That's the Spirit
Joni Sasaki et al.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
Building on gene-environment interaction (G × E) research, this study examines how the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene interacts with a situational prime of religion to influence prosocial behavior. Some DRD4 variants tend to be more susceptible to environmental influences, whereas other variants are less susceptible. Thus, certain life environments may be associated with acts of prosociality for some DRD4 variants but not others. Given that religion can act as an environmental influence that increases prosocial behavior, environmental input in the form of religion priming may have G × E effects. Results showed that participants with DRD4 susceptibility variants were more prosocial when implicitly primed with religion than not primed with religion, whereas participants without DRD4 susceptibility variants were not impacted by priming. This research has implications for understanding why different people may behave prosocially for different reasons and also integrates G × E research with experimental psychology.
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Sabela Fondevila et al.
Social Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
Religious beliefs are both catchy and durable: They exhibit a high degree of adherence to our cognitive system, given their success of transmission and spreading throughout history. A prominent explanation for religion's cultural success comes from the "MCI hypothesis," according to which religious beliefs are both easy to recall and desirable to transmit because they are minimally counterintuitive (MCI). This hypothesis has been empirically tested at concept and narrative levels by recall measures. However, the neural correlates of MCI concepts remain poorly understood. We used the N400 component of the event-related brain potential as a measure of counterintuitiveness of violations comparing religious and non-religious sentences, both counterintuitive, when presented in isolation. Around 80% in either condition were core-knowledge violations. We found smaller N400 amplitudes for religious as compared to non-religious counterintuitive ideas, suggesting that religious ideas are less semantically anomalous. Moreover, behavioral measures revealed that religious ideas are not readily detected as unacceptable. Finally, systematic analyses of our materials, according to conceptual features proposed in cognitive models of religion, did not reveal any outstanding variable significantly contributing to these differences. Refinements of cognitive models of religion should elucidate which combination of factors renders an anomaly less counterintuitive and thus more suitable for recall and transmission.
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Bayesian analysis of the astrobiological implications of life's early emergence on Earth
David Spiegel & Edwin Turner
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Life arose on Earth sometime in the first few hundred million years after the young planet had cooled to the point that it could support water-based organisms on its surface. The early emergence of life on Earth has been taken as evidence that the probability of abiogenesis is high, if starting from young Earth-like conditions. We revisit this argument quantitatively in a Bayesian statistical framework. By constructing a simple model of the probability of abiogenesis, we calculate a Bayesian estimate of its posterior probability, given the data that life emerged fairly early in Earth's history and that, billions of years later, curious creatures noted this fact and considered its implications. We find that, given only this very limited empirical information, the choice of Bayesian prior for the abiogenesis probability parameter has a dominant influence on the computed posterior probability. Although terrestrial life's early emergence provides evidence that life might be abundant in the universe if early-Earth-like conditions are common, the evidence is inconclusive and indeed is consistent with an arbitrarily low intrinsic probability of abiogenesis for plausible uninformative priors. Finding a single case of life arising independently of our lineage (on Earth, elsewhere in the solar system, or on an extrasolar planet) would provide much stronger evidence that abiogenesis is not extremely rare in the universe.
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Grateful to God or just plain grateful? A comparison of religious and general gratitude
David Rosmarin et al.
Journal of Positive Psychology, September 2011, Pages 389-396
Abstract:
Psychological science has consistently highlighted links between gratitude and religion, however mediating pathways by which religion relates to gratitude remain ambiguous. Further, it is unclear whether religious gratitude (e.g., gratitude to God) is more related to well-being than general gratitude. To address these gaps, we assessed for both religious and general dimensions of gratitude alongside measures of religious commitment and mental/physical well-being in a diverse sample of n = 405 adult individuals. Consistent with previous research, gratitude was positively correlated with religious commitment (r = 0.45, p < 0.001). This relationship, however, was fully mediated by gratitude towards God. Using hierarchical linear regression, results further found that the interaction of religious commitment and religious gratitude added unique variance in predicting mental well-being, over and above general gratitude. This suggests that being grateful to God enhances the psychological benefits of gratitude in accordance with one's level of religious commitment.
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Benjamin Moulton & Darren Sherkat
Sociological Spectrum, January/February 2012, Pages 1-19
Abstract:
Both education and religious involvement provide beneficial resources that can positively impact health and mortality outcomes. However, it is unclear whether these important resources work in concert to influence mortality risk. Indeed, religious resources are often placed in opposition to secular knowledge, and this may limit the scope of the positive influence of religious factors on health outcomes. The present study relies on a large (N = 22,080), nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized U.S. adults (National Health Interview Survey-Cancer Risk Factor Supplement) administered in 1987 and linked to the National Death Index through 2006 to test this relationship. Cox proportional hazard estimates suggest that religious involvement has a negative impact on the risk of mortality for those who did not complete college. However, estimates show that religious participation increases the risk of mortality among those with the highest levels of educational attainment.
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Parental Religiosity, Religious Homogamy, and Young Children's Well-Being
Richard Petts
Sociology of Religion, Winter 2011, Pages 389-414
Abstract:
Using longitudinal data on fragile families, this study examines the relationships between parents' religiosity, religious homogamy, and young children's well-being, and whether these relationships vary by family structure. Results suggest that weekly service attendance by both parents is associated with lower externalizing problem behavior among young children. Results also suggest that being raised by a mother who believes that religion is important to family life is associated with higher well-being among young children raised by married parents. In contrast, having only one parent who believes religion is important to family life is associated with lower well-being among children raised in cohabiting or single-parent families. Moreover, having parents with strict religious beliefs is associated with increased internalizing problem behavior, but is also associated with a decrease in externalizing problem behavior for children raised by cohabiting parents. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the role of religion within fragile families, as well as the role that religion may play in early child development.
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Georgia Persons
Politics & Policy, December 2011, Pages 949-978
Abstract:
The Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) was one of the most high profile domestic policy initiatives of the G. W. Bush administration and a unique exercise in administrative policy making. This analysis of federal-level implementation examines the actions taken to operationalize the FBCI and to realize its goals of enabling faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) to provide social services with federal funding. Despite being labeled as social welfare policy, the FBCI was more a special-purpose procurement policy. As an administrative policy initiative, the FBCI succeeded in those areas subject to the greatest level of executive branch influence: administrative rule changes and federal agency spending. These actions made for a legacy of success in establishing a reformed federal procurement environment for FBCOs. However, the FBCI was less successful in substantially altering the position of small, new-entrant FBCOs in the competitive federal funding process relative to larger secular nonprofits.
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Religious Communities, Immigration, and Social Cohesion in Rural Areas: Evidence from England
Rhys Andrews
Rural Sociology, December 2011, Pages 535-561
Abstract:
Religious communities are important sources of bridging and bonding social capital that have varying implications for perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas. In particular, as well as cultivating cohesiveness more broadly, the bridging social capital associated within mainline religious communities may represent an especially important source of support for the social integration of new immigrant groups. Although the bonding social capital associated with evangelical communities is arguably less conducive to wider social cohesion, it may prompt outreach work by those communities, which can enhance immigrant integration. This article examines these assumptions by exploring the relationship between mainline and evangelical religious communities, immigration, and residents' perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas in England. I model the separate and combined effects of religious communities and economic in-migration on social cohesion using multivariate statistical techniques. The analysis suggests that mainline Protestant communities enhance social cohesion in rural England, while evangelical communities do not. The social integration of immigrants appears to be more likely where mainline Protestant and Catholic communities are strong, but is unaffected by the strength of evangelical ones.