1) The study investigated whether religious worship that involves heightened emotional and physiological experiences promotes cooperative and generous behavior by functioning as a signal of commitment that generates trust.
2) In economic games testing generosity and trust, participants who engaged in charismatic worship (evangelical or Pentecostal) made higher initial offers, accepted lower offers, and returned more money than those in the control groups.
3) Levels of oxytocin, a hormone associated with social bonding, increased in participants after group activities and were correlated with more generous behavior, but did not differ significantly between experimental conditions.
A guide to understanding charitable giving and charitable bequest giving using neuroimaging with practical examples of applications to planned gift marketing
A guide to understanding charitable giving and charitable bequest giving using neuroimaging with practical examples of applications to planned gift marketing
A quick summary of the book, Inside the Mind of the Bequest Donor, reviewing results from neuroimaging and experimental psychology and how they impact planned gift marketing
Using a group identity manipulation we examine the role of social preferences in an experimental one-shot centipede game. Contrary to what social preference theory would predict, we find that players continue longer when playing with outgroup members. Our explanation rests on two observations: (i) players should only stop if they are sufficiently confident that their partner will stop at the next node, given the exponentially-increasing payoffs in the game, and (ii) players are more likely to have this degree of certainty if they are matched with someone from the same group, whom they view as similar to themselves and thus predictable. We find strong statistical support for this argument. We conclude that group identity not only impacts a player's utility function, as identified in earlier research, but also affects her reasoning about the partner's behavior.
Introduction to Moral Injury, Theory & PracticeJohn Gavazzi
This presentation outlines how humans beings are moral animals. Our morality is a function of biological, psychological, and evolutionary processes. Moral Injury refers to longstanding emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering related to an individual’s moral compass, conscience, or spiritual beliefs.
We review examples of moral injury and ways to work with moral injury in context of psychotherapy.
Stressful life events and religiousness predict struggles about religion and ...Nick Stauner
Religious and spiritual struggles arise in various forms and circumstances. The newly developed Religious and Spiritual Struggles (RSS) scale reveals a coherent, multidimensional structure in these domain-specific problems that applies to religious and nonreligious people alike. Thus new questions emerge. Do religious people struggle less with religion, or more? Struggles and stress seem likely to coincide, but might stressful life events give rise to fewer religious struggles among religious people? We tested this moderation hypothesis in a large sample of American undergraduates, who completed the RSS and measures of stressful life events, religious belief salience, and religious participation. Latent interaction factors for religiousness and stressful life events failed to predict additional variance in most RSS factors in a structural equation model using polychoric correlations, yielding no support for the moderation hypothesis. However, religiousness and stressful life events independently predicted higher scores on most factors of the RSS in most samples.
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or thatAbbyWhyte974
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or that of Someone You Love or Cared for (E.G., Family Member, Friend, Patient). Why was it Meaningful in that Situation?
Life has its dull and challenging moment that stretches humanity to take a step back and take a personal reflection driving one to a mindful, spiritual sensation. Spirituality gives people a feeling of hope, calmness, compassion, and gratitude. Spirituality can be achieved through prayer and meditation, among other culturally acceptable traditions (De Blot, 2011). In life, I have come across moments when my spiritualty was challenged, that of family and close friends and family. Back in 2017, my uncle was driving back from work late at night, but he was involved in a greasy road accident. The accident was fatal as he was taken to the hospital unconscious, and he remained in a coma state for over two weeks.
I come from a tight family where we keep close relations with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We have dinners and family gatherings, often with all present. My uncle's accident was a challenge to everyone, especially to his young family of two. As he lay in the hospital unconscious, our family comes together in prayer every Sunday afternoon in my auntie's house. We all wanted him to recover and go home someday. In silence and gathering, we turned to God in worship and prayers seeking hope and healing over my uncle. I consider this a time when our family spirituality was tested, but we never gave up, because we are a strong Christian family that believes in God's love, grace, and protection. We also believe that through prayer and a strong belief in God, my uncle recovered and went home.
2. What would you do if a Patient Asked You to Pray with them or Read the Bible or another Holy Book He/She Might Have at the Bedside?
According to De Blot (2011), spirituality and religion are two different things, but they both thrive on the existence of each. Unlike religion, spirituality is a personal affair that does not relies on groups of people's beliefs to thrive. As a spiritual’s person, I would be willing to read any scripture with a patient despite the difference in religions. I would never feel offended and show any kind of resistance because spirituality a sacred path that people seek purpose and meaning of self, others, and nature. If reading the scripture together with a Muslim patient gives them hope, which attributes to a quick recovery, then I will oblige.
3. There is Something Called Scripting, which is having Something Written and Memorized for Difficult Situations. Write a Prayer or Spiritual Message You Could Use in the in the above Situation. Explain why you chose those words.
"Dear God, thank you for a new day and breathe of life. As we cruise through the day, grant me a favor, safety, good health, and abundance of your love and blessing. Allow positivity and wisdom to follow through the day and protect my family and me from any form of evil. Grant ...
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or thatMartineMccracken314
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or that of Someone You Love or Cared for (E.G., Family Member, Friend, Patient). Why was it Meaningful in that Situation?
Life has its dull and challenging moment that stretches humanity to take a step back and take a personal reflection driving one to a mindful, spiritual sensation. Spirituality gives people a feeling of hope, calmness, compassion, and gratitude. Spirituality can be achieved through prayer and meditation, among other culturally acceptable traditions (De Blot, 2011). In life, I have come across moments when my spiritualty was challenged, that of family and close friends and family. Back in 2017, my uncle was driving back from work late at night, but he was involved in a greasy road accident. The accident was fatal as he was taken to the hospital unconscious, and he remained in a coma state for over two weeks.
I come from a tight family where we keep close relations with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We have dinners and family gatherings, often with all present. My uncle's accident was a challenge to everyone, especially to his young family of two. As he lay in the hospital unconscious, our family comes together in prayer every Sunday afternoon in my auntie's house. We all wanted him to recover and go home someday. In silence and gathering, we turned to God in worship and prayers seeking hope and healing over my uncle. I consider this a time when our family spirituality was tested, but we never gave up, because we are a strong Christian family that believes in God's love, grace, and protection. We also believe that through prayer and a strong belief in God, my uncle recovered and went home.
2. What would you do if a Patient Asked You to Pray with them or Read the Bible or another Holy Book He/She Might Have at the Bedside?
According to De Blot (2011), spirituality and religion are two different things, but they both thrive on the existence of each. Unlike religion, spirituality is a personal affair that does not relies on groups of people's beliefs to thrive. As a spiritual’s person, I would be willing to read any scripture with a patient despite the difference in religions. I would never feel offended and show any kind of resistance because spirituality a sacred path that people seek purpose and meaning of self, others, and nature. If reading the scripture together with a Muslim patient gives them hope, which attributes to a quick recovery, then I will oblige.
3. There is Something Called Scripting, which is having Something Written and Memorized for Difficult Situations. Write a Prayer or Spiritual Message You Could Use in the in the above Situation. Explain why you chose those words.
"Dear God, thank you for a new day and breathe of life. As we cruise through the day, grant me a favor, safety, good health, and abundance of your love and blessing. Allow positivity and wisdom to follow through the day and protect my family and me from any form of evil. Grant ...
Presentation by Lucy Jestin and Richelle Seales. Womens Health and Family Services, Be Well program. Presented at the Western Australian Mental Health Conference 2019.
Contemplative practice versus video game play associationsjgackenb
This is a paper presented at the 2016 Science of Consciousness conference in Tucson, AZ. Thanks to the students who have worked on this series of studies: Criag Guthrie, Dan Swanston, Hanna Stark, John Bown, and Cynthia Ma.
A quick summary of the book, Inside the Mind of the Bequest Donor, reviewing results from neuroimaging and experimental psychology and how they impact planned gift marketing
Using a group identity manipulation we examine the role of social preferences in an experimental one-shot centipede game. Contrary to what social preference theory would predict, we find that players continue longer when playing with outgroup members. Our explanation rests on two observations: (i) players should only stop if they are sufficiently confident that their partner will stop at the next node, given the exponentially-increasing payoffs in the game, and (ii) players are more likely to have this degree of certainty if they are matched with someone from the same group, whom they view as similar to themselves and thus predictable. We find strong statistical support for this argument. We conclude that group identity not only impacts a player's utility function, as identified in earlier research, but also affects her reasoning about the partner's behavior.
Introduction to Moral Injury, Theory & PracticeJohn Gavazzi
This presentation outlines how humans beings are moral animals. Our morality is a function of biological, psychological, and evolutionary processes. Moral Injury refers to longstanding emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering related to an individual’s moral compass, conscience, or spiritual beliefs.
We review examples of moral injury and ways to work with moral injury in context of psychotherapy.
Stressful life events and religiousness predict struggles about religion and ...Nick Stauner
Religious and spiritual struggles arise in various forms and circumstances. The newly developed Religious and Spiritual Struggles (RSS) scale reveals a coherent, multidimensional structure in these domain-specific problems that applies to religious and nonreligious people alike. Thus new questions emerge. Do religious people struggle less with religion, or more? Struggles and stress seem likely to coincide, but might stressful life events give rise to fewer religious struggles among religious people? We tested this moderation hypothesis in a large sample of American undergraduates, who completed the RSS and measures of stressful life events, religious belief salience, and religious participation. Latent interaction factors for religiousness and stressful life events failed to predict additional variance in most RSS factors in a structural equation model using polychoric correlations, yielding no support for the moderation hypothesis. However, religiousness and stressful life events independently predicted higher scores on most factors of the RSS in most samples.
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or thatAbbyWhyte974
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or that of Someone You Love or Cared for (E.G., Family Member, Friend, Patient). Why was it Meaningful in that Situation?
Life has its dull and challenging moment that stretches humanity to take a step back and take a personal reflection driving one to a mindful, spiritual sensation. Spirituality gives people a feeling of hope, calmness, compassion, and gratitude. Spirituality can be achieved through prayer and meditation, among other culturally acceptable traditions (De Blot, 2011). In life, I have come across moments when my spiritualty was challenged, that of family and close friends and family. Back in 2017, my uncle was driving back from work late at night, but he was involved in a greasy road accident. The accident was fatal as he was taken to the hospital unconscious, and he remained in a coma state for over two weeks.
I come from a tight family where we keep close relations with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We have dinners and family gatherings, often with all present. My uncle's accident was a challenge to everyone, especially to his young family of two. As he lay in the hospital unconscious, our family comes together in prayer every Sunday afternoon in my auntie's house. We all wanted him to recover and go home someday. In silence and gathering, we turned to God in worship and prayers seeking hope and healing over my uncle. I consider this a time when our family spirituality was tested, but we never gave up, because we are a strong Christian family that believes in God's love, grace, and protection. We also believe that through prayer and a strong belief in God, my uncle recovered and went home.
2. What would you do if a Patient Asked You to Pray with them or Read the Bible or another Holy Book He/She Might Have at the Bedside?
According to De Blot (2011), spirituality and religion are two different things, but they both thrive on the existence of each. Unlike religion, spirituality is a personal affair that does not relies on groups of people's beliefs to thrive. As a spiritual’s person, I would be willing to read any scripture with a patient despite the difference in religions. I would never feel offended and show any kind of resistance because spirituality a sacred path that people seek purpose and meaning of self, others, and nature. If reading the scripture together with a Muslim patient gives them hope, which attributes to a quick recovery, then I will oblige.
3. There is Something Called Scripting, which is having Something Written and Memorized for Difficult Situations. Write a Prayer or Spiritual Message You Could Use in the in the above Situation. Explain why you chose those words.
"Dear God, thank you for a new day and breathe of life. As we cruise through the day, grant me a favor, safety, good health, and abundance of your love and blessing. Allow positivity and wisdom to follow through the day and protect my family and me from any form of evil. Grant ...
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or thatMartineMccracken314
1. Describe a Time Spirituality was Important in your Life or that of Someone You Love or Cared for (E.G., Family Member, Friend, Patient). Why was it Meaningful in that Situation?
Life has its dull and challenging moment that stretches humanity to take a step back and take a personal reflection driving one to a mindful, spiritual sensation. Spirituality gives people a feeling of hope, calmness, compassion, and gratitude. Spirituality can be achieved through prayer and meditation, among other culturally acceptable traditions (De Blot, 2011). In life, I have come across moments when my spiritualty was challenged, that of family and close friends and family. Back in 2017, my uncle was driving back from work late at night, but he was involved in a greasy road accident. The accident was fatal as he was taken to the hospital unconscious, and he remained in a coma state for over two weeks.
I come from a tight family where we keep close relations with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We have dinners and family gatherings, often with all present. My uncle's accident was a challenge to everyone, especially to his young family of two. As he lay in the hospital unconscious, our family comes together in prayer every Sunday afternoon in my auntie's house. We all wanted him to recover and go home someday. In silence and gathering, we turned to God in worship and prayers seeking hope and healing over my uncle. I consider this a time when our family spirituality was tested, but we never gave up, because we are a strong Christian family that believes in God's love, grace, and protection. We also believe that through prayer and a strong belief in God, my uncle recovered and went home.
2. What would you do if a Patient Asked You to Pray with them or Read the Bible or another Holy Book He/She Might Have at the Bedside?
According to De Blot (2011), spirituality and religion are two different things, but they both thrive on the existence of each. Unlike religion, spirituality is a personal affair that does not relies on groups of people's beliefs to thrive. As a spiritual’s person, I would be willing to read any scripture with a patient despite the difference in religions. I would never feel offended and show any kind of resistance because spirituality a sacred path that people seek purpose and meaning of self, others, and nature. If reading the scripture together with a Muslim patient gives them hope, which attributes to a quick recovery, then I will oblige.
3. There is Something Called Scripting, which is having Something Written and Memorized for Difficult Situations. Write a Prayer or Spiritual Message You Could Use in the in the above Situation. Explain why you chose those words.
"Dear God, thank you for a new day and breathe of life. As we cruise through the day, grant me a favor, safety, good health, and abundance of your love and blessing. Allow positivity and wisdom to follow through the day and protect my family and me from any form of evil. Grant ...
Presentation by Lucy Jestin and Richelle Seales. Womens Health and Family Services, Be Well program. Presented at the Western Australian Mental Health Conference 2019.
Contemplative practice versus video game play associationsjgackenb
This is a paper presented at the 2016 Science of Consciousness conference in Tucson, AZ. Thanks to the students who have worked on this series of studies: Criag Guthrie, Dan Swanston, Hanna Stark, John Bown, and Cynthia Ma.
1. Religious Worship as Oxytocin-Mediated Signals of Cooperative Commitment
Myvy Ngo
Jeff Schloss & Hillary Lenfesty, Faculty Advisors
Department of Biology, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
Introduction
Methods
Methods (cont’d)
Results
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Longstanding sociological and emerging biological
theories of religious belief and ritual understand
them to be adaptations for human cooperation.
This study investigated the theory that religious
worship that may be attended by high degrees of
autonomic arousal promote cooperative
generosity and also function as signals of
commitment that generate trust.
In all games, participants in charismatic worship
gave higher initial offers, accepted lower offers,
and gave more in return (Figs. 1-3; 5). Amount of
offers across all subjects was positively correlated
with oxytocin change before and after group
activity (Fig. 4), however, levels of oxytocin change
did not significantly differ by experimental
conditions. Neither oxytocin nor the presence of
ecstatic/hard-to-fake displays (typical of
charismatic groups) were associated with in-
group/out-group differences in pro-social
behavior.These findings suggest that more
intensively experiential modes of religious
worship serve to overcome commitment barriers
to cooperation, but that pro-social behaviors
following ecstatic or hard-to-fake displays are not
uniquely mediated by oxytocin.Analysis of survey
data will further illuminate the emotional
cognitive aspects of how religious worship
contributes to pro-sociality within and across
social groups.
We would like to thank our participants, student research assistants,
Karina Guerra and Lucy Nava CPTs from SB Cottage Hospital, Dr.
Gregg Afman fromWestmont’s Kinesiology Department, and the
Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont University.
This project was graciously funded by the JohnTempleton Foundation
and the Issachar Foundation.
Figure 1. Mean initial offers in
U.S. dollars by Decision Maker 1
(DM1) to “in-group” and “out-
group” members by condition in
the Dictator Game. Error bars
represent standard errors.
Dictator Game: Offers
G
am
eFolk
Singing
EvangelicalW
orship
PentecostalW
orship
2
4
6
8
Amount($USD)
In-Group Offer
Out-Group Offer
Red or Blue
Sticker
Blood Draw #1
& “Before”
Surveys
Religious or
Nonreligious
Group
Exercise
Blood Draw #2
& “After”
Surveys
In/Out Group
Trust,
Generosity &
Altruism Tasks
Subjects were assigned ID numbers and color-
coded stickers upon arriving at the experiment
site.The two subject groups were then put into
separate rooms where they took surveys that
included but were not limited to: Inclusion of the
Self in Other1, Positive and Negative Affectivity
Survey “PANAS”2, Daily Spiritual Experiences
Survey3, and Autism Quotient4. Each subject had
approximately 12-24 mL of blood drawn before
participating in one of the four following
group activities: Charismatic or Evangelical worship,
folk singing, or a board game (control). Following
approximately 15 minutes of the selected activity,
the subjects completed more surveys and had the
same amount of blood drawn.Then, the subjects
went to a computer lab to make a series of
decisions regarding distribution of real money
(economic transfer experiments) to either members
of their own group (“in-group”) or members of the
other group (“out-group”) which aimed to measure
trusting, generous, and altruistic (generally pro-social
– behavior). These experiments were conducted via
Z-TREE (ZurichToolbox for Readymade Economic
Experiments) open-source software in the form of
theTrust, Dictator, and Ultimatum “games.”
During this time, the blood samples were kept cold
using crushed ice and then were centrifuged in a
Eppendorf 5702R for 12 minutes at 1.6 rpm and
4°C.After the cycle, the plasma layer of the two
blood sample tubes per subject was pipetted into
three 2 mL microtubes and stored at -80°C until
sent to the lab for assay of levels of free oxytocin.
Figure 2. Mean initial offers by
Decision Maker 1 (DM1) in U.S.
dollars to “in-group” and “out-
group” members by condition in
the Trust Game. Error bars
represent standard errors.
Trust Game: Initial Offers
G
am
eFolk
Singing
EvangelicalW
orship
PentecostalW
orship
6
7
8
9
10
Amount($USD)
In-Group Offer
Out-Group Offer
Results (cont’d)
Trust Game: % of Total Returned
(Total = Amt. Received + Initial $10)
G
am
e
Folk
Singing
EvangelicalW
orship
PentecostalW
orship
20
30
40
50
60
70
PercentReturned
In-Group
Out-Group
Figure 3. Percent of total
holding returned by Decision
Maker 2 (DM2) to Decision
Maker 1 (DM1) by condition
in the Trust Game. Error bars
represent standard errors.
In Group Return in Trust Game
vs. OT Change
-1000 -500 0 500 1000 1500
0
50
100
150
200
Normalized OT Change
(% Assay Avg)
In-GroupReturninTrustGame
(%ofOfferReceived)
Y = 0.02154*X + 50.44
R2
= 0.040
p = .0064
Figure 4. Regression of
Normalized OT Change to
In-Group Return as (DM2) in
the Trust Game.
Participants
Approximately 250 college-age subjects
participated in non-religious group activities,
evangelical worship, and charismatic worship.
0 5 10
0
20
40
60
Amount Received ($USD)
PercentTotalReturned
Group Game
Y = 2.657*X + 11.06
R2= 0.245
p < 0.0001
0 5 10
0
20
40
60
Amount Received ($USD)
PercentTotalReturned
Folk Singing
Y = 2.052*X + 16.07
R2= 0.1238
p = 0.0039
0 5 10
0
20
40
60
Amount Received ($USD)
PercentTotalReturned
Worship (Evangelical)
Y = 3.056*X + 7.050
R2= 0.162
p = 0.0005
0 5 10
0
50
100
Amount Received ($USD)
PercentTotalReturned
Worship (Pentecostal)
Y = 0.8010*X + 44.72
R2= 0.007
p = 0.677
Figure 5. Regressions of Amount Received (as DM1) to
Percent of Total holdings returned (as DM2) in the Trust
Game.
References
1.Aron,A.,Aron E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the
self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
2.Watson, D., Clark, L.A., &Tellegen,A. (1988). Development and
validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS
scales. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(6), 1063.
3. Underwood, L. G. &Teresi, J. (2002).The Daily Spiritual Experience
Scale: Development, theoretical description, reliability, exploratory
factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health related
data.Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 22-33.
4. Baron-Cohen, S.,Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E..
(2001). “The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): evidence from
Asperger Syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females,
scientists and mathematicians.” Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 31, 5-17.