A “Classic” Revisited: Students' Immediate and Delayed Evaluations of a Warm/Cold Instructor

Solomon Asch's classic (1946) warm/cold research was replicated in this study with introductory psychology professors, using students' evaluations of teaching (SET) as dependent variables. Students completed attributed course evaluation forms three times: (a) after receiving fabricated warm or 'cold" information but before seeing the instructor; (b) after a 30–minute exposure to the instructor in an introductory lecture; and (c) at the end of the semester. In the first administration, strong warm/cold differences were found for the social components of SET, and warm instructors were also judged as more lenient. In the larger courses of Instructor B (but not in the smaller courses of Instructor A), the cold instructor was judged higher than the warm one in academic components of SET. In the second administration, following a 30–minute exposure to the instructor, students' judgments changed considerably, most warm/cold effects disappeared, and, unlike the common reports in the literature, we found only a moderate level of perseverance. In the third administration, all warm/cold differences practically disappeared, with no evidence of prolonged perseverance. These findings were interpreted as demonstrating students' flexibility in accommodating their judgments to the accumulating real-life information. It was argued that although cognitive factors determine a certain level of perseverance (especially in a short exposure), motivational factors and cognitive style play a major role in determining whether initial judgments will persevere or not. Students' personal beliefs in human changeability were found related to their actual change in judgment, incremental theorists (those believing in changeability) showing more change than entity theorists (those believing in fixed, unchangeable traits). Thus, perseverance of judgments is also related to systematic individual differences in students' cognitive style.     

Constructing 'God': a Contemporary Interpretation of Religion

To discuss the rationality of religious beliefs of the meaning of those beliefs must be made intelligible, sometimes to those who do not share our presuppositions. Is it possible to explain the meaning of such basic concepts as ‘Religion’, and ‘God’ without presupposing other religious concepts? The present paper is an attempt at such a radical interpretation of religion. This is done by wedding a full‐fledged constructivist epistemology with insights from the mystical traditions of the East and the West. How such an epistemology can account for both the unity and plurality of religions is also indicated. In the process I give not only a new interpretation of ‘God’ but also suggest the reasons for the failure of the “proofs” for the existence of God. Thus, a new way is opened up for discussing the rationality of religious beliefs.     

Lao buddhism,mental health,and contemporary implications

Summary In the absence of mental health workers, the people of Laos effectively support one another through crises and role changes. They accomplish this by employing social institutions and traditions that have been present in their culture from antiquity. Central to these traditional social resources are religious ritual (especially thebaci), community elders, and homecentered religious activities involving the extended family, neighbors, and friends.We in the Western world can learn from Lao Buddhism. As mental health workers have displaced religious leaders, our standards for behavior have moved from what is right toward what is done. Life-change events have increased in our lives, butrites de passage have atrophied. At times of crisis, neighbors, relatives, friends, and clergy often fail to lend support when it is most needed.Religion can and should contribute to the mental health of a people. It cannot accomplish this by larger churches, more elaborate theology, or an isolated clergy. Instead, simple home-centered ritual, conducted by leaders whom participants know and with whom they can identify, should be adapted to the crises and role shifts in our lives today.with current clinical assignment as Director of Acute Inpatient Service and Outpatient Evaluation in the University's Day Hospital. In 1965–67, he served as Deputy Chief, Division of Public Health, Agency for International Development, Laos. He has written a number of articles on anthropology relating to the Meo of Laos and the Chippewa of Minnesota, drug abuse, and other psychosocial, medical, and public health topics.     

The religious context of prejudice

Conclusion It is clear that these investigations, still in progress, tend to confirm demographic and sociological studies that we have also reviewed. Further, I believe they are compatible with our theological analysis, since it is clear that communal and extrinsic religion can draw strong support from the doctrines of revelation, election, and theocracy, which, as we have seen, provide the theological context of prejudice, so far as such exists.We can hope that this convergence of theological, sociological, and psychological analyses will lead to a further cooperation between behavioral and religious disciplines. We can also hope that our findings, when understood by clergy and laity, may lead to a decrease in bigotry and to an enhancement of charity in modern religious life.If I were asked what practical applications ensue from this analysis I would, of course, say that to reduce prejudice we need to enlarge the population of intrinsically religious people. There is no simple formula, for each personality is unique, and is stubbornly resistant to change. Yet precisely here lies the pastor's task, his opportunity, and his challenge.This article appeared in the Fall, 1966 issue of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and is reprinted by permission.     

A Study of Church Members During Times of Crisis

The purpose of the current study was to understand what church members experience during a situational crisis and identify the resources of social support that are helpful for them. By identifying the degree to which personal religious beliefs and participation in a particular congregation help people in crisis, this study sought to provide a foundation from which religious as well as mental health professionals can understand the psychological benefits of religious involvement. For the purposes of this research the investigators developed the Crisis Appraisal and Coping Interview Protocol. The research team collected interview data from 26 members of one Southern Baptist congregation within two weeks of a crisis event. Qualitative analysis identified several key themes that appeared which are discussed.     

Religious propositional attitudes and underdetermination of public representation: Commentary on Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods

The commentary addresses a specific aspect of Norenzayan's work: the use of the notion of credible display as developed by J. Henrich (“The Evolution of Costly Displays, Cooperation and Religion: Credibility Enhancing Displays and their Implications for Cultural Evolution,” Evolution and Human Behavior 30 [4] 2009: 244–260) to make sense of typical (extravagant) religious behaviors. Norenzayan ascribes an essential role to those displays in the diffusion of religious beliefs. The authors maintain that to use the concept of CRED is not appropriate given the typical natures of religious beliefs and behaviors. Contrary to Norenzayan's essential claim in Big Gods, they defend the hypothesis that audiences have no indubitable way of inferring from religious actions the religious beliefs of performing agents. It is essentially explained by the fact that there does not exist any necessary link between proclaimed religious beliefs and observable religious behaviors. Religious behaviors are public representations, generally more or less rigidly stipulated, hence they typically have more to do with social coordination than with genuine expression of performers' religious propositional attitudes, that is, they do not require genuine religious beliefs. Furthermore, as there is no guarantee or necessity that the religious behavior be systematically associated to true beliefs, such behaviors are eminently recruitable for individual aims and ends (social gains, status enhancement), which might partly explain why they get maintained in various cultural traditions.     

Hindu Counselling in the Netherlands

Increasing participation of Muslims and Hindus in church-state relations in the Netherlands is bringing about a slow change in the different cultural and historical backgrounds of non-indigenous religious traditions and in their self-esteem and religious attitudes. We may call this participation, and especially the changes it causes, a good example of Systemzwang, the systematic power of the dominant but historically grown social and cultural order in which newcomers are expected to fit. This process of external influence will be demonstrated by the example of the development of the traditional Hindu priest, the pandit, to a modern professional pastoral or Hindu-spiritual counsellor and by the mutual-learning process of the religiously different pastoral professionals in the semi-governmental service organizations.     

Who are We? Where Did We Come From? How Religious Identity Divides and Damns Us All

Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, now established, is the only workable explanation we have for the remarkable fact of our own existence, the vast diversity of plant and animal life, the compelling illusion of design in nature, and the architecture of the human mind. We are risen apes, not fallen angels. Our different races and ethnicities hide an essential truth: we are all Africans, all siblings, all descendants of a small group of hunter-gatherers who arose in Africa less than 200,000 years ago and conquered the world. There is one universal human nature stemming from our long history as Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. We now know why religion appeared, why particular religious ideas emerged, why they are widespread, why they are recurrent features of human minds and human societies, why they are attractive to human minds, and how and why they are related to survival and deadly violence. What makes us human can also make us religious. Religion is a by-product of cognitive mechanisms that evolved, through natural selection, for other adaptive purposes that were crucial for our survival and reproductive success. Religion's power derives from its ability to utilize these mental mechanisms designed for other tasks: our attachment to parental figures, our wish for help in distress, submission to authority, our sensitivity to hierarchies, our love of kin, and our inclination to see human-like intention as the explanation for any unknown. All individuals are vulnerable to religious beliefs and assuming a religious identity. Religious identity is an accident of geographical birth, is certainly one of the most prevalent identities, and the most at odds with the reality of who we are. It remains one of the most destructive identities we can assume. As long as we tolerate the divisive pretensions of religious beliefs and identities, especially those of the three great Abrahamic faiths, we will all remain in the line of fire.     

Religious Resources or Differential Returns? Early Religious Socialization and Declining Attendance in Emerging Adulthood

The transition from adolescence into emerging adulthood is usually accompanied by a decline in religious participation. This article examines why such decline occurs at different rates across major Christian traditions and whether this variation can be explained by early socialization factors. Using data from waves 1 and 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 1,879), I examine the effects of parental religiosity, church support, religious education, and youth group involvement on the decline in attendance five years later. Results show that these socialization processes adequately explain why attendance declines at different rates across religious traditions. However, these socialization factors do not have the same effect across traditions and often yield differential returns for attendance outcomes. These findings also suggest that comparisons across religious traditions can resolve the “channeling hypothesis” debate about whether parental influence on an offspring's future religiosity is primarily direct or indirect.     

Religious aspects of bereavement

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the role of religious beliefs and practices in bereavement. Subjects were 312 adults each bereaved approximately one year. They were interviewed at the rate of about 50 per year over a 6 year period. Conclusions include: a) The opportunity to say goodbye to the deceased was significantly related to positive coping and outlook; (b) 47% of our subjects reported contact with the deceased following the death but such contact was not related to coping or outlook; c) grieving people are much more likely to turn to women than men for help; d) 77% said their religious beliefs were of considerable help in their grief.     

Historical overview of child discipline in the United States: Implications for mental health clinicians and researchers

Discipline of children is a major topic of concern in our society. This paper places discipline in a historical perspective by briefly tracing disciplinary practices from the 1600s to the present day in the United States. Four primary trends are then delineated. These include the following: movement from strict discipline to lax discipline to mixed messages concerning discipline; determinants of discipline changing from Puritan religious beliefs to experts in fields such as psychology; the increasing role of legislative efforts focusing on children's rights; and the changing role of fathers in childrearing in general and discipline in particular. Viewed against such a historical account, implications for mental health professionals in shaping disciplinary practices are offered. These include generating data to provide needed answers and assuming an active role in setting policy.     

Feminist perspectives on pastoral care: Implications for practice and theory

The article explores the debilitating consequences of patriarchal structures for women's experience and sense of self. Drawing on Nelle Morton's metaphor of hearing into speech, the article suggests constructive implications of feminist thought for pastoral care and counseling with women and men. Issues such as ethics and relationality, love and power, sexuality and spirituality are addressed.     

Rules We Live by: How Religious Beliefs Relate to Compliance with Precautionary Measures Against COVID-19 in Tibetan Buddhists

Journal of Religion and Health - The present studies investigated how particular religious beliefs shape compliance with preventive measures in adherents of Gelug and Nyingma schools of Tibetan...     

Recovering the Lost: Remeasuring U.S. Religious Affiliation

Over the past several decades, survey research has found a growing percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation. In this article, we introduce a modified religious traditions (RELTRAD) typology to measure religious affiliation. The approach benefits from a more detailed data collection and coding scheme of religious tradition based upon religious family, denomination, and congregation. Using new national survey data from the Baylor Religion Survey, we find: (1) improvement to survey design and measurement makes it possible to accurately locate more Americans within established religious traditions; (2) Americans remain connected to congregations, but less so to denominations or more generic religious identity labels; and (3) religious adherents are considerably more evangelical than prior studies have found. Finally, we consider how affiliation as a form of religious belonging relates to religious beliefs and behaviors.     

Underestimating Youth's Commitment to Schools and Society: Toward a More Differentiated View

Many media reports contend that American youth are dangerous, self-possessed, and care too little about their personal education or the broader society. Not only are youth criticized, but their teachers and schools are subjected to exaggerated criticism. We argue that the average, undifferentiated view of youth as presented by the media is inaccurate and pejorative. Researchers have added to the chorus of unfounded negative assertions about youth and their schools. As an example, Laurence Steinberg, in Beyond the Classroom, argued that American students' levels of academic achievement were woefully inadequate. He argued that students did not do enough homework, that they cheated, and that pervasive, negative peer pressure undermined academic achievement. The purpose of our study was to examine students' attitudes and perceptions in three major areas – cheating, homework, and peer pressure. Using data from over 700 students drawn from one public high school and one junior high school, our results indicated that students' beliefs and norms concerning cheating, homework, and peer pressure varied widely in terms of gender, GPA, and school context. Our data failed to replicate the findings from Beyond in that (a) our average findings were more positive than those reported in that study, and (b) we showed that the reporting of average was highly misleading. Our findings provided evidence that one cannot describe American students in a general, sweeping way. Average statements about youth, especially adolescent youth, are apt to be very misleading.     

Should Physicians Discuss Spiritual Concerns with Patients?

The February, 1999 issue of The Lancet, a distinguished medical journal with worldwide circulation, contained an article titled, Religion, Spirituality, and Medicine. It has received much attention. In one section of the article, the authors present three arguments against the popular opinion that physicians should give more professional attention to the religious and spiritual concerns of their patients. After briefly summarizing the article's material, I both endorse their position against physician discussion of religious materials with patients and provide three supplementary arguments. I argue that the popular notion that physicians should discuss religious materials with patients does not take adequate account of 1) the religious diversity among patients or 2) the lack of training and skills possessed by physicians. Additionally, it is inappropriate to recommend the involvement of religion or attention to spiritual concerns for health benefits.     

“We're Fighting Two Different Battles Here”: An Exploration of African American Women's Definitions of Self at Predominately White Schools

Using Black feminist thought and the sociocultural model of the self, this paper explores the relationship between race and gender in the self-definitions of African American women attending predominately white colleges and universities. The African American women who participated in the study, suggest that knowledge generated about the self pushes us beyond the categorical thinking that limits our ability to understand the complexity of the self. Data from 13 interviews conducted at two predominately white schools is presented and analyzed. Using this data, I present a way of thinking about the identity of African American women that demonstrates the complexity of defining self within the narrow confines of race and gender.     

Religious Parties, Religious Political Identity, and the Cold Shoulder of Liberal Democratic Thought

Elements of the relation between religion and politics are standard themes in political theory: toleration and free exercise rights; the parameters of separation of church and state; arguments for and against constraints imposed on religious discourse by philosophic norms of public reason. But religious parties and partisanship are no part of political theory, despite contemporary interest in value pluralism and in liberal democratic theory's capacity to address multicultural, religious, and ethnic group claims. This essay argues that religious parties are missing elements in discussions of identity politics. They play an important role not just in expressing but also in constructing and mobilizing religious political identity. Political activity linked to parties is a principal way of bringing diffuse, politically unorganized groups, whose leaders are self-appointed and not regularly accountable for the way they represent co-religionists in political life, into the democratic mainstream. With political organization and especially partisanship, the fact of pluralism is made concrete for democratic purposes.     

Surgeons and the Spirit: A Study on the Relationship of Religiosity to Clinical Practice

This study aimed to identify the religious practices and beliefs of surgeons and the relationship between surgeons locus of control and religiosity. Thirty-five surgeons completed a survey that included items from the Duke University Religion Index, the Salesian Center Intrinsic Religiosity Scale for Clinicians, and Rotters Locus of Control Scale. Over 68% of sampled surgeons affirmed that their religious beliefs play a part in their practice, 47% attend religious services at least weekly, and 44% pray daily. There was no correlation between locus of control and religiosity. These results challenge the myth of the egocentric, agnostic surgeon.     

Should Religious Naturalists Promote a Naturalistic Religion?

Religious naturalism refers here to a view of reality, and it will be contrasted with versions of supernaturalism and of atheistic naturalism. Naturalistic religion refers to certain varieties of religion, especially some inspired by the universality of science and the need for a global ethics. In this essay I explicate why a religious naturalist need not advocate a naturalistic religion. Rather, a religious naturalist can build upon the heritage of religious traditions and be open to, but at the same time be agnostic about, the idea of a nonnatural ground of reality . The religious naturalism I defend has been criticized from various directions: one reviewer in this journal considered it too much indebted to the traditions, and hence "reactionary" and supernaturalistic; another considered it too minimalist in its religion ("virtually nonexistent") as a consequence of the preference for a too sober version of naturalism. My distinction between religious naturalism and naturalistic religion may answer some of these objections.