Psychology of religion is to study religiosity from a psychological perspective and to describe and explain the factors underlying religiosity, its dimensions, measurement of religiosity and its effects and consequences in individual and social life. Nowadays, an independent sector in the American Psychology Association is allocated for the psychology of religion. Some specific scientific journals, websites, and conferences also address this issue. This field has been increasingly of interest to the extent that it is presented as a course in many well-known universities worldwide and is sometimes considered as an independent academic discipline.

With regard to its limited scope, the book entitled “An introduction on psychology of religion” only examines the most prominent issues, perspectives, and views in this filed. Chapter I deals with the definition, history, and methodology of the psychology of religion. Chapter II examines theories proposed by three famous psychologists (namely William James, Freud, and Jung). Dimensions of religion and religiosity, prerequisites of understanding religiosity, and viewpoints toward the dimensions of religion are considered in Chapter III. Chapter IV briefly addresses the religiosity measurement history and methodology, theoretical foundations, and the problems with measuring religiosity. The last chapter examines religiosity at individual and social levels as well as the expenses of religiosity.