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!

We are beyond thrilled to share that an article written by our BABLab P.I. Patty Van Cappellen, PhD, and Postdoctoral Researcher Megan E. Edwards, has been featured on the International Society for the Study of Existential Psychology (ISSEP) website (read the article here!)

The article is titled “Where There is Hope There is Meaning” and expands on the idea that hope is a meaning-making emotion with great existential significance, as it helps us to persevere or take action during times in which we are suffering.

To demonstrate this, Megan and Patty highlight the history of the study of hope and highlight findings from both qualitative and quantitative studies of hope.

Congratulations, Megan and Patty, on this achievement!

We are so happy to announce that our lab manager, Jenna Faith McClear, M.T.S., has accepted her offer to work in Sarah Schnitker’s lab at Baylor University toward her Ph.D. in social and personality psychology.

She is excited to continue her interdisciplinary work in psychology, theology, and joy & human flourishing throughout her time there.

We will miss her, but we are incredibly proud and grateful for all the work she has contributed in her nearly 2 years as lab manager here. Jenna, we wish you the best of luck on your journey. Your Duke family will always be here, rooting for you!

We’ve landed in Chicago, IL!

This weekend, the BABLab team will be attending the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Annual Convention 2026

BABLab PI Dr. Patty Van Cappellen and Post-Doctoral Associate in the BABLab Dr. Megan Edwards are both presenting at the “New Directions in Existential Psychology for the Religious and Nonreligious” symposium on Friday, February 27th! 

Patty’s talk is titled “Beyond Rainbows: Religious and Existential Dimensions of Hope”, and Megan’s talk is titled “Hope in the Dark: Hope More Strongly Predicts Meaning in Life Among Those Who Need It.”

Additionally, more of our team joins us to present!

BABLab Lab Manager Jenna Faith McClear, M.T.S., will be presenting her poster “Immediate Emotional Benefits of Religious Service Attendance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment at Easter” at the Religion and Spirituality Preconference on Thursday, February 26th, and at the main conference on Friday, February 27th.

BABLab Lab Manager Camryn Yeager, B.A., will be presenting their poster “Campus Economic Inequality May Shape Feelings of ‘Falling Behind’ and Reduced Student Well-Being” at the main conference on Saturday, February 28th.

Finally, BABLab research assistant Jennifer Hu will be presenting her poster “What Makes Us Human?: Sociality as a Key Dimension of Mind Perception” at the first poster session of the main conference on Thursday, February 26th.

We are so proud of this amazing team! Best of luck this weekend.

Are you attending SPSP? Come say hi at our sessions or posters! We’d love to connect with fellow researchers.

We’re happy to announce a new publication from our very own Dr.Patty Van Cappellen!

Wilt, J. A., Van Tongeren, D. R., Van Cappellen, P., & Exline, J. J. (in press). Spirituality beyond religion: Development of 9-item and 27-item multidimensional measures of spiritual yearning. Journal of Personality Assessment.

“In this paper, we developed a new scale to assess spiritual yearning. Spiritual yearning captures a motivational state of longing: a perceived insufficiency and desire for meaning, connection, or transcendence.”

The 9 Things Nonreligious People Yearn For

The study looked at over 1,500 nonreligious adults and found that this “yearning” isn’t just one vague feeling. It actually breaks down into nine specific categories:

1. Moral Guidance

2. Divine Relationship

3. Afterlife Beliefs

4. Communal Belonging

5. Transcendent Interconnectedness

6. Inner Peace

7. Spiritual Experiences

8. Authentic Self-Discovery

9. Meaningful Legacy

Why This Matters

Dr. Van Cappellen, alongside other researchers, created two new scales (a short 9-item version and a detailed 27-item version) to help psychologists measure these feelings.

They found that people with high “Spiritual Yearning” scores often struggle with existential questions or “spiritual struggles.”  By identifying these yearnings, we can better understand how nonreligious people find meaning, cope with stress, and navigate their inner lives.

This past January 2026, Dr. Patty Van Cappellen was featured on David DeSteno’s How God Works Podcast on an episode titled “Mattering.”

We are excited to announce that Using Everyday Prayer to Test Functions of Gratitude in the Context of Religion (Van Cappellen, Bernal, & Algoe) has been accepted for publication in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin!

This study introduces a novel method for capturing the content of daily, naturalistic prayer: participants audio-recorded their prayers over two weeks, producing more than 1,100 spoken prayers that were later transcribed and analyzed. To quantify expressions of gratitude within these prayers, the team combined dictionary-based linguistic analysis (using LIWC) with AI-assisted text coding (GPT-4), allowing for both precise word-level measurement and deeper, context-sensitive interpretation of gratitude language. The study found that expressions of gratitude to God were common in daily prayers and that on days when individuals expressed more gratitude than usual, they also reported feeling closer to God and experiencing more positive spontaneous thoughts about prayer.

We’re proud that the Interdisciplinary Behavioral Research Center (IBRC) helped make this project possible by supporting participant recruitment. Check out the pre print of this paper here!

We’re excited to share that Dr. Patty Van Cappellen’s course, “The Science of Happiness,” was recently featured in Duke Mag. The article highlights how the class blends psychological research and practical exercises to help students explore what truly contributes to well-being. Through lectures, discussions, and evidence-based activities, students learn how scientific insights can be applied to cultivate meaning, gratitude, and joy in their daily lives. The feature also underscores Dr. Van Cappellen’s commitment to helping students connect rigorous academic research with personal growth. Read more about the class and its impact in the full article on Duke Mag’s website.