The Influence of Priests on the Political Attitudes of Roman Catholics

For years, scholars in religion and politics have worked under the assumption that clergy wield significant political influence with their congregations. Until recently, however, this assumption had gone largely uninvestigated and undemonstrated. This article helps correct this shortcoming by analyzing the Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life for evidence of priestly influence on the political attitudes of Catholic parishioners. Though the data indicate that Catholic priests do, indeed, appear to influence the political attitudes of their parishioners, the nature of this influence is more complex than previously demonstrated. Specifically, pastor ideology is the key predictor of both parishioners' issue positions and political ideology, and influence appears to be restricted to politically liberal pastors.     

A Three‐Pronged Approach for Overcoming Design Fixation

Earthquakes, lightning, and history‐changing ideas are classic examples of powerful, unpredictable forces of nature. These sorts of phenomena have been difficult to explain and predict, an often frustrating fact as humans try to understand and control the significant influences in our lives. Historically, such phenomena have been attributed to supernatural sources, such as the Muses or various deities. And yet, as scientific inquiry continues to focus on such problems, we begin to make progress, albeit incremental, in comprehending such unpredictable occurrences. Earthquakes and lightning serve as analogies for the phenomenon referred to as insight. As such, these analogies may help us better understand where ideas come from; in each case, the rare, and potentially powerful phenomenon occurs unexpectedly, yet, as we learn more, it becomes better understood. Lightning is an electrical phenomenon, caused by particles colliding, and building up large electrical fields in the clouds. Earthquakes occur at the edges of tectonic plates, as the Earth releases its heat. Thus, we may begin to understand what causes insight, even though we cannot as yet predict specific occurrences of new insights. Analogies may not provide fully developed solutions to problems, but they can help us restructure our thinking about certain problems. Problem restructuring is especially appropriate when fixation obstructs problem solving. In this paper, we will explain a few of the fundamentals about human insight experiences, particularly in relation to what have been termed incubation effects. Putting a fixated problem aside can be helpful, and new ideas encountered during fixation can sometimes trigger new insights, particularly if useful analogies help resolve fixation. How does one overcome the counterproductive effects of fixation? We suggest a three‐pronged approach to this problem: 1. Forgetting fixation, 2. Redefining problems, and 3. Using clues or hints to provoke new ideas. We will explain each of these ideas, in brief, after providing a background for insight, incubation, and fixation.     

The National Spiritual Transformation Study

The first nationally representative study of spiritual transformations documents that spiritual/religious change is a common and powerful experience in America. About half of all adult Americans report having had such an experience. Such change is strongly related to current religious beliefs and behaviors, but shows little relationship to most nonreligious demographics. A series of open-ended items indicates that the leading causes of spiritual/religious change are normal religious activity and having had a serious personal problem, most often an illness or accident to oneself or someone close or the death of someone close. A strengthening of faith is the most common consequence of this experience. This is followed by changes in character (e.g., being more understanding, helpful) and the stopping of perceived bad habits (e.g., drinking, partying). The lasting importance of such spiritual/religious change is also shown by closed-ended measures and the predictive power that the variable has in explaining various beliefs and behaviors even when controlling for other religious variables.