The research is supported by a grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Administration of Volgograd Oblast, project № 17-16-34018
Annotation. Traditionally, religious norms are a system of prescriptions and rules specific to a particular religion. They have a regulatory effect on social behavior being a kind of social norms. In this case, the primary task of the social psychology should be defining the specificity of religious norms as a socio-psychological phenomenon. For this, the main theoretical approaches to the definition of social norms were used. Theoretical approaches to religious norms, presented on this basis, suggest different views on their nature, genesis, and features of functioning. Within the framework of the group approach, religious norms are considered certain rules governing behavior in a religious group. In the case of the process of inclusion in small groups, the processes of assimilation and internalization of religious norms prescribed by religion and broadcasted by this group are being studied. If we are referring to large groups, we can talk about the process of forming of religious norms, the mechanism of which is religious identity. With this understanding, the subject of research may be social representations of large religious groups about right or wrong behavior from the point of view of a typical representative of the group (for example, an Orthodox person). Within the framework of the alternative socio-cognitive approach, religious norms are understood as part of the socio-cultural system. They reflect the standards of behavior, the necessity of which is rooted in culture and society. In individual consciousness, they are formed under the influence of social interactions with religious phenomena and are viewed as subjective representations of socially desirable behavior.
Key words: religious norms, social norms, social psychology, group approach, socio-cognitive approach
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2017.4.118-125
About the author
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Irina S. Bulanova – PhD (Psychology), Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology, Volgograd State University; 100 Universitetskiy prospect, Volgograd, Russia, 400062; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |