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Principles of social influence in religious recruitment. The case of a Christian organization affiliated with Charismatic Renewal.
Kuzmina, Ekaterina ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Doubek, David (referee)
The bachelor's thesis addresses a young Christian organization operating in the Czech Republic and one of the post-Soviet countries. The purpose of the present study is to provide original data about theistic beliefs of the chosen religious group and about its strategies of building relationships with people who are not yet aligned with the faith that the group preaches. It focuses on the observed rituals, interpretative concepts stated by the pastors, and interactions between the parishioners and a potential convert. The theoretical part covers the main related areas such as Renewal movements, phenomenon of religious conversion, and influence principles considered in the context of recruitment in religious organizations. The practical part presents qualitative research based on a field observation carried out by the author of the thesis in cooperation with an assistant-observer. KEYWORDS: psychology of religion, religious organization, recruitment techniques, spiritual renewal, christian charismatic renewal, social influence, principles of influence
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Religious Experiences Induced by LARPing
Martinek, Adam ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Hrabec, Ondřej (referee)
This bachelor's thesis is concerned mainly with experiences of live action role-playing games players, who have, during the course of such games, played characters related to religion. The aim of this qualitative study was to first and foremost discover and describe if and when do play induced religious experiences arise. The thesis is theoretically based on those currents of psychology of religion which hold religion to be a socially constructed phenomenon, that can be, albeit possessing certain cognitive specificities, studied through standard methods, mainly those which are inductive in their reasoning. This view is held chiefly because of the socially constructed nature of religion and the absence of a definitive explanatory theory of religion. To answer my research questions, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with different participants, during which I respected the participant's own perception of the religiosity of their play experience. These interviews were analysed through the lens of grounded theory, the aim of the analysis was to describe circumstances of the emergence of game-specific experiences, their contents with regard to the religious theme of the game(s) and their possible effects on players' lives outside the game(s). The results of the study are discussed in light...
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The influence of religious conversion on the identity of individuals with criminal past
Drastíková, Jana ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Viktorová, Ida (referee)
The bachelor thesis focuses on the problem of religious conversion by the individuals having the criminal past. The aim was to find out how the narratives about their identities can be changed and how is the process of religious conversion. The thesis also deals with the fact if there are some common elements within the process of conversion. The theoretical part of the bachelor thesis introduces the psychology of religion, the concept of identity and religious conversion. The model of religious conversion by Malcolm L. Rigsby is described more in details as it is used further in the analysis. The empirical part describes the analysis of the texts themselves. The research was carried out qualitatively using the narrative analysis method of twenty-four stories. The examined testimonies were written by people with criminal past who have converted and have become a part of some religious group. The results suggest their identities have been changed as well as the values, the way of expression or their social environment. During the process of religious conversion there are some common elements that are described more in details in the empirical part of the thesis. Key words: religious conversion, psychology of religion, pathological behavior, criminal lifestyle, model of religious conversion
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Manifestations of spirituality in coping with stress caused by university exams
Pustková, Martina ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Doubek, David (referee)
This work is a basic research in the field of manifestations of spirituality as a coping strategy in students facing stress during preparation for university exams. In an effort to supplement the existing mostly quantitative research with qualitative data concerning spiritual coping in the academic environment, I performed an analysis of interviews with twelve psychology students immediately after passing a course exam using the grounded theory method. The basic division of informants was into those who believe in God, who believe in the existence of something beyond this world, and those who do not believe in anything; they rationally reject it. Even those who rationally reject spirituality can use spiritual coping. The psychology students who have participated in this project consider the exam to be manageable on the basis of a direct proportion "the more and better I prepare for the exam, the more likely I am going to pass it". Spirituality is reflected in the perceived possibilities of what they may or may not influence in the preparation by their own will. Spiritual coping is thus closely related to gaining control over the situation. Students, from those with a very complex relationship to God, to those for whom the spiritual world is not relevant, tried to gain maximum control over the...
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Differences in the level of spirituality among university students of social and exact sciences
Švecová, Helena ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Lukavská, Kateřina (referee)
The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to describe the specific situation of religion in the Czech Republic in the historical context and to attempt to put spirituality and its importance into the said context. Another goal is to find out whether there is a difference in the degree of spirituality between university students of social sciences and students of exact sciences. Besides, the thesis maps spirituality of university students in general and tries to find out if other demographic data, particulary gender and religiosity, influence the degree of spirituality. Other goals are presenting different views on definition of spirituality, its description from psychological perspective and its distinction from other related concepts, especially religiosity. This thesis also mentions spirituality as a part of psychology of religion and presents the perspectives of some authors, who dealt with spirituality. The thesis also lists various tools for measuring spirituality. In that subchapter the greatest emphasis is placed on the presentation of the Prague Spirituality Questionnaire, analysis of its subscales and overall evaluation. For realisation of the empirical part, data was collected from 256 students, who completed an online version of Prague Spirituality Questionnaire extended with questions...
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The influence of religious conversion to the Roman Catholic Church on the change of selff-efficacy
Lopaurová, Štěpánka ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Trpišovská, Dobromila (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with religious conversion and changes that accompany this turn of man. Specifically, it deals with the conversion to the Roman Catholic Church and the change of self-efficacy. The goal is to answer the questions of how converts describe themselves as active agents in life before and after conversion, and what role does faith in God and the perceived relationship with him plays in this description. Furthermore, how the self-efficacy has changed due to religious beliefs - that is, how converts perceive themselves as capable of influencing their lives. In the broadest sense, the work should contribute to the understanding of man, his motives and experience, also by using his spiritual component. The research was made qualitatively, in the form of semi-structured interviews with ten converts, who for some part of their lives considered themselves to be unbelievers, then they went through the experience they call a religious conversion, got baptized and joined the Roman Catholic Church. They are now practicing believers. The results show that due to the belief gained, there are changes in several areas, such as belief in the lack of competence to manage one's own life, the feeling capability and activating an individual in a particularly pro-social direction despite awareness of...
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Transformation of identity due to conversion and deconversion within non-traditional religious community
Knapeková, Lívia ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Chrz, Vladimír (referee)
This thesis deals with the transformation of identity caused by entering and leaving a non-traditional religious community. The aim of the work was to determine how identity is changed by conversion and deconversion within the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses. The theoretical part is divided into three main chapters. The first is essentially devoted to religious conversion, where major psychological approaches to the study, the motifs and the process of conversion are presented. The second chapter focuses on identity, where attention is mainly on process-oriented theory, with emphasis on narrative representation. The last part of the theoretical section is devoted to the particular religious group Jehovah's Witnesses and new religious movements in general, with emphasis on the psychological aspects of their effect on the identity of the individual. The practical part is done in the form of semi- structured interviews with former members of the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses, where the aim was to see how and in what way the identity of the respondents has been altered by accepting membership in this religious group and then terminating it. The research results indicate that membership in the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses has deeply affected the life stories of my...
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LGBT Catholic Church Members: The Relation to One's Erotic Love
Šmejkalová, Klára ; Beláňová, Andrea (advisor) ; Smetáčková, Irena (referee)
The thesis deals with the issue of Catholic faith and minority sexual orientation in adult men living in the Czech Republic. Consideration is given to the formation and experience of identity in relation to the aforementioned phenomena, and yet is based on the development theories of E. H. Erikson and J. E. Marcia. The thesis consists of two parts: theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part defines the concepts of identity, LGBT and Catholicism and continues working with these concepts. Furthermore, the mentioned development theories are introduced and finally the thesis deals with three types of identities: gender, sexual and religious. Empirical part analyzes interviews with six informants using case reports. A semi- structured questionnaire created by the author of this thesis was used. As an outcome, there are four thematic blocks resulting from the data obtained. It showed that the intersection between faith and sexuality in LGBT Catholics in the Czech Republic is given by the personality and background of each informant, however it is moving towards balance in sustainable and continuous identity. KEY WORDS identity, LGBT, Catholicism, faith, gender
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