Is Hindu worship just helicopter parenting?
Freud famously hypothesized that the Judeo-Christian God is a psychological projection of nagging parental issues. Thomas B. Ellis of Appalachian State University in North Carolina […]
Research News
Ominous moods may improve ritual performance
To the uninitiated, religious ritual seems like frivolous play-acting. Priests and acolytes follow obscure rules and manipulate symbolic objects, similar to team sports like soccer, […]
An ambitious theory of humility, compassion, and divine gratitude
Religiosity is correlated with many different psychological states and behaviors, such as empathy and generosity, or exclusivity and violence. However, the causal connections between belief, […]
BREAKING NEWS: Religious children don’t share stickers
Many people believe that religion teaches children to be just and moral. Even if adherents dispense with the unscientific dogma, there’s a lingering sense that […]
Empty nests and empty pews: Church affiliation declines after high school
Step into any church on Sunday morning and you’ll most likely find a congregation split into two distinct groups: parents with their children and cotton-topped […]
Woe unto the weird: Majorities tend to be spiteful
Bill Moyers once quipped, “Civilization is a thin veneer of agreeable behavior stretched across the passions of the human heart.” Among the most persistent of […]
How to win friends through music and religion
It’s your first semester. Campus is crawling with nameless strangers. Totally invisible, you scan the chattering chaos – in a lame attempt to seem undaunted, […]
God’s forgiveness makes you okay with your peccadillos
The anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC, is tucked deep within the brain behind the frontal lobe, and its job is to make sure that reality […]
Accepting mortality: How religious beliefs relieve death anxiety
One of Benjamin Franklin’s most memorable – and most true – lines is “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death […]
With God as your shepherd, you take more risks
Religious people aren’t risk-takers. Study after study has shown that if someone’s reminded about God or if someone’s more intrinsically religious, then they’re less likely […]