Fuction of religion??

Question

Can someone name one psychological and social function of religion?

Answer 1

To provide us with meaning and purpose, which is important for a species that can understand "forever" but also dies.  It also provides group identity and, often, a way to keep the peasants or whoever in line.

Answer 2

The social function of religion, is that it serves as a gathering place...and ironically, all ancient religious temples were built on the sites of granery storehouses. It was where the food was kept!

Answer 3

The term "religion" is associated with a wide variety of meanings to different individuals (given their social or psychological disposition) and, consequently, holds different functions in different parts of society.  I think you would have to define the term religion before you can determine its function.  Once you've determined that, then you're set.

Just for your reference, some old school theorists on religion you might want to check out are  Freud, Wittgenstein, Hume, Durkheim, Marx, Feyeurbach, Nietzsche, EB Taylor, and James Frazer.  More modern thinkers include, Eliade, Evans-Pritchard, and John Hick.  Influential contemporary social theorists of two different sides are probably Geertz and Asad.  As someone mentioned above, there's also the evolutionary paradigm, where works by Boyer, Atran, and Sperber pretty much sum it up.  I personally prefer Atran's analysis.  Cheers and good hunting.

Answer 4

Psychological: Provides silly humans with hope of immortality.  Allows believer to escape dealing with own mortality.

Social: Allows a small group of intelligent people to profit large sums of money from a large group of stupid people, in exchange for comfort. Similiar to prostitution, but entirely legal.

Answer 5

I recently wrote a paper on the cognitive evolution of religion.  I will try to sum it up as best I can.  Humans categorize things into person, animal, artifact, plant or mineral.  These categories have certain characteristics we take for granted.  When these categories are violated they become more memorable but only if the violation is minor.  You remember a singing flower or a dog that can walk trough walls better than just a flower or a dog but not if I told you the dog was larger than the moon and made of maple syrup (too counter intuitive).  This explains why deities are remembered, they are basically persons with super powers.  The other important aspect is Hyper Active Agency Detection (HAAD) which explains why we tend to believe or at least have that ingrained capacity.  If you stand on one side of a large boulder and hear a stick break your mind begins to create stories to explain it.  Maybe it is a deer you could kill for food, maybe it is a lion and you should flee, maybe it is a potential mate or maybe it is another human that will kill you.  It could be nothing at all but it is to your benefit to assume one is correct.  If it is nothing, no harm no foul.  If it is a deer and you ignore it you have lost dinner.  If it is a cute girl you lost a chance to mate. If it is a lion or an enemy you could die as a result.  

Therefore, we remember things that are slightly counter-intuitive and, like Pascal's wager, the rewards of believing outweigh the costs of ignoring.

Religion also creates clear boundaries between MY social group (who believe the same as I do) and all those other people (with their strange gods and practices).

Answer 6

Psychological function: Calls us to meditate positively as well as work out our minds to understand and comprehend the makings of the Maker.

Social  function: Teaches us how to deal properly with our surroundings - folk, animals, environment, etc.

Answer 7

Psychological:  comfort and solace in times of hardship and loss.

Social:  interpersonal bonding, community structure and cohesion, and control.

Answer 8

To group and control people who are in other terms too stupid to control.

Answer 9

Encouragement.

Hope.

social function:  interaction with like minded people