Date of Award
1-1-2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
First Advisor
Daniel N. McIntosh, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Iris Mauss
Third Advisor
Bernard Spilka
Fourth Advisor
Sandra Dixon
Keywords
Meaning, Priming, Religion, Schema, Social support, Supernatural agency
Abstract
There is longstanding tension in the study of religion between those who believe religion can be reduced to general psychosocial processes and those who think that religion is somehow unique. One way to test these two possibilities is to compare religious versions of mechanisms to nonreligious versions. If religion is somehow unique, then the religious versions should explain variance in outcomes that the nonreligious versions do not. Three studies confirmed religion's independent predictive power. Exposure to a religious supernatural agent reduced cheating more than exposure to a nonreligious supernatural agent (Study 1), receiving religious social support during a stressful task reduced cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) more than receiving nonreligious social support (Study 2), and exposure to a religious meaning system increased charitable donations more than exposure to a nonreligious meaning system (Study 3). Further, individual differences in beliefs moderated these and other effects, indicating that religion warrants attention at multiple levels. These studies offer the first experimental evidence that religion cannot be fully understood through general psychosocial processes. The psychological study of religion has the potential to make unique contributions to our understanding of human cognition, behavior, and health.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
A. Taylor Newton
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
144 p.
Recommended Citation
Newton, A. Taylor, "Is Religion "Just" Supernatural Agency, Social Support, or Meaning?" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 893.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/893
Copyright date
2011
Discipline
Psychology, Religion