IBCSR’s Quantifying Religious Experience Project (QRXP) develops methods for measuring the distinctive cognitive and emotional features of religious experiences. The purpose of this project is to furnish a basis for the comparison of religious and spiritual experiences across demographic groups (such as men and women) and across cultures. Such comparisons can be extremely important for an adequate interpretation of religious and spiritual experiences. QRXP is funded by the John Templeton Coundation, Boston University, and IBCSR. A rich de-identified dataset of narratives, phenomenological profiles, and expert ratings is available to researchers who wish to pursue their own analyses.
Key personnel: Wesley J. Wildman (PI), Ron Pekala, Nik Zanetti, Ian Cooley.
Introduction It’s a question many religious parents dread: “When Spot dies, will he go to heaven?” Countless children – and adults – have wondered whether their pets possess spirits, and the debate isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Still,…