Positive Effects of Religious Activities on Human Spirit and Moral

Abbas Rahiminejad said that as the ultimate goal of religion is guiding mankind towards perfection, psychologists are likewise seeking to find the corresponding rules for maintaining man’s mental health and developing his personality.

“It is true that the definition of social norms often depends on the dominant values in a given society; yet, what matters is viewing those values from scientific perspectives,” he went on to say.

“While man is considered an essentially aggressive creature in some ideologies or someone who is under the constant influence of their social and cultural milieu, the Islamic doctrine regards human being as naturally inclined to goodness and averse to evil, as well as a justice-seeking creature.”

“Of course, the effect of society and social teachings cannot be denied as, according to relevant Hadiths, they can influence man’s Divine nature in both positive and negative ways,” Mr. Rahiminejad further added.

Asked whether it is possible to adopt localized or social psychology so as to follow internalized cultural norms, he replied: “Psychology in any country should be based on its native culture. Each society can have its own type of psychology depending on its particular culture, and as religion is an essential part of every culture, social-cultural psychology should correspond to religious elements as well. Western psychology is rooted in western culture and uses westerners as research subjects. This limits its applications to the Iranians.”

“Considering the Perfect Man as a role model for human personality growth, that has been emphasized in the Islamic culture, can be of great help in this regard,” he further remarked, expressing hopes that Iranian psychologists, supported by the government, would follow the issue more scientifically.

Source: IQNA