Psychologiczne problemy kształtowania się religijności i jej dewiacje

Abstract

Atheism which emerged as a form of counter-culture in Europe and America in the XVIII and XIX centuries, has become a mass phenomenon in modern times. Nowadays we can observe a great number of unreligious adults, youth and children. Atheism has become the subject of research in many branches of science: theology, philosophy, antropology, history and, particularly, in sociology and psychology. From a psychological point of view atheism is defined as an outlook on life characterised by rejection of and hospitality towards any forms of religion, and based not only on theoretical reasons but also on human, individual or social motives. One can distinguish between primary atheism (a primary outlook on life) and secondary atheism (an attitude changed from religious to atheistic). Although the theoretical views of the atheists may seem identical in both cases, yet the behaviour of, those who have changed their attitudes is different from that of the people who formed their atheistic attitudes at the very beginning. The main aim of the present paper is the analysis of psychological mechanisms of the development of secondary atheism among young people at the age of adolescence. The main interest of the author is focused on the three basic processes of religious development: interiorization (internalization), absolutization and socialization. In the analysis of those processes the author concentrates mainly on the conflicts in the lives of young people ‒ moral conflicts, conflicts between young people and adults, the conflic of holiness and magic, of science and faith, and also between belief in Providence and experiencing one’s own misfortunes and sufferings. The author considers also the circumstances which condition those conflicts, as factors which disturb or hamper the regular course of religious development. Disturbances or inhibitions in the processes of interiorization, absolutization and socialization, caused by numerous factors, are conductive to the formation of marginal, immature, superficial, infantile and primitive religiousness with elements of magic and no significant influence on the person’s conduct in general. The fixation of primitive (non-interiorised) religion may, in time, lead to total atheism. Thus, from the psychological point of view, the way towards secondary atheism starts in young people with crises of development leading towards religious doubts which often occur together with conflicts of life; the neglect of religious practices leads then to deeper crises of faith, extinction of religious need, and a complete breaking off of religious ties. One should remember, however, that the process of religious development, as well as its collapse (a change of attitude) have their specific character, reasons and course in each individual case.