Distancing and approximations between Geography and Psychology in the study of religion: theoretical-methodological assumptions and possibilities of dialogue

Abstract

This article arises from the observation, in the analysis of studies in the Geography of Religion, of the inexistence of consistent approximations of the geographic science with Psychology in general and, more incisively, with the Psychology of Religion in particular. Our objective is twofold: to present the historical and theoretical-methodological conjunctures for the mismatch between these sciences in the study of religion and constructing theoretically how an approach with Psychology can enrich geographical reflections. To do this task, it’s necessary to highlight the common sieve through which both sciences can dialogue: through the religious experience that reciprocally resonates the spatial and psychic dynamics of the religious phenomenon. In this scope, we follow the phenomenological-existential perspective that outlines internal currents in both Psychology and Geography of Religion