Özet:

Heritage and the impact of the environment on the development of a multi-dimensional being has been discussed for many years. These discussions have also been influenced by the development of human religion. In this context, a number of theories, such as behavioral, cognitive or stage theories, have emerged in order to better understand the nature of religious development.  These theories have also determined the direction of the study of religious development in a way. But many of these theories did not consider their religious development as a whole. This restricts the understanding of the religious development. Therefore, this article has two main objectives. First, the ecological theory, a model of human development proposed by Bronfenbrenner, which addresses human development as a whole with the environment and events in which the human development is experienced, is to bring our country to the literature of religious psychology. The second objective is to contribute to a better understanding of the psychological foundations of religious development by taking advantage of the theory. In this article, in which the quality research method was used, some quantitative study data related to the subject was also used. The article discussed the influence of the microsystems, mesosystems, ecosystems, macrosystems, and chronosystems on the religious development of each one that forms the ecological theory with its main lines. In the article, which has come to the conclusion that the approach to the phenomenon of religious development in ecological curriculum may be useful, a number of recommendations are also made for research on the subject. The human being is an existentially open entity to development. The discernment of human development is not a choice, but an obligation, except for some exceptions. Therefore, every individual must experience a process of development in which physiological, psychological and sociological conditions have entered into, unless he willingly ends his existence. Psychologists who are aware of this have given a separate importance to the fact of development. "Is it a legacy in human development or is the environment more effective?" The question is a result of the importance that psychologists have attributed to the development. The roots of these discussions, which are essentially related to human development, are based before the establishment of modern psychology. For example, the XVIII. From the century philosophers, Locke, XVII. From the century thinkers, Descartes rejected the idea that man came to the world equipped with all kinds of knowledge and abilities. Unlike Descartes, Locke claimed that all human knowledge is the source of experience. According to Locke, the newborn baby’s mind is “a empty paper=tabula rasa,” not only the normal information, but the source of God’s imagination is the experience.  This perspective on human development has naturally affected the problem of religious development. For example, Jung, seeking the foundation of religious belief outside the collective consciousness, referred to the hereditary foundations of religious belief in a sense. On the other hand, Pratt approached the problem of religious development on the basis of experience.  In general, religious development studies conducted on a more experimental basis have brought together a number of theoretical approaches. For example, Goldman has studied how religious development follows a journey from childhood to adolescence. It does not differ from the form and method of thought and the non-religious thought. Fowler has developed a theory of the evolution of faith that includes religious development, expressing that faith is not always religious in terms of content and context. However, in Turkey, some religious development models have been developed that bring a different perspective to the phenomenon of religious development. The three-stage religious development model developed by Karaca is one of these. According to this model, the process of human religious development is completed by passing through three stages: inner tendencies, awakening of religious interest and questioning, harmony and stability.  The need for the use of multi-dimensional approaches to understand a multi-dimensional being is undoubted fact. Therefore, it can be stated that the diversity of explanation models for the phenomenon of religious development referred to some above is a wealth. It is believed that looking at the phenomenon of religious development from the ecological theory developed by Bronfenbrenner will further increase the wealth of means to understand the phenomenon of religious development. In this context, the main objective of this article is to provide the ecological theory that is promoted by Bronfenbrenner and addresses individual development in a holistic way to the literature of our country’s religious psychology and to contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon of religious development in the theory context. In addition to the explanations and analyses in this article, the qualitative research method was used, but the data of the qualitative studies made, although not directly related to the subject, were also used. Bronfenbrenner’s proposed and better understood human development is the basic stage of the ecological theory, which represents a structure in which many systems runs on a row, from family to political and cultural systems. The microsystem that represents the layer of an individual in its surroundings represents the basic structure in which the individual lives and interacts with other people, while the home and school, school and workplace that includes the individual in the mesosystem development, etc. It contains connections between two or more microsystems or connections. The ecosystem, which is an extension of the mesosystem that covers both formal and informal structures and relationships, does not directly affect the individual; but it surrounds the individual by influencing the current arrangements in which the individual is present. The part of the theory that expresses the attitudes and ideologies of the culture in which the individual lives is the macrosystem. The last circle of the theory is chronosystemed. The chronosystem, which explains how socio-historical conditions, lifelong transitions and environmental events occur in an example, holds an important place in the history of individual development. Although the human Son is born with a willingness to believe, this situation alone is not enough for him to complete his religious development process in a healthy way. When considered in the context of ecological theory, the individual's religious development is primarily affected by the microsystems that are in contact with each other, such as family, school, associate groups, religious groups and play areas. However, the mesosystem, the ecosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem also directly or due to influence the individual’s religious development. But it should not be forgotten that the effects of these systems on religious development are always double-pole. In order to better understand the psychology of religious development in the context of the ecological theory, it is believed that the interim and long-term studies that will be done with different groups where the theory forming systems are effective will provide enlightening information on the subject. However, researchers who are going to work on religious development should be very careful when analyzing their relationship with the religious levels of variables such as gender, age, civil status, educational level, vocational groups and socio-economic level, which express the characteristics of the sample group and is used as an independent variable, especially in experimental studies. Although the effects of these variables on religious levels, the understanding of the effects of these variables on dependent variables, without taking into account the ecological theory, may be limited.

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