Civilization Dynamics from the Perspective of Psychology of Religion: Ali Murat Daryal’s Contributions

Authors : Betül Azra Yaşar

Pages : 135-164

Doi:10.59379/tdpd.1815844

View : 75 | Download : 263

Publication Date : 2025-12-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The psychology of religion is an interdisciplinary field that examines individuals’ religious experiences, belief patterns, ritual practices, and value orientations in relation to the cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes underlying these phenomena. This discipline is not limited to explaining religious feelings, attitudes, behaviors, and experiences at the individual level; rather, it also offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the psycho-social effects of long-term civilizational developments on human relations and social structures. While religion functions as a central reference system for identity for-mation, the development of belonging, and the construction of existential meaning at the individual level, it operates at the civilizational level as a decisive psycho-social factor shaping shared values, cultural continuity, and forms of social solidarity. From this perspective, the psychology of religion provides a deep and holistic analytical approach to the study of civilizations, one that cannot be achieved solely through historical or sociological analyses. The primary aim of this article is to examine the dynamics of the formation and continuity of civilizations from the perspective of the psychology of religion and to analyze this issue theoretically through Civilizations and Their Messages by the scholar of psychology of religion Ali Murat Daryal. Occupying a distinctive position in the history of Turkish psychology of religion, Daryal attracted particular attention through the conceptual and methodological innovations he developed during the discipline’s second developmental period (1980–1999). His integration of philological and psychological training broadened his intellectual horizon, while his studies on civilizational thought, the psychology of values, the psychology of worship, and psycho-history significantly enriched the conceptual depth of Turkish psychology of religion. Daryal’s Civilizations and Their Messages elucidates the multi-layered relationships between inter-civilizational interaction, message transmission, and individual psychology. Methodologically, this article is based on a documentation-centered theoretical analysis. The examined work demonstrates that civilizations are shaped not only by historical and institutional structures but also by individuals’ religious needs, value orientations, and processes of meaning-making. By introducing a psychological dimension into civilizational studies, this approach enables multi-layered and integrative analyses along the individual–society–civilization axis. In conclusion, the article systematically examines Ali Murat Daryal’s theoretical contributions to the psychology of religion and to the psychological foundations of civilization-building processes.
Keywords : Din psikolojisi, Medeniyet, Değerler, Psiko-tarih, Ali Murat Daryal

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