We are super proud that Megan will start her Ph.D. journey this Fall in the Psychology Department of the University of Missouri under the co-supervision of Dr. Jamie Arndt and Dr. Laura King. She will study questions related to meaning in life during difficult life events, hope, and well-being. Academia, watch out for this bright student!
New Publication
Łowicki, P., Zajenkowski, M., & Van Cappellen, P. (in press). It’s the heart that matters: The relationships among cognitive mentalizing ability, emotional empathy, and religiosity. Personality and Individual Differences, 161, 109976.
Exciting new research on empathy and religion conducted by our visiting scholar, Paweł, in collaboration with Dr. Van Cappellen will soon be published on the Personality and Individual Differences journal!
Check out the work in advance here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920301653
SPSP 2020
Please join us at the 2020 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Convention in New Orleans, LA. BAB Lab will be presenting five posters at the Convention and the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Preconference. Here are the contents and times of our presentations:
SPSP Convention (Friday, Feb 28 and Saturday, Feb 29)
Friday, Feb 28, 1:30-2:30pm
Shaken to the core: A naturalistic study of awe’s effects on values, meaning, and religiosity.
Edwards, M. E., Perlin J. D., & Van Cappellen, P.
Saturday, Feb 29, 9:15 – 10:15am
Shades of expansiveness: Full-body expressions of joy, awe, hope, and dominance.
Van Cappellen, P., Edwards, M., & Shiota, M.
Religion and Spirituality Preconference (Thursday, Feb 27, 8:00am – 4:30pm)
Prayer postures associations with religious experience among Muslims, Christians, and Hindus.
Edwards, M. E., & Van Cappellen, P.
Examining the religious functions of awe through group cohesion and self-sacrifice.
Naclerio, M. & Van Cappellen, P.
The interdependence between prayer posture and religious mindset.
Zhang, R., & Van Cappellen, P.
Maria Receives Jerome S. Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research!
Congratulations to Maria, the recipient of the 2019-2020 Jerome S. Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research!
Maria has been conducting research at the BAB lab since Fall 2019. Currently, she is writing her honors thesis on awe with Dr. Van Cappellen.
For more information about her award-winning thesis project, please read: https://psychandneuro.duke.edu/news/senior-maria-naclerio-receives-2019-2020-jerome-s-bruner-award-excellence-undergraduate
SPSP Blog on the Embodiment of Worship
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL IMPORTANCE OF POSTURES DURING WORSHIP
by Sheridan Wilbur & Patty Van Cappellen
https://www.spsp.org/news-center/blog/wilbur-van-cappellen-postures-during-worship
New Publication
Van Cappellen, P., Catalino, L. I., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2019). A new micro-intervention to increase the enjoyment and continued practice of meditation. Emotion. doi:10.1037/emo0000684
New work revealing the importance of experiencing positive emotions during spiritual practices in order to sustain engagement in the practice.
Ruixi Joined the Lab!
Ruixi Zhang, a graduate from Wellesley College, has joined the lab as a full time Study Coordinator for the Embodiment of Worship project—an exciting research project funded by a 3-year grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
We are hiring!
BABLab is currently hiring for a Study Coordinator position!
This is a full-time research coordinator position starting during the fall of 2019.
APPLY NOW! See the Join the Lab page for more details!
New publication
Van Cappellen, P. (in press). The emotion of joy: A commentary on Johnson. Journal of Positive Psychology.
Abstract:
In this contribution, I push for a deeper understanding of the emotion of joy as compared to happiness and to other discrete positive emotions, by specifying its appraisals and functions. I suggest that joy connects us to our core identity, values, and priorities. It is the emotion that makes life worth living in the moment. I further discuss the distinction between an objective versus subjective account of instances of joy, a distinction I find important to bear in mind when dealing with morally problematic cases of joy. Finally, I discuss points of connection between the psychologies of joy and religion and suggest multiple lines of future research.
American Psychological Association Div. 36 Award
Dr. Patty Van Cappellen received the Margaret Gorman Early Career award from the American Psychological Association Div. 36 and gave an address entitled:
“Religion/spirituality: From the mind to the body.”
Abstract:
I will present a summary of my own research that showcases the importance of studying religion as a practice in addition to a system of beliefs. First, I’ll discuss the fact that religious and spiritual practices (e.g., attending a place of worship, praying, meditating) are associated with the experience of meaningful positive emotions. To explain this association, I’ll specifically focus on embodied processes showing that the very body postures adopted in worship and prayer are associated with distinct religious experiences. I’ll then turn my attention to the implications of experiencing positive emotions in religious practice describing research on well-being and spirituality. Finally, I’ll briefly describe an ongoing investigation on the psychological and biological factors that amplify the positive emotions experienced in spiritual practices with attendant consequences for sustained adherence to these practices. Together, I aim to argue for the importance of moving the study of religion beyond the mind and for taking seriously the role that positive emotions play when experienced during religious and spiritual practices.