The challenge for the psychology of religion is essentially threefold: (1) to provide a thoroughgoing description of the objects of investigation, whether they be shared religious content (e.g., a tradition's ritual observances) or individual experiences, attitudes, or conduct; (2) to account in psychological terms for the rise of such phenomena, whether they be in individual lives; and (3) to clarify the outcomes—the fruits, as William James put it—of these phenomena, for individuals, and the larger society. These fruits may be both positive and negative.