Self, Attitudes and Emotion Work: Western Social Psychology and Eastern Zen Buddhism Confront Each Other

"Astute observers havelong remarked that Buddhism (and Zen in particular) resembles social psychology in surprisingly many ways, and that the two share more than a few grounding concepts and ideas. Anson Shupe and Christopher Bradley have now laid out, in clear language, the parallels between these two traditions, one ancient and one most contemporary."---Tim Miller, Religious Studies, University of Kansas

During the past several years the mass media in the United States has been awash with reports of priestly pedophilia, ecclesiastical cover-up, and clerical intimidation or financial settlements intended to silence victims. Based on journalistic accounts, or scholarly research, it might be assumed that this is a recent phenomenon. Journalist reports began only within the past few years. Similarly, most sociologists of religion and particularly specialists in deviance and criminology did not reflect awareness of clerical misbehavior in their work. Despite this, Anson Shupe shows that clergy deviance, whether it is sexual or otherwise, is not merely a recent problem. It is as old as the church itself and is inevitably bound to recur due to the nature of religious groups.

It is widely acknowledged that the United States has always provided fertile ground for the growth of new religious movements and cults, but modern organized efforts to oppose and restrict them have been less well understood. In this work, Anson Shupe and Susan E. Darnell offer a groundbreaking analysis of the operations and motives of these oppositional groups, which they generally group under the umbrella term of the anticult movement. This study merges sociological concepts and social history to make unique sense of a heretofore relatively unexplored phenomenon.

This book is about how Western social psychology interfaces with an Eastern Zen Buddhist perspective. It is neither a purely Zen Buddhist critique of the former, nor is it merely a social psychological interpretation of Zen. Rather, it is an attempt to create common ground between each through the systematic comparison of certain shared fundamental concepts and ideas. Anglo-American social psychology is not much more than a century old despite having its roots in a broad philosophical tradition. Alternately, the Zen version of Buddhism can trace its historical origins to roughly 1,500 years ago in China. Even though the two arose at different times and at first glance appear stridently antithetical, the authors show that they share considerable areas of overlap.

The logic of Zen contemplates the consequences of the taken-for-granted tyranny created by personal memories and culture. These traits, common to every culture, include hubris, greeds, self-centeredness, distrust, prejudice, hatred, fear, anxiety, and violence. Social psychology leans more toward a "nurture" rather than "nature" explanation for behavior. Both areas of research are firmly rooted within the domain of sociological social psychology; the processes are also sometimes referred to as learning or conditioning.

Zen challenges in radical terms key assumptions of both sociology and psychology concerning individual identity, human nature, and human motivation. This stimulating volume will provoke new thoughts about an old tradition and a newer area of scholarly work.

Anson Shape is professor of sociology at the joint campus of Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne and is a member of the graduate faculty at both institutions. A prolific writer dealing with religious movements, clergy misconduct, violence, and inequality, he is the author of Agents of Discord and Rogue Clerics.
Christopher Bradley is an assistant professor of sociology at the joint campus of Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne. His primary research interests are in the social psychological areas of emotion, small group interaction, self-concept, and human motivation.