Ers conclude that questions of spirituality needs to be excluded from this definition. This short article highlights the fundamental distinction of religion to other domains of posttraumatic growth mainly because religions are ideologies (and also other domains of development are certainly not). As ideologies, it truly is argued that religions can influence distinctive levels of identity in various ways. Based on testimonial evidence from Rwandan genocide survivors, the post demonstrates that though religious beliefs can bring existential comfort in the person level, they are able to also result in a state of false consciousness at the collective level. In Rwanda, the dominant religious ideology facilitated the spiritual and moral climate in which genocide became probable. Nowadays, religious interpretations of the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s (RPF) leadership supply spiritual backing to a government which has become increasingly authoritarian. Keywords: false consciousness; posttraumatic development; religion; RwandaThe notion that human suffering can bring about good change has received considerable attention in recent years (Calhoun Tedeschi, 2006; Joseph Linley, 2008; Weiss Burger, 2010). What exactly is now frequently known as “posttraumatic growth” would be the tendency of some men and women to develop new psychological constructs or make a brand new way of life following a traumatic occasion that may be experienced as superior to their preceding 1 in vital techniques. Research suggests that posttraumatic growth tends to manifest itself in domains which include self-perception (e.g., a greater sense of autonomy and self-reliance), interpersonal relationships (e.g., enhanced feelings of compassion or intimacy) and life philosophy (e.g., a new sense of which means, a greater appreciation for life or an elevated spiritual awareness) (Calhoun Tedeschi, 2006). The fact that growth is observed in these domains supports McAdams’ (1993) conceptualisation of identity which draws on Bakan’s (1966) theory of standard human motivations, highlighting the two basic drives of agency and communion. According to Bakan (1966), agency isEmail: caroline.williamsonnottingham.ac.uk2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor Francis. This can be an Open Access report. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original perform is properly attributed, cited, and is just not altered, transformed, or constructed upon in any way, is 
permitted. The moral rights from the named author(s) have been asserted.Mental Health, Religion Culturemanifested by way of self-protection, self-assertion and self-expansion, whilst communion is manifested through make contact with, openness and union. McAdams (1993) adds a third component to this motivational duality which he refers to because the “ideological setting” (p. 68), which defines a person’s understanding on the universe, the globe, society and God. Comparable to THS-044 chemical information JanoffBulman’s (1992) definition of “basic assumptions”, the ideological setting functions as a PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21337810 context for the superordinate themes of agency and communion within a person’s identity. Traumatic experiences can leave survivors feeling powerless, isolated and without the need of a sense of meaning, suggesting that trauma destabilises these basic drives of agency and communion, undermining their ideological belief program (i.e., their standard assumptions). Provided that posttraumatic development tends to manifest itself within the aforementioned domains (self-perception, interpersonal relationships and life philosophy), it would look that individuals who exp.