Earlier this year, BABLab staff attended the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Annual Convention 2026! We were so grateful to attend and present our research at the conference.

Here are some highlights from our team: 

BABLab PI Dr. Patty Van Cappellen and Post-Doctoral Associate in the
Dr. Megan Edwards of BABLab both presented at the “New Directions in Existential Psychology for the Religious and Nonreligious” symposium.

Dr. Van Capellen’s talk was titled ” Beyond Rainbows: Religious and Existential Dimensions of Hope.”
And Dr. Edwards’ talk was titled “Hope in the Dark: Hope More Strongly Predicts Meaning in Life Among Those Who Need It”

BABLab Lab Manager Jenna Faith McClear, M.T.S. & BABLab Lab Manager Camryn Yeager, B.A., both presented posters at the SPSP Main conference!

Camryn’s poster was titled “Campus Economic Inequality May Shape Feelings of ‘Falling Behind’ and Reduced Student Well-Being.”

Jenna’s Poster was titled “Immediate Emotional Benefits of Religious Service Attendance: Evidence From a Natural Experiment at Easter.”

Additionally, BABLab research assistant Jennifer Hu also presented her poster “What Makes Us Human?: Sociality as a Key Dimension of Mind Perception” at the first poster session of the main conference.

Finally, we were glad to catch up with all of the past BABLab alumni at the BABLab reunion dinner!

We had such an amazing time at SPSP ’26!