Psychologists cannot overlook that all three sources clearly pertain to the
mind. Thus, to clarify the role of each, including our reasons for performing rituals,
psychological methods of research are needed. Significantly, some contemporary
anthropologists (Boyer, 1994; Guthrie, 1980) acknowledge the limitations of nonpsychological
theories purporting to explain origin of religion and cogently argue
for a psychological theory of religion. They recognise that the study of religion cannot
advance without a contribution of psychology simply because psychological
questions are different from those asked in the other departments of religious studies.
Consider the following examples. When we ask why religious beliefs are both
similar and different across cultures; whether anything in human nature can account
for those similarities; whether people from diverse religious traditions adopt certain
religious beliefs under the same conditions; what experiences, if any, differentiate
prayer from worship, and the like, in all such instances we are asking primarily psychological
questions. Psychological explanations are therefore not an alternative
approach to the study of religion but one that is fundamental and necessary. Put
simply, psychological explanations deal with the more basic units of religious phenomena
(i.e., at the level of the individual) than those addressed by the other disciplines
studying religion (e.g., at the level of history, culture, or social groups). This
is not to say that psychological methods imply or necessarily lead to reductionist
accounts; rather, any complexities can be better accounted for by recognising the
different levels of enquiry contained within them.