Introduction to the Special Section: Psychology of Indian Spirituality and Religion, Emerging Perspectives

This article introduces a special section on indigenous Indian religions, focusing on Hinduism, the world's third largest and oldest major religious tradition. Although Hinduism has been the focus of less empirical study in psychology than other major traditions, this comparative neglect appears to be changing. The present introductory article briefly sketches a few key features of Hindu tradition, suggesting both similarities and differences with Abrahamic traditions. We offer statistics on the comparative neglect of Hinduism, sketch emergent research trends and future possibilities, and introduce each of this section's three major empirical studies.