In a recent post, we shared some basic background to the scientific study of religion, which has been one major focus of CMAC’s work. If you want more introductory information on this area of research, check out what our collaborator…
At CMAC, our research focuses on the mind-culture nexus. A significant part of that research involves studying religion and its role within that nexus, but there are many ways to study religion. What does it mean to engage in the scientific…
In recent months, the Center for Mind and Culture (CMAC) has become part of a broader organization, Just Horizons Alliance. What is this new organization and how does CMAC fit into it? Just Horizons Alliance is a strategic change engine.…
We recently interviewed CMAC Postdoctoral Fellow Rachel Bacon and Research Assistant Abigail Wester about the LISDA project. In Part 3 of the interview, Rachel and Abigail discuss initial lessons from the project and its future aims. (In Part 1, Rachel…
The academic journal Religion, Brain, & Behavior, co-sponsored by CMAC’s Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion (IBCSR) since its founding in 2011, has had a major impact on the scientific study of religion. What does a typical journal issue…
We recently interviewed CMAC Postdoctoral Fellow Rachel Bacon and Research Assistant Abigail Wester about the LISDA project. In Part 2 of the interview, Rachel and Abigail describe the current workflow of the project. (In Part 1, Rachel described the history…
We recently interviewed CMAC Postdoctoral Fellow and Executive Assistant Dave Rohr about The Book of Uncommon Rituals, part of a CMAC research project that is being facilitated by Wildhouse Publishing. This project connects Ritual for the Nonreligious, a CMAC project,…
We recently interviewed CMAC alum Jenn Lindsay about the film production process and funding of her upcoming film Minding Shadows (see part 1 of this interview here). Check out the crowdfunding campaign here. Note that the campaign ends on July…
We recently interviewed CMAC alum Jenn Lindsay about her career as a filmmaker and the role that her work with CMAC and IBSCSR played into launching her into her current work. Check out the crowdfunding campaign for her upcoming film…
We recently interviewed CMAC Postdoctoral Fellow Rachel Bacon and Research Assistant Abigail Wester about the LISDA project. In Part 1 of the three-part interview, Rachel describes the history of the project and how it came to be hosted at CMAC. …
Lukasz Kiszkiel, Piotr Paweł Laskowski, David Voas, Rachel J. Bacon, Wesley J. Wildman, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, F. LeRon Shults & Konrad Talmont-Kaminski Religion, Brain & Behavior Abstract: This article presents the Dataset of Integrated Measures of Religion (DIM-R), explains how it was…
The core goal of MRC is to build a theoretically integrated, data-validated, assumption-relative demographic forecasting system based on a big-theory understanding of (non)religious identity and change. To achieve this goal, our team has collected vast amounts of data in three countries: the…
Wesley Wildman, George Hodulik, and F. LeRon Shults Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation Abstract: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has made abundantly evident that human behavior is a critical factor in determining whether interventions intended to manage infection spread are effective. Human behavior…
It has been long assumed that the attainment of higher education is a direct road towards declining religiosity. Past research suggests that higher education exposes students to new worldviews beyond the scope of the religion they grew up in, challenging the importance…
The declining public face of religion At one point, religion served as an integral part of society for people worldwide, but now there are many accounts of decreasing religiosity. The process of secularization and the decline of religion in the…
Wesley J. Wildman, David Rohr, Steven J. Sandage, Nicholas C. Donato Archive for the Psychology of Religion Abstract: The Dimensions of Spirituality Inventory (DSI) is a 50-item quantitative assessment of spirituality. Whereas “spirituality” has seemed to some to be too…
Ample evidence connects dreams with spiritual and religious experiences, yet dreams remain understudied as a source of supernatural agent concepts. Stories about life-changing dreams appear frequently in religious literature and oral tradition. Many people throughout history claim to have encountered supernatural agents in dreams,…
To many, the idea of an invisible person who watches over you and rewards or punishes you according to your behavior sounds like a fairy tale. Sure, many American children believe in Santa Claus, but they eventually outgrow those beliefs. Why…
Around the world and throughout history, people have expressed belief in the existence of powerful, invisible entities who — much like us — have intentions, needs, and goals. Whether gods, demons, ghosts, or ancestor spirits, these “supernatural agents” cannot be…