Over the last few decades the study of the concept of god (also image/representation) has become one of the main research areas of the psychology of religion. This issue has been approached from different psychological perspectives, including developmental psychology, object relations theory, cognitive psychology, attribution theory and attachment theory. The concept of god is a very complex psychological construct and many scholars have noted the limitation of its current measurement, which relied mostly on verbal measures: questionnaires, interviews, list of adjectives to describe gods, etc.
The Drawings of gods research, headed by Prof. Pierre-Yves Brandt, is a project developed in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Lausanne. The project aims to contribute to further understanding of the origin and development of the concept of god by using children’s drawings collected in different cultures and different religious traditions. Although the use of this method has been criticized, it has the potential to provide considerably more information on the way in which children conceptualize god. This more appropriate research tool offers the opportunity to undertake at the same time developmental and cross-cultural research, the lack of which has greatly limited advancements in the field.
Prof. Dr. Pierre-Yves Brandt, FTSR, University of Lausanne
Main publication
Videos
Video 1 : “Dessins de dieux: lorsque les enfants innovent !” (“When the children innovate”) Video by Brandt Pierre-Yves & the Team, published on Vimeo in 2017. 14 min. In French.
Video 2 : “Reproduction in drawings of gods” by Brandt Pierre-Yves and the Team, published on Vimeo in July 2007. 13 min. In English.
English 
French