Hjalmar Sunden

Hjalmar Sunden (1908-1993) was a Swedish psychologist, known for his contributions to the psychology of religion and for his development of "role theory". This states that as people learn from sacred texts, they identify with certain roles in these texts, so that they may begin to ordinary experience as a religious experience. Sunden studied in Paris, where he interviewed the French philosopher Henri Bergson.Bergson's philosophy of religion was to become the subject of Sunden's doctorate, after he had studied theology at the University of Uppsala (he received his doctorate in 1940). After receiving his doctorate, Sunden, unable to obtain a university post for some time,taught psychology and religion at various schools in the Stockholm region, In 1959, Sunden published details of his role theory in "Religionen Och Rollen". This book helped Sunden to obtain a univeristy chair, and Sunden was the first person to occupy a Chair in the Psychology of Religion at the University of Uppsala, indeed, the first person to hold such a post in any Nordic country. This chair was later held by Owe Wikstrom.

Sunden's role theory as applied to mystical experience is discussed by Wulff (2000). Wulff notes a study by Lars (1987), in which people were undergoing Zen training were more likely to report a mystical experience if they had a religious frame of reference. Wulff also notes criticisms of Sunden's role theory, noting how it fails to explain how mystical experience arises in the first place.

In 1987, the "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion" launched a special issue on Sunden's role theory. An account of his work in the English language was prepared by his Finnish supporters, Holm and Belzen (1995). His role theory may be considered a social constructivist approach to religious experience, in contrast to the perennial psychology of Robert K.C. Forman.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Holm, N.G. & Belzen, J.A. (1995). Sunden's Role Theory: Impetus to Contemporary Psychology of Religion. Abo: Abo Akademi.

Wulff, D. (2000). Mystical Experience. In Cardena, E., Lynn, S.J. & Krippner, S. (eds.). Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. pp397ff.ISBN: 1557986258

See also:

The special edition of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 26 (number 3) for 1987, which includes articles on Sunden's theory by people such as Kallstadt, Holm and Wikstrom.

External links: The website of Division 36 of the American Psychological Association includes information on Sunden.