Revisiting the Issue of Influential Sources in the Integration of Psychology and Theology: Are We There Yet?

Abstract

Building upon the work of Grimm et al. (2012), maturational trends in the most influential books and articles within the integration literature were identified across the time periods of 1985–1994, 1995–2004, and 2005–2010. The most frequently cited book chapters were also identified for the later two time periods. There was a significant increase in the frequency of citations for book chapters as well as an increase in forgiveness-related books. For the most influential articles, there was an increase in both theoretical and scale development articles. The vacillations in the proportion of empirical studies seem to be accounted for by the proportion of special issues in the Journal of Psychology and Theology. The low frequency of multiple-study articles is a weakness in the integration literature, suggesting limited programmatic research. Lastly, there has been no significant change in the balance of first authors who are affiliated with secular or religious institutions.