ABSTRACT
The aim of this book is to explore whether and how a socialpsychological approach may further our understanding of religious motivation in Buddhism, primarily early Buddhism, that is Buddhism at the time when the Buddha or his direct disciples still lived. The basic questions that it seeks to answer are:
• Why did people choose to join the Buddha? • Why did they become monks or nuns? • Were there common themes in the religious motivation of the
early Buddhists? • Is it possible to illuminate these motivational themes by
applying the theoretical insights of social psychology?
