Join us for the launch of the Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture's 2014-15 Lecture Series on "Psychology and Religion" with a lecture by Daniel Sullivan of the UA Psychology Department.

People have always had a need to make sense of seemingly random suffering. Yet different groups of people have addressed this problem very differently. Drawing on the existential thought of Nietzsche and Tillich, Sullivan proposes that some groups of people primarily try to resolve the problem of suffering in a way that leaves intact their sense of personal control and self-esteem. Others prioritize the preservation of a rigid meaning system in the face of suffering. He will present evidence supporting these ideas from a case study investigating the beliefs of members of different minority religions. Specifically, survey responses will be compared between Unitarian Universalists and traditionalist Mennonites. The findings point to systematic variation in the way people from different religious backgrounds psychologically cope with the major trials of life.

This event is free and open to the public.