Abstract
The suggestion of Jacob Belzen that I contribute to a collection of autobiographies of outstanding psychologists of religion was a real surprise to me. This field has been, so to speak, the love of my late maturity only (I am really a late rider in this sense of the word!), and the amount of work I have managed to do here has been quite modest. And yet, on thinking it over, I accepted. Perhaps (as Jacob believes) my specific path towards as well as in the psychology of religion may be of particular interest to colleagues in the traditionally democratic countries where science, including the science of religion, has developed freely and without political or ideological restrictions. Perhaps my unique experience may reveal something substantial about my time, my country, and its spirituality or even about the psychology of religion in general. So, here is my story.
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- 1.
Actually called “Evangelická”, but the Czech language distinguishes between “evangelic”, which means a broad stream of Protestantism, and “evangelical”, which has the same meaning as in English.
- 2.
See Říčan and Janosova (2010). The reviewers were rather skeptical towards us newcomers and their comments actually suggested that the whole job should be done again. Nevertheless, Ray Paloutzian as editor-in-chief was more understanding and accepted a revised version. He even started asking us for reviews of new manuscripts, so now we feel really “in”!
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Selected Works of the Author, Not Referred to in This Autobiography
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Říčan, P. (2010). Spiritualita v centru struktury osobnosti [Spirituality in the center of personality structure]. In M. Blatny, M. Hrebickova, A. Plhakova, P. Říčan, A. Slezackova, & I. Stuchlikova (Eds.), Psychologie osobnosti [Psychology of personality] (pp. 225–238). Praha: Grada.
Říčan, P., & Janosova, J. (2004). Spiritualita českých vysokoškoláků: Faktorově analytická sonda [Spirituality of the Czech college students: A factor analytic probe]. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 48, 97–106.
Říčan, P., & Janosova, P. (2008). Eticko-spirituální aspekty zvládání vzteku u dospívajících chlapců a dívek [Ethico-spiritual aspects of coping with anger in adolescent boys and girls]. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 52, 105–118.
Říčan, P., & Kocourkova, J. (2008). Zaklad spirituality ve vztazích raného dětství: psychoanalytická perspektiva [The basis of spirituality in the relationships of early childhood: A psychoanalytic perspective]. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 52, 90–100.
Říčan, P. (2006). Detska klinicka psychologie a nabozenství [Child clinical psychology and religion]. In P. Říčan, D. Krejcirova, K. Balcar, J. Dittrichova, J. Kocourková, K. Nespor, et al. (Eds.), Detska klinicka psychologie [Child clinical psychology] (pp. 561–572). (Rev. ed.). Praha: Grada Publishing.
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Říčan, P. (2012). The Story of a Late Rider. In: Belzen, J. (eds) Psychology of Religion. Path in Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1602-9_10
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