Article: Is Online Research Losing Its Edge? The Case for In-Person Research in the Age of AI

The landscape of research has been profoundly transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, propelling a mass transition to online research methodologies. However, the advent of sophisticated AI technologies capable of mimicking human responses has introduced new complexities, potentially undermining the authenticity of data collected through online surveys.

How can researchers best address this phenomenon in a growing digital age? What of the value of in-person research? Read Dr. Van Cappellen’s article, published by the Duke Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) here: The Case for In-Person Research in the Age of AI.

Research Opportunity! Bass Connections Project: What is Hope?

We are excited to announce an interdisciplinary Bass Connections Project Team for the 2024-2025 academic year!  Dr. Patty Van Cappellen will be serving as Team Leader alongside Dr. Erin Johnston for this project entitled, “What is Hope? Bridging the Gap between Experience and Research.”

In year-long Bass Connections project teams, faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students engage in collaborative research that explores complex societal issues. Duke students of all levels can apply! See the 2024-2025 Project Teams. Deadline for applications is February 12, 5p.m EST.

What is Hope?

Hope is a central concept not only to promoting resilience and flourishing, but also as a religious competency. Its scientific study is, however, surprisingly limited — existing conceptions range from too narrow to too broad. We aim to renew our understanding of hope through a deeper engagement with its lived experiences and existential roots.

This team will engage with the lived experience of hope as reported by practitioners and community members, including people of faith. Team members will expand the understanding of what hope is through semi-structured interviews to gather 30-60 personal stories of hope. A data repository will be created, containing rich qualitative data on experiences of hope from a diverse set of people representing different religious, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Student Opportunities:

  • The team will include 3 graduate students and 12 undergraduate students with interest and background in the social sciences.
  • Students will develop skills in project design and learn social science research methods, analytical skills, and critical evaluation.

Academic credit is available for Fall-Spring semesters.

Please see the Hope Project Team page for full details! See the 2024-2025 Project Teams call page to learn more about Bass Connections teams, FAQ, and the online application. We encourage all interested students to apply!

 

Research Feature Makes Most Popular ‘Greater Good’ Articles of 2023

In April 2023, Dr. Van Cappellen’s research on the embodiment of emotions was featured in an article by Jill Suttie for the Greater Good magazine: How Your Body Posture Communicates Feelings to Others. Greater Good is published by the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at the University of California, Berkeley, whose mission is to share the science of a meaningful life. We are excited to announce that this feature has made the Top 25 most-read and highly-rated articles of 2023 at Greater Good!

Check out our Embodiment page for more on our research about postures, emotion, and religion!

BABLab RA Cai Liu Wins Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research!

We are proud to announce that Cai, one of the BAB Lab’s current research assistants, has won the highest award for undergraduate researchers by the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience! The Jerome S. Bruner Award recognizes a senior-year Duke student for excellence in psychological research activities, intellectual curiosity, and future potential for scholarly activity. Congratulations on this honor, Cai!

More information here.

 

BABLab Receives Grant Funding to Investigate Lived Experiences of Hope!

Congratulations to Dr. Van Cappellen for being awarded with grant funding from the John Templeton Foundation! Dr. Van Cappellen serves as Principal Investigator on this grant ($259,979) titled “What is Hope? Bridging the Gap Between Lived Experience, Practice, and Research”, a three-year project beginning in September 2024 to March 2027.

Hope is an important human experience and a valuable resource for practitioners working with people facing adversity. Pioneering work by Snyder (1994, 2002) focuses on goal pursuit motives of hope; this project aims to further expand the psychological study of hope by engaging with lived experiences of practitioners and community members, including people of faith. To do so, “stories of hope” will be collected from people of varied religious and cultural backgrounds. In addition, an interdisciplinary scientific meeting (psychology, theology, nursing and medicine, other practitioners) will be held to co-construct an expanded definition of hope that is both phenomenologically-grounded and scientifically precise. This project will build foundational basis and provide the impetus for a renewed study of hope in psychology, one that sits more closely at the interface of healthcare, spiritual care, and lived experiences.

BABLab Receives Joint Grant Funding to Investigate the Spiritual Yearning of Those Who Left Religion!

Congratulations to Dr. Van Cappellen for receiving this grant funding from the John Templeton Foundation! In collaboration with Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren of Hope College (Principal Investigator), Dr. Julie Exline and Dr. Joshua Wilt of Case Western University (Co-Investigators), Dr. Van Cappellen serves as Co-Investigator on this grant ($509,623). It is titled “Spiritual yearning as a psychological construct: Associations with spiritual struggles and existential growth”, a three-year project spanning September 2023 to 2026.

Increasingly, more people are seeking transcendent and spiritual connection outside of traditional religion. Research should thus address how those not served by traditional religion – including religious dones, nones, and the spiritual but not religious – find meaning and address existential concerns. Here, spiritual yearning is defined as the motivation for deeper existential meaning and security through a connection with something greater than oneself. This yearning may manifest in a desire for belief in something greater, transcendent connection, moral guidance, or belonging to a broader community.  The co-presence of these motives, in the absence of religion as the answer, makes spiritual yearning unique compared to religious quest, search for meaning, and openness to experience. The aim is to collect data through 10 studies to (a) develop a reliable assessment of spiritual yearning that will permit the (b) clarification of the psychological nature of spiritual yearning, and (c) better understand of those who are underserved by traditional religion and situate the trajectory of such individuals over time. The proposed research will establish and catalyze an empirical science of spiritual yearning, breaking new ground in this frontier of spirituality, through strong collaborative relationships, presentations at national and international conferences, and publications in high-visibility outlets.

New Publication by Former BABLab Research Assistant!

Based on her honors thesis with advisor Dr. Van Cappellen during her undergraduate years at Duke University, Gwyn Reece has published her first paper!

Reece, G. A., Van Tongeren, D. R., & Van Cappellen, P. (In press). Eternal outgroups: Afterlife beliefs predict prejudice. Personality and Individual Differences, 214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2023.112352

Background

Both religious and nonreligious people hold beliefs about what happens after death. The eternal criteria embedded in afterlife beliefs – for example, what happens for the morally good versus the morally bad — may implicate intergroup attitudes and behavior in the present.

Objective

The set of 4 studies aimed to investigate whether and how afterlife beliefs have direct implications for real-life intergroup prejudice.

Results

In Study 1, religious afterlife beliefs were associated with more prejudice towards nonreligious people. In extension, Study 2 used nationally representative archival data and found that among religious people, specific beliefs in hell and heaven mediated the association between religiosity and prejudice towards atheists. In Study 3, religious afterlife beliefs continued to be associated with prejudice towards value-threatening outgroup members, even when controlling for religiosity. This was shown in a specific context in Study 4: Christians with exclusionary views of heaven expressed more prejudice towards atheists than those with inclusionary views.

Conclusion

Together, these studies show that both religious and secular afterlife beliefs relate to prejudice towards value-incongruent outgroup members, consistent with the group exclusionary hypothesis. Specific religious afterlife beliefs, such as hell or heaven, explain some of the association between religiosity and prejudice against ideologically dissimilar groups.

Recruiting for TWO positions!

More info and application here: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/24794

I am hiring for two full time lab manager-type positions at Duke University to work on grant-funded projects in the psychology of religion as well as to assist with managing the Duke Interdisciplinary Behavioral Research Center that I direct. The position is perfect for someone wanting to apply for grad school in the next couple of years. The lab manager will be involved in every part of the research process and have the opportunity to participate in conferences. My current projects revolve around religion and empathy, intergroup prejudice, and the psychology of hope.

For best consideration, apply by May 26. Start date between August 1st and September 1st.

Current and former BABLab members off to grad school!

This year was full of good grad school news for current and former BABLab members! All start in Fall 2023 and I look forward to a fun BABLab reunion next year at SPSP! I am very proud of these women whose talents will only shine further in grad school.

Amanda Bernal who is currently Lab Manager will (sadly!) leave the lab to go to the University of Arizona Social Psychology PhD Program under the supervision of Matthias Mehl. She is interested in researching the different relationships a person can have (romantic, familial, abstract (like with one’s God), and how language use can relate to the way people think, feel, and behave. She is also interested in examining these topics using novel methods (like the use of electronically activated recorders and ecological momentary assessments).

Abbie Clapp who was BABLab manager until recently will be doing a joint PhD in Social Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies at UW Madison in Dr. Sara Chadwick’s lab. She will be working on research topics related to sexuality and objectification from a feminist psychology perspective primarily using mixed methods.

Maria Naclerio who did her graduation with distinction with me at Duke (even got an award and publication out of it!) will go UCLA’s Social Psychology Ph.D. program to work with Dr. Naomi Eisenberger.

Kerry O’Brien who was my lab manager is going to the Basic & Applied Social Psychology Program at the CUNY Graduate Center and working with Dr. Catherine Good.