Psychological Studies of New Religious Movements: Findings from German-Speaking Countries
The article reviews psychological studies of members of new religious movements available only in the Gennan language. On the basis of the results of these studies, conversion to new religious movements can be understood as a process that includes activating certain defense mechanisms. Such mechanis...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
1999
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In: |
The international journal for the psychology of religion
Year: 1999, Volume: 9, Issue: 4, Pages: 263-281 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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Summary: | The article reviews psychological studies of members of new religious movements available only in the Gennan language. On the basis of the results of these studies, conversion to new religious movements can be understood as a process that includes activating certain defense mechanisms. Such mechanisms seem to be the idealization of new religious leaders or the new religious movement as a whole and the overem- phasis of certain values. Therapeutic effects of new religious commitments may stan from these defense mechanisms. This perspective also contributes to understanding destructive trends in the course of development within new religious movements. Such trends reflect the fact that under certain conditions dysfunctional aspects of the defense mechanisms increasingly outweigh functional aspects. |
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ISSN: | 1532-7582 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: The international journal for the psychology of religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1207/s15327582ijpr0904_4 |