-life group is the "just in case" believers. In today's world, low intensity of faith is common. Accordingly

Main conclusions

1. Religion is one of the forms of social consciousness. The main object of psychology: religion as a section of social psychology is the ordinary religious consciousness of the broad masses of believers, or, in other words, religious psychology as one of the elements of everyday consciousness as a whole. From a secular point of view, there are three main groups of roots of religious psychology. Social roots are usually associated with the search for some way out of the daily hardships of life associated with the social inequality of people. Epistemological roots - with the limitations of human knowledge, sometimes distorting the picture of the real world, Social and psychological roots are associated with four main points;

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firstly, with the ability of consciousness to form abstract concepts such as the concept of "God"; secondly, with the unconscious components of thinking and activity, which are not always clear to the person himself and are associated with otherworldly forces; thirdly, with human emotions that require an outlet - in particular, in religion; fourthly, with the psychological division "we - they", which underlies the formation of religious communities.

1. There are five socio-psychological functions of religion: I integrate
   general, communicative, compensatory, ideological and regulatory.
   A special function is to awaken in a person a sense of faith and maintain
   this feeling in him.
2. Faith is a feeling that creates the illusion of knowledge and the reality of what is created
   fantasy involving the same feeling. Faith is a must
   volume of religious consciousness. As a rule, faith is expressed in the acceptance of some
   assertions without evidence. Statements of this kind do not arise of their own accord.
   battle in the mind of an individual and are not the result of an analysis of one's own
   many experiences of people. Usually they are introduced into the mass consciousness, and in the end
   in this form. According to the propagation mechanism, faith is associated with psychological phenomena.
   nomens of suggestion, infection and imitation, and as a result of the action of these
   phenomena, and as the readiness of people to succumb to their action. Feeling of faith
   any emotional state, is influenced by the "circular reaction" and
   "emotional whirl". Therefore, faith, on the one hand, easily forms a mass
   su believers, and on the other hand, its spread and strengthening takes place
   right in the mass. Only in the masses can faith reach the level of unstoppable af
   effect and take the form of religious ecstasy.
3. Every religion includes a set of special actions necessary for believers to
   expressing one's belonging to a religious community and strengthening as
   their faith, and personal identification with this community. The totality of
   kih actions is a religious cult. Religious cult for
   believers - this is almost any symbolic action based on faith
   in the possibility of influencing with their help on supernatural objects and their own
   stva. The most important elements of a religious cult are prayer, various forms of sacrifices.
   offerings and confessions.
4. There are six main motives for turning people to religion. First of all,
   religion attracts as a form of knowledge and understanding of the world. Secondly, she
   repents of the expectation of heavenly bliss after death. Thirdly, it attracts
   religious cult, its rituals. Fourth, religion is considered an important condition
   view of the preservation of morality. Fifth, some turn to religion "on
   just in case". Sixth, a special motive is disguise as a faith
   for non-religious purposes.
   .

Why do many people believe in omens and superstitions? I think it is difficult to find at least one person who would not have flashed in his head from time to time the well-known “morning is wiser than the evening” or “quietly you go - you will continue”, “spit and knock”. Divination, horoscopes, predictions - all these are superstitions. Why do we need signs and superstitions, and where did they come from? Let's figure it out.

All signs and superstitions are aimed at finding a logical connection between seemingly incompatible and illogical things. And this is rooted in the distant times of undeveloped science. It is today that people know a lot about the world, its laws, society and human characteristics, the interaction of man and nature. Previously, in order to get rid of oppressive ignorance and not be afraid to live, one had to rely on signs, superstitions and intuition:

• Someone alone noticed a random coincidence and established a connection between two completely different signs (phenomena).
• This scheme is reinforced by our feature: we remember the confirmation of the signs, but we forget the refutation. A sign (prophecy, fortune-telling) may come true once and not come true 20, but in memory it will be deposited as always coming true. That's how it started.

But the peculiarity of the psychology of belief is that the piggy bank of various kinds of beliefs is regularly replenished. Why is it so popular these days? Old signs are alive in the public historical consciousness. You can't get away from this. And new ones are born all for the same reason - ignorance, fear. Although science has made a huge leap forward, there are still many secrets and mysteries in the world. As a result, we can say that superstitions and omens are the unconscious base of the personality, which cannot be eradicated.

What is a premonition? In the language of psychology, this is a combination of natural and useful property- an assumption (the probability of some event without determining the specific numbers of this probability) and . The likelihood of a person having a premonition (assuming + anxious expectation) increases in a situation of stress, tension, in critical conditions. If the presentiment does not justify itself, then this, of course, will be forgotten. Otherwise, remember. This is how the superstition “a premonition never deceives me” is born.

An interesting fact: in 1939, New York psychologists managed to confirm the power of superstition. At one of the exhibitions, a stepladder was installed, and although it did not interfere in any way, 70% of people preferred a trajectory with extra meters, so as not to go under the stepladder (a bad omen).

Approaches to the study of superstition

Superstition is a belief in the forces and laws of nature unknown to man, positively or negatively affecting people, animals and the whole world. View superstition as psychological phenomenon possible through several approaches.

cognitive approach

From the position of this approach, superstition is an attempt to comprehend the unknown and inexplicable. Superstitions are transmitted from generation to generation through psychological characteristics: infection, imitation, suggestion. With the help of signs and superstitions, a person tries to gain control over the whole world. In this context, superstition is the result of the work of memory and.

With the help of superstitions, a person organizes the world. But the perception of ongoing events is too subjective and situational, distorting the true mechanisms and features of things happening.

Everything that goes beyond the usual ideas and knowledge of a person, he tries to explain with the help of supernatural forces, signs, superstitions, divination, astrology. Accordingly, we can say that the higher a person, the less he is prone to prejudice. Cognition of the world through superstition is a simplified form of cognition, based on visibility and avoiding cognition of the world through abstract scientific concepts.

Affective-motivational approach

Superstition is a form of protection of the emotional state and the person. This is the satisfaction and support of their unconscious desires,. At the same time, in this concept, superstitions are considered as a means of providing psychotherapeutic assistance: stress relief.

Belief is closely related to the suggestibility of a person, which intensifies at the moment:

• frustration and psychological fragmentation, for example, with fear of death, aging, reality or the hardships of loneliness;
• grief experiences;
• job loss;
• unrequited love;
• cultural and socio-economic instability of society;
• awareness of one's own powerlessness.

“What is not done is all for the better,” a person says to himself, and the pain from personally significant misfortunes that have happened is no longer so acute. Signs and this kind of superstition can give a person the strength to overcome depression and other undesirable conditions. Think about it, because for every state of a person you can find a saying that removes a share of responsibility from him and shifts the burden of what happened on someone’s shoulders: “God’s will for everything.”

On the one hand, this is good, but on the other hand, it seems to me that it deprives a person. How can you grow and draw conclusions from what happened, avoiding responsibility for your own life? Is it possible to develop if you do not really know your thoughts and feelings, do not consciously struggle with fears and do not accept inevitable realities, for example, death? I think in this case superstitions are a form of escape from reality and impede personal growth.

Afterword

Superstition is the victory of emotions over reason. And one of the main driving forces is fear. This is blind faith that slows down thinking. Prejudices similar to superstitions:

• superstition is an element of the structure of prejudices;
• prejudice - an erroneous perception of something, caused by information imposed from outside (superstitions and signs).

Signs, superstitions, prejudices belong to the psychology of the masses. This causes the complexity and impossibility of the complete eradication of beliefs. But it is possible and necessary to work with an individual person if superstitions interfere with his personal development and life, border on anxiety-phobic disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

How to do it? Understand what function superstitions perform in this case. This will help you find real reasons: lack of knowledge, fear, self-doubt, personal problems and more. Further, we have to work on eliminating this cause and gaining a sense of control over ourselves and our lives at the expense of internal resources and a logical rational understanding of the world. It is worthwhile to engage in the development of creative and, and superstitions will begin to fade into the background.

The psychology of superstition

According to K. K. Platonov, superstition are vestigial fragments of past religions. These are, as it were, cemeteries of former gods and cults associated with them in class psychology. Sometimes, however, these are also acquired, new beliefs, close in psychological origin to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because of this, it is almost impossible to fight them - they constitute the "everyday lining" of our consciousness.

A typical example of superstition is the notion of a connection allegedly existing between an object acting as an amulet and good luck in business. And also, on the contrary, between a bad omen and subsequent failures and even human misfortunes. Any common and common occurrence in life can serve as a sign. So, in European countries it is customary to consider a meeting with a black cat as a harbinger of misfortune. In the United States and Latin America, it is believed that anyone who passes under a stepladder will get into big trouble. For verification, in 1939, during the World Exhibition in New York, a kind of psychological experiment was carried out. A large ladder was placed in the lobby. It did not interfere with the passage in any way, but 70% of the several million visitors to the exhibition chose to make a special detour to bypass it.

The psychological explanation for most of the existing superstitions is the search for a logical connection between events that occur one after the other. The well-known formula works here: after that, it means, because of that. Of course, this is a logical fallacy. However, in the psychology of the masses, the notion of a completely possible supernatural connection between phenomena close or coinciding in time still continues to be preserved and serve as a source of faith in omens, forebodings, and divination. The special selectivity of our memory also helps here: one omen that has come true or some kind of prediction is remembered better than a dozen that have not come true. F. Bacon wrote about this: “This is the basis of almost all superstitions - in astrology, in dreams, in omens, in divine definitions, and the like. People who indulge themselves in this kind of fuss mark the event that has come true, and ignore the one that deceived, although the latter happens much more often ”(Bacon, 1935).

252 Part 3. Mass socio-psychological phenomena

predictions, divination, horoscopes etc. In the late 80s. In the 20th century, there were 12,000 astrologers in the United States alone, another 175,000 Americans combined astrology with other pursuits, and 1,250 American newspapers regularly published horoscopes 1 . Today, our country is not far behind such indicators. As the poet A. Blok said about such phenomena a hundred years ago: "The beginning of the century, decadence, insanity of the intelligentsia."

One of the typical superstitions is belief in premonitions. Its basis is the substitution of foreboding assumptions. An assumption is an assumption of an event, the probability of which is not yet known. The ability to guess is a valuable property of the intellect. However, the combination of speculation with a sense of anxious anticipation is often experienced by people as a premonition. This usually occurs in conditions of real or potential danger and significant nervous tension, stress. If the development of events does not confirm the presentiment, then it is easily forgotten. However, confirmation of a premonition, on the contrary, is involuntarily remembered. This is how a superstitious belief is created, which easily develops into prejudice: "a presentiment never deceives me."

Close to faith in premonitions and faith in guessing, developing according to a similar mechanism. Fortune telling on a camomile (“loves - does not love ...”), playing “even - odd” and similar habits are also a kind of prejudice and superstition.

Superstition is condemned by dogmatic religion, although the psychological nature and structure of superstition sometimes differ little from canonized faith. The differences often come down mainly to the ideological components that determine the content of superstition.

On the one hand, superstitions are very close to faith. However, on the other hand, they often merge with prejudices. These two phenomena of religious psychology are often confused with each other. The psychological structure of superstition is usually dominated by a feeling of faith that inhibits thinking. Superstition is more experienced than understood. It is based only on emotions. Even B. Spinoza once rightly stated: "... Fear is the reason due to which superstition arises, is preserved and maintained" (Spinoza, 1957). Prejudice on the other hand, this is a phenomenon of an erroneous "picture of the world", in its psychological structure the element of thinking, misunderstanding, and usually inspired from the outside, predominates. Prejudice does not happen without superstition - the latter enters as an element in its structure. At the same time, both superstitions and prejudices are always phenomena of the everyday psychology of the masses, united under a common rubric.

B. Spinoza considered superstitions, although false, but still natural for the broad masses. He sincerely believed that it was impossible, and perhaps not necessary, to rid the crowd of superstitions. Voltaire proclaimed the well-known thesis: "If God did not exist, he would have to be invented." P. A. Golbach wrote: “... Atheism, like philosophy and all serious abstract sciences, is beyond the capacity of the crowd and even the majority of people” (Golbach, 1963). Thus, the psychology of superstition is an even more ancient and broad basis for the psychology of the masses than even the psychology of religion itself.

1 See: Evgenyeva T.V. Psychology of religion and problems of working with believers. M.: publishing house of the Institute of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU, 1988.

Chapter 3.1. Psychology of Religion 253

Motives for turning to religion

Numerous sociological surveys and specialized socio-psychological studies make it possible to differentiate the religious psychology of the masses, to isolate groups of believers whose religious community is built on various motives for turning to religion. It is the motive of conversion that stands at the center of the mass that is psychologically formed around the church. There are six quite obviously different motives - accordingly, we can talk about six variants of the religious psychology of the masses.

The first group of believers are people for whom religion acts as their own form of knowing the world. Usually these are extremely poorly educated people who simply do not have any other “picture of the world”. On the other hand, they know very well the biblical ontology, the entire mythological basis of religion. God's creation of the world and man, the presence of heaven and hell, the afterlife are quite real things for them.

The second group includes believers whose main motive is the expectation of heavenly bliss after death. Such a motive is generated by difficult living conditions, many unsatisfied needs, as well as the fear of death. As you know, in most religions, the description of paradise is just filled with the most pleasant things. The Koran, born in the drought of the Arabian desert, teaches about paradise: “In it are rivers of water that does not spoil, and rivers of milk, the taste of which does not change, and rivers of wine, pleasant for drinkers; rivers of purified honey” (Koran, 1963). Of all religious theory, these believers best know and remember the principles of the immortality of the soul and the existence of an afterlife. The fear of death, although not always in a conscious form, occupies a significant place in the minds of modern believers. It is impossible for the body to avoid it, which means that one should console oneself with the immortality of the soul.

The third group of believers in religion is not interested in belief in the supernatural, but in itself a religious cult. The motive for their participation in cult activities is not so much the belief that with their help they can influence supernatural forces, but the satisfaction of the need for communication, in identifying themselves with a certain large group, which such participation gives. As a rule, these are lonely people who have not found their place in the groups to which they objectively belong in secular life, deeply experiencing the phenomenon of alienation. Usually they do not know religious dogmas well - except for those related to cult activities. The number of such people is increasing as society is marginalized.

The fourth group of believers is characterized by the conviction that religion is necessary for the preservation of human morality. There are especially many such people among Muslims, whose life is almost completely regulated by Sharia - a set of both religious and moral, legal and many other norms based on the Koran. The basis of their religiosity is the conviction that without religion, without the fear of God's punishment, any universal moral norms will be constantly violated. The main thing for them is not participation in a religious cult, but the dissemination of moral and ethical religious principles.

The fifth really existing group is the believers "just in case". In today's world, low intensity of faith is common. Accordingly

254 Part 3. Mass socio-psychological phenomena

there is a growing number of people, "just in case", from time to time fulfilling the basic, most simple prescriptions of religion, as if by tradition, passed on from older family members or a reference social group. As a rule, these people rarely think about the deep essence of religious prescriptions, acting on the principle: “What if there really is a God?”.

Finally, people who masquerade as believers are often singled out as a sixth group. This is not about manipulators, although there are some, and not about those for whom religion is a profession and a source of income. There are also such people, especially among preachers of newfangled sects - the example of the head of the Moonist sect, S. M. Moon, whose multi-million dollar fortune was acquired by the labors of ordinary members of the sect, is not forgotten. Some of them are politicians. For example, it is known that the former dictator of Guatemala, R. Montt, shortly after taking office as president in 1982, declared himself a "prophet" appointed by God himself in order to save the country. To confirm such statements, he used the “Church of the Word” sect specially created by his henchmen, whose activities mainly consisted in supporting and justifying mass repressions. The point, however, is not only in them, but in the very possibility of manipulating faith. The above example is clearly from the field of applied political psychology in that part of it that studies the manipulation of mass consciousness for political purposes.

A serious problem lies in the fact that in countries where belonging to a particular religion serves as a criterion of political and social "reliability", the main, and sometimes the only motive for turning to religion is the desire to acquire a higher social status. Naturally, it is for this status that they go to church. We didn't say: "Paris is worth a mass!"

Of course, the listed groups and the differences between their representatives are largely conditional. They far from exhaust all possible motives for turning to religion, they do not exclude the existence of mixed types - believers, whose religiosity is determined simultaneously by several motives. However, even this, the most primary analysis of religious motivation seems to be quite productive for a deeper understanding of the reality that is commonly referred to as the "religious psychology of the masses."

Main conclusions

1. Religion is one of the forms of social consciousness. The main object of psychology; religion as a section of social psychology is the ordinary religious consciousness of the broad masses of believers, or, in other words, religious psychology as one of the elements of everyday consciousness as a whole. From a secular point of view, there are three main groups of roots of religious psychology. Social roots are usually associated with the search for some way out of the daily hardships of life associated with the social inequality of people. Epistemological roots - with the limited human knowledge, sometimes distorting the picture of the real world, socio-psychological roots are associated with four main points;

Chapter 3.1. Psychology of Religion 255

firstly, with the ability of consciousness to form abstract concepts such as the concept of "God"; secondly, with the unconscious components of thinking and activity, which are not always clear to the person himself and are associated with otherworldly forces; thirdly, with human emotions that require an outlet - in particular, in religion; fourthly, with the psychological division "we - they", which underlies the formation of religious communities.

2. There are five socio-psychological functions of religion: integrating, communicative, compensatory, ideological and regulatory. A special function is the awakening in a person of a sense of faith and the maintenance of this feeling in him.

3. Faith - a feeling that creates the illusion of knowledge and reality of what is created by fantasy with the participation of the same feeling. Faith is an essential component of religious consciousness. As a rule, faith is expressed in the acceptance of certain statements without evidence. Statements of this kind do not arise spontaneously in the mind of an individual and are not the result of an analysis of people's own experiences. Usually they are introduced into the mass consciousness, and in finished form. According to the mechanism of distribution, faith is connected with the psychological phenomena of suggestion, infection and imitation, both as a result of the action of these phenomena, and as the readiness of people to succumb to their action. The feeling of faith, like any emotional state, is subject to the influence of "circular reaction" and "emotional whirling". Therefore, faith, on the one hand, easily forms a mass of believers, and on the other hand, its spread and strengthening occurs precisely in the mass. Only in the mass can faith reach the level of an irresistible passion and take the form of religious ecstasy.

4. Any religion includes a set of special actions necessary for believers to express their belonging to a religious community and strengthen both their faith and personal identification with this community. The totality of such actions constitutes a religious cult. A religious cult for believers is practically any symbolic actions based on the belief in the possibility of influencing supernatural objects and their properties with their help. The most important elements of a religious cult are prayer, various forms of sacrifice and confession.

5. There are six main motives for turning people to religion. Firstly, religion attracts as a form of knowledge and understanding of the world. Secondly, it captivates with the expectation of heavenly bliss after death. Thirdly, it attracts the religious cult itself, its rituals. Fourthly, religion is considered an important condition for the preservation of morality. Fifth, some turn to religion "just in case." Sixth, disguise as believers for the sake of achieving non-religious goals turns out to be a special motive.

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