Performance Enhancing God

Deriving religious belief from the desire to climb harder.

The desire to climb hard is powerful. People will take any old supplement, buy expensive gadgets, and do whacky pointless exercises, even if there is no hard proof that any of these things will help their climbing. Some are prepared to take extreme action in order to enhance performance, such as, take performance enhancing drugs, develop eating disorders and give themselves RED-S syndrome. Performance-at-all-costs climbers will also resort to style-obliterating tactics such as using portable fans, placing giant tarpaulins over entire buttresses, and 3D-printing iconic boulder problems. Most of these climbers are also willing to sacrifice autonomous control of their lives to live according to the preachings of physical and mental climbing coaches. The authority of such figures is unquestioningly submitted to, and many will sacrifice climbing outside entirely if the high priests of performance decree it.

So given all this it does seem that being hyper-focussed on performance comes with a tendency and willingness to do whatever it takes to climb the big grades or defeat rivals in competition. But are these people missing something? Something that is currently only spoken of in hushed tones by elite athletes and national team coaches. Something ancient and esoteric, yet known to all human societies that have ever existed.¹ Something scientifically linked to numerous health, happiness, and, most importantly, sporting performance benefits.

That of which I speak is, of course, (performance enhancing) God.

Herein I will briefly review the quantitative evidence indicating that religion aids health, happiness and climbing performance. This essay will make no claim as to the truth of religion, it will merely cite the evidence that indicates that belief and practise have statistically identifiable associations and effects. So if you are a performance oriented climber, if you really live your life according to the principle of “Big Number = Good”, then how far are you prepared to go? Will you get baptised for the send?²

Physical Health

Good physical health, which is essential for climbing performance, recovery and injury prevention, is reliably associated with religious belief and practise.³ Religiosity is associated with longer and higher quality sleep,⁴ as well as being able to get up more easily in the morning.⁵ Certain religious practices have been shown to improve the quality of non-sleep resting states.⁶ Religiosity protects against disordered eating,⁷ stress-induced weight-gain,⁸ and cognitive decline.⁹ Religious attendance is associated with lower levels of inflammation,¹⁰ lower blood pressure,¹¹ lower risk of hypertension,¹² and other biomarkers, such as better immune system functioning, lower total cholesterol, pulse rate and allostatic load,¹³ with the most frequent attendees of religious services scoring best on such measures.¹⁴ Members of certain religious denominations can be identified partly based on how healthy they look,¹⁵ and people whose faces “look religious” are rated as more attractive (i.e. healthier¹⁶) than those who “look atheist”.¹⁷

These factors may partly explain why religious people live, on average, 5 to 10 years longer than non-religious people;¹⁸ why religious attendance is associated with lower mortality rates;¹⁹ and why religiosity is associated with reduced symptom severity²⁰ and longer survival times for those with serious illnesses.²¹

Mental Health

Good mental health is important for maintaining motivation to train and being able to consistently perform in stressful, high-pressure situations.²² Religious belief and practise are consistently found to be a major source of happiness and life satisfaction,²³ and religious people report greater meaning in life compared²⁴ and enjoyment of life²⁵ compared to non-believers. Religious people are less likely to suffer from mental disorders like depression and anxiety,²⁶ have greater social support,²⁷ are less likely to feel bored,²⁸ and also less likely to have internet addictions.²⁹ Religious persons express more positive (and less negative) emotions,³⁰ are less reactive to stress compared to non-believers,³¹ and have greater self-compassion³² and body esteem.³³ Listening to religious music is associated with lowering anxiety and increasing life satisfaction,³⁴ similar beneifts are associated with religious singing,³⁵ dancing³⁶ and reading.³⁷ Religiosity is associated with higher levels of optimism,³⁸ hope,³⁹ patience,⁴⁰ humility,⁴¹ resilience,⁴² self-control⁴³ and gratitude;⁴⁴ essential virtues for climbing in the United Kingdom. The well-being benefits of religion are larger for those who practise communally compared to those who practise alone⁴⁵ and compared to those who attend similar secular social events.⁴⁶ Secular meditation is associated with well-being benefits, but these are smaller than those of spiritual and religious equivalents.⁴⁷ Believing that religion and science are compatible yields larger well-being benefits than belief in each of these systems yields on its own.⁴⁸ People whose faces “look religious” are also judged to have greater warmth, likeability and gentleness compared to those who “look atheist”.⁴⁹ Religious people coordinate better in groups⁵⁰ and are percieved as being more trustworthy than non-religious people.⁵¹ However, religiosity is not without its risks, negative health outcomes are associated with struggling to reconcile religious doubts with a religious identity.⁵²

These positive mental health outcomes are desirable in and of themselves but good mental health has been causally linked to improving numerous physical health outcomes.⁵³ The wounds of people who report better mental health scores literally heal faster than those with lower scores.⁵⁴ Imagine the skin recovery gains!

Sporting Performance

This section details the evidence that suggests religion is associated with several climbing-relevant dispositions, capacities, states, and outcomes. Prayer and religious contemplation have been robustly found in experiments to enhance pain tolerance.⁵⁵ Religiosity and religious reminders increase risk-taking due to an increased sense of psychological control.⁵⁶ Unconscious religious reminders reduce negative physiological responses to challenges and threats,⁵⁷ improve self-evaluations,⁵⁸ and increase task-persistence⁵⁹ and goal commitment.⁶⁰ Religious reminders reduce the perceived formidability of dangerous challenges,⁶¹ reduce responses to fear,⁶² and reduce neurophysiological responses to errors.⁶³ Religiosity and spirituality are positively correlated with goal courage,⁶⁴ experience of flow states/“being in the zone”,⁶⁵ versatility,⁶⁶ conscientiousness,⁶⁷ work ethic,⁶⁸ ability to defer gratification,⁶⁹ internal locus of control,⁷⁰ willingness to fight,⁷¹ as well as moral courage, moral efficacy, and moral competence.⁷² Embodying representations of God enhances the perception of one’s abilities and increases feelings of physical invulnerability and strength.⁷³ Prayers for supernatural aid increase practitioners’ perceived prospects of victory in competitive sporting events⁷⁴ and in life-or-death situations,⁷⁵ while problem-solving prayers leverage the benefits of collaborative reasoning⁷⁶ even when no other human beings are present.⁷⁷ Thinking of God even directs our attention upwards⁷⁸ — a truly vital aspect of climbing!

Religiosity and spirituality have been associated with better performance in other sports,⁷⁹ in academic contexts,⁸⁰ in work contexts,⁸¹ and in ability to drive vehicles.⁸² Among general and highly religious student populations, athletes have stronger religious beliefs, engage in more frequent religious practice and have a stronger sense of religious identity compared to non-athletes.⁸³ Religious athletes are also better able to cope with the costs of injury,⁸⁴ and recover better from those injuries.⁸⁵ Finally, people whose faces “look religious” are judged to be more moral, competent and hardworking than those who “look atheist”.⁸⁶

Conclusion

So there’s definitely more quantitative evidence going for God than there is for PhysiVantage. Personally, I’d think about this evidence in terms of Pascal’s Wager: if there is even a 1% chance that belief in God will make you climb harder then it is surely worth erring on the side of belief. The alternative possibility — the infinite and eternal hell of having missed out on a big number — is simply not worth the risk.

In the light of this growing evidence, perhaps one day climbers will see going to church as not so different from doing a session at the gym. Perhaps soon we will see structured sets of prayers to God feature in the Crimpd app. Perhaps one day Lattice Training will do a run-down video of the top 10 most effective ways of achieving everlasting salvation. Perhaps Emil Abrahamsson is the second coming.

As for competitions, we all know the IFSC is notoriously slow to address issues of potential inequity. However it is now only a matter of time before incense, rosary beads and prayer mats are banned from competitions for the same reason kneepads, crack gloves and performance enhancing drugs are.

To all those who made it this far: I wish you good luck and godspeed on your upcoming spiritual journeys. See you on Sunday.

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Who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. Thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

Psalm 18 KJV

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2. There is, after all, an entire book of the Bible about really big numbers.

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6. Stanley, R. (2009). Types of Prayer, Heart Rate Variability, and Innate Healing. In Zygon.

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Crosswell, A. D., Mayer, S. E., Whitehurst, L. N., Picard, M., Zebarjadian, S., & Epel, E. S. (2023). Deep rest: An integrative model of how contemplative practices combat stress and enhance the body’s restorative capacity. In Psychological Review.

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See also: Mikutta, C., Allenbach, E., & Imboden, C. (2024). Mental health in rock climbing. In Current Issues in Sport Science.

8. Homan, K. J., & Boyatzis, C. J. (2010). The Protective Role of Attachment to God Against Eating Disorder Risk Factors: Concurrent and Prospective Evidence. In Eating Disorders.

Homan, K. J., & Cavanaugh, B. N. (2013). Perceived relationship with God fosters positive body image in college women. In Journal of Health Psychology.

Upenieks, L., Hill, T. D., & Ford-Robertson, J. (2023). Religion and Pandemic Weight Gain: A Refuge from the Storm? In Journal of Psychology and Theology.

9. Hosseini, S., Chaurasia, A., & Oremus, M. (2017). The Effect of Religion and Spirituality on Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review. In The Gerontologist.

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10. Britt, K. C., Boateng, A. C. O., Sebu, J., Oh, H., Lekwauwa, R., Massimo, L., & Doolittle, B. (2024). The association between religious beliefs and values with inflammation among Middle-age and older adults. In Aging & Mental Health.

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Banerjee, A. T., Boyle, M. H., Anand, S. S., Strachan, P. H., & Oremus, M. (2012). The Relationship Between Religious Service Attendance and Coronary Heart Disease and Related Risk Factors in Saskatchewan, Canada. In Journal of Religion and Health.

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Meng, Q., Xu, Y., Shi, R., Zhang, X., Wang, S., Liu, K., & Chen, X. (2018). Effect of religion on hypertension in adult Buddhists and residents in China: A cross-sectional study. In Scientific Reports.

Spence, N. D., Farvid, M. S., Warner, E. T., VanderWeele, T. J., Tworoger, S. S., Argentieri, M. A., & Shields, A. E. (2019). Religious Service Attendance, Religious Coping, and Risk of Hypertension in Women Participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II. In American Journal of Epidemiology.

13. Hill, T. D., Rote, S. M., & Ellison, C. G. (2017). Religious Participation and Biological Functioning in Mexico. In Journal of Aging and Health.

Dutton, E., Madison, G., & Dunkel, C. (2017). The Mutant Says in His Heart, “There Is No God”: the Rejection of Collective Religiosity Centred Around the Worship of Moral Gods Is Associated with High Mutational Load. In Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Shattuck, E. C., & Muehlenbein, M. P. (2018). Religiosity/Spirituality and Physiological Markers of Health. In Journal of Religion and Health.

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For a review see: Page, R. L., Peltzer, J. N., Burdette, A. M., & Hill, T. D. (2018). Religiosity and Health: A Holistic Biopsychosocial Perspective. In Journal of Holistic Nursing.

14. Bruce, M. A., Martins, D., Duru, K., Beech, B. M., Sims, M., Harawa, N., Vargas, R., Kermah, D., Nicholas, S. B., Brown, A., & Norris, K. C. (2017). Church attendance, allostatic load and mortality in middle aged adults. In PLOS ONE.

15. Rule, N. O., Garrett, J. V., & Ambady, N. (2010). On the Perception of Religious Group Membership from Faces. In PLOS One.

See also: Enstrom, J. E., & Breslow, L. (2008). Lifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980–2004. In Preventive Medicine.

See also: Pitts, G. S., & Rule, N. O. (2024). Atheists and Christians can be Discerned from their Faces. In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.

16. Rhodes, G. (2006). The Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty. In Annual Review of Psychology.

Henderson, A. J., Holzleitner, I. J., Talamas, S. N., & Perrett, D. I. (2016). Perception of health from facial cues. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Bulczak, G., & Gugushvili, A. (2023). Physical attractiveness and cardiometabolic risk. In American Journal of Human Biology.

17. Brown-Iannuzzi, J. L., McKee, S., & Gervais, W. M. (2018). Atheist horns and religious halos: Mental representations of atheists and theists. In Journal of Experimental Psychology.

18. Wallace, L. E., Anthony, R., End, C. M., & Way, B. M. (2018). Does Religion Stave Off the Grave? Religious Affiliation in One’s Obituary and Longevity. In Social Psychological and Personality Science.

19. Musick, M. A., House, J. S., & Williams, D. R. (2004). Attendance at Religious Services and Mortality in a National Sample. In Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Gillum, R. F., King, D. E., Obisesan, T. O., & Koenig, H. G. (2008). Frequency of Attendance at Religious Services and Mortality in a U.S. National Cohort. In Annals of Epidemiology.

Chida, Y., Steptoe, A., & Powell, L. H. (2009). Religiosity/Spirituality and Mortality. In Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Idler, E., Blevins, J., Kiser, M., & Hogue, C. (2017). Religion, a social determinant of mortality? A 10-year follow-up of the Health and Retirement Study. In PLOS ONE.

Hill, T. D., Saenz, J. L., & Rote, S. M. (2018). Religious Participation and Mortality Risk in Mexico. In The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.

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Chen, Y., Kim, E. S., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2020). Religious-service attendance and subsequent health and well-being throughout adulthood: evidence from three prospective cohorts. In International Journal of Epidemiology.

Bruce, M. A., Beech, B. M., Kermah, D., Bailey, S., Phillips, N., Jones, H. P., Bowie, J. V., Heitman, E., Norris, K. C., Whitfield, K. E., & Thorpe, R. J. (2022). Religious service attendance and mortality among older Black men. In PLOS ONE.

20. Coin, A., Perissinotto, E., Najjar, M., Girardi, A., Inelmen, E. M., Enzi, G., Manzato, E., & Sergi, G. (2010). Does Religiosity Protect Against Cognitive and Behavioral Decline in Alzheimers Dementia? In Current Alzheimer Research.

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Jim, H. S. L., Pustejovsky, J. E., Park, C. L., Danhauer, S. C., Sherman, A. C., Fitchett, G., Merluzzi, T. V., Munoz, A. R., George, L., Snyder, M. A., & Salsman, J. M. (2015). Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta‐analysis. In Cancer.

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Britt, K. C., Richards, K. C., Hamilton, J., & Radhakrishnan, K. (2024). Symptoms of dementia progression in cognitive impairment: the role of religious and spiritual activity. In Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health.

21. Ironson, G., Solomon, G. F., Balbin, E. G., O’Cleirigh, C., George, A., Kumar, M., Larson, D., & Woods, T. E. (2002). The Ironson-Woods spirituality/religiousness index is associated with long survival, health behaviors, less distress, and low cortisol in people with HIV/AIDS. In Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Park, C. L., Aldwin, C. M., Choun, S., George, L., Suresh, D. P., & Bliss, D. (2016). Spiritual peace predicts 5-year mortality in congestive heart failure patients. In Health Psychology.

22. Ku, X., Jyung, M., Kim, J. H., & Choi, I. (2024). Sound mind, sound body, or vice versa? Mind–body beliefs shape health behaviors. In Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.

23. Ngamaba, K. H., & Soni, D. (2017). Are Happiness and Life Satisfaction Different Across Religious Groups? Exploring Determinants of Happiness and Life Satisfaction. In Journal of Religion and Health.

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24. Schnell, T., & Keenan, W. J. F. (2011). Meaning-Making in an Atheist World. In Archive for the Psychology of Religion.

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26. See this analysis of the Pew American Trend Panel (2023).

Kendler, K. S., Liu, X.-Q., Gardner, C. O., McCullough, M. E., Larson, D., & Prescott, C. A. (2003). Dimensions of Religiosity and Their Relationship to Lifetime Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders. In American Journal of Psychiatry.

Balbuena, L., Baetz, M., & Bowen, R. (2013). Religious Attendance, Spirituality, and Major Depression in Canada: A 14-Year Follow-up Study. In The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Lucette, A., Ironson, G., Pargament, K. I., & Krause, N. (2016). Spirituality and Religiousness are Associated With Fewer Depressive Symptoms in Individuals With Medical Conditions. In Psychosomatics.

Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Nuño, L., Gómez-Benito, J., & Lester, D. (2019). The Relationship Between Religiosity and Anxiety: A Meta-analysis. In Journal of Religion and Health.

Daniels, C. L., Ellison, C. G., DeAngelis, R. T., & Klee, K. (2023). Is Irreligion a Risk Factor for Suicidality? Findings from the Nashville Stress and Health Study. In Journal of Religion and Health.

However see: Baker, J. O., Stroope, S., & Walker, M. H. (2018). Secularity, religiosity, and health: Physical and mental health differences between atheists, agnostics, and nonaffiliated theists compared to religiously affiliated individuals. In Social Science Research.

27. Hill, T. D., Bradley, C. S., Dowd-Arrow, B., & Burdette, A. M. (2019). Religious Attendance and the Social Support Trajectories of Older Mexican Americans. In Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology.

28. van Tilburg, W. A. P., Igou, E. R., Maher, P. J., Moynihan, A. B., & Martin, D. G. (2019). Bored like Hell: Religiosity reduces boredom and tempers the quest for meaning. In Emotion.

29. Dossi, F., Buja, A., & Montecchio, L. (2022). Association between religiosity or spirituality and internet addiction: A systematic review. In Frontiers in Public Health.

30. Burris, C. T. (2022). Poker-faced and godless: Expressive suppression and atheism. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

Pitts, G. S., & Rule, N. O. (2024). Atheists and Christians can be Discerned from their Faces. In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.

31. Kidwai, R., Mancha, B. E., Brown, Q. L., & Eaton, W. W. (2013). The effect of spirituality and religious attendance on the relationship between psychological distress and negative life events. In Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Israel-Cohen, Y., Kaplan, O., Noy, S., & Kashy-Rosenbaum, G. (2016). Religiosity as a Moderator of Self-Efficacy and Social Support in Predicting Traumatic Stress Among Combat Soldiers. In Journal of Religion and Health.

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Rubenstein, A., Koenig, H. G., Marin, D. B., Sharma, V., Harpaz-Rotem, I., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2021). Religion, spirituality, and risk for incident posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, and hazardous drinking in U.S. military veterans: A 7-year, nationally representative, prospective cohort study. In Journal of Affective Disorders.

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32. Ghorbani, N., Watson, P. J., Chen, Z., & Norballa, F. (2012). Self-Compassion in Iranian Muslims: Relationships With Integrative Self-Knowledge, Mental Health, and Religious Orientation. In International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.

Bodok-Mulderij, I., Schaap-Jonker, H., Klaassen-Dekker, A., Boselie, J., & Jacobs, N. (2023). The relation between religion/spirituality and mental health is mediated by self-compassion: Evidence from two longitudinal studies in the Dutch-speaking general population. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

33. Homan, K. J., & Lemmon, V. A. (2014). Attachment to God and eating disorder tendencies: The mediating role of social comparison. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

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Zhang, D., Kong, C., Zhang, M., & Kang, J. (2022). Religious Belief-Related Factors Enhance the Impact of Soundscapes in Han Chinese Buddhist Temples on Mental Health. In Frontiers in Psychology.

Adlakha, K., Mathur, M. K., Datta, A., Kalsi, R., & Bhandari, B. (2023). Short-Term Effect ofSpiritual Music on Heart Rate Variability in Medical Students: A Single-Group Experimental Study. In Cureus.

35. Morgan-Ellis, E. (2021). Virtual Hymn Singing and the Imagination of Community. In Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing.

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See also: Vickhoff, B., Malmgren, H., Åström, R., Nyberg, G., Ekström, S.-R., Engwall, M., Snygg, J., Nilsson, M., & Jörnsten, R. (2013). Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers. In Frontiers in Psychology.

36. Chung, J. W.-Y., Wong, B. Y.-M., Chen, J.-H., & Chung, M. W. L. (2016). Effects of Praise Dance on the Quality of Life of Chinese Women. In The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

37. Francis, L. J. (2000). The relationship between bible reading and purpose in life among 13–15-year-olds. In Mental Health, Religion & Culture.

Kamal, N. F., Mahmood, N. H., & Zakaria, N. A. (2013). Modeling Brain Activities during Reading Working Memory Task: Comparison between Reciting Quran and Reading Book. In Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Krause, N., & Pargament, K. I. (2018). Reading the Bible, Stressful Life Events, and Hope: Assessing an Overlooked Coping Resource. In Journal of Religion and Health.

Che Wan Mohd Rozali, W. N. A., Ishak, I., Mat Ludin, A. F., Ibrahim, F. W., Abd Warif, N. M., & Che Roos, N. A. (2022). The Impact of Listening to, Reciting, or Memorizing the Quran on Physical and Mental Health of Muslims: Evidence From Systematic Review. In International Journal of Public Health.

Hasim, R., Samaeng, A., Dahlan, A., & Samaeng, R. (2023). Scoping Review on the Benefits of Reciting, Listening and Memorising the Quran. In Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal.

Bradshaw, M., Jang, S. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2023). Assessing the Link Between Bible Reading and Flourishing Among Military Families: Preliminary Findings. In Armed Forces & Society.

38. Berthold, A., & Ruch, W. (2014). Satisfaction with life and character strengths of non-religious and religious people: it’s practicing one’s religion that makes the difference. In Frontiers in Psychology.

39. Ciarrocchi, J. W., Dy-Liacco, G. S., & Deneke, E. (2008). Gods or rituals? Relational faith, spiritual discontent, and religious practices as predictors of hope and optimism. In The Journal of Positive Psychology.

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Nell, W., & Rothmann, S. (2018). Hope, religiosity, and subjective well-being. In Journal of Psychology in Africa.

Krause, N., & Pargament, K. I. (2018). Reading the Bible, Stressful Life Events, and Hope: Assessing an Overlooked Coping Resource. In Journal of Religion and Health.

Rose, A. H., Rose, J. R., Miller, R. B., & Dyer, W. J. (2018). Exploring hope as a mediator between religiosity and depression in adolescents. In Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought.

King, P. E., Vaughn, J. M., Yoo, Y., Tirrell, J. M., Dowling, E. M., Lerner, R. M., Geldhof, G. J., Lerner, J. V., Iraheta, G., Williams, K., & Sim, A. T. R. (2020). Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth. In Religions.

Upenieks, L. (2021). “The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”: racial differences in the effects of changes in religiosity and hope in later life. In Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.

40. Schnitker, S. A., Houltberg, B. J., Ratchford, J. L., & Wang, K. T. (2020). Dual pathways from religiousness to the virtue of patience versus anxiety among elite athletes. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

41. Hodge, A. S., Melian, K., Hook, J. N., Gazaway, S., Zhang, H., Farrell, J. E., Mosher, D. K., Captari, L. E., Coomes, S. P., Van Tongeren, D. R., & Davis, D. E. (2019). Exploring religious intellectual humility and spiritual humility. Journal of Psychology and Christianity.

Cauble, M. R., Said, I. A., McLaughlin, A. T., Gazaway, S., Van Tongeren, D. R., Hook, J. N., Lacey, E. K., Davis, E. B., & Davis, D. E. (2022). Religion/Spirituality and the Twin Virtues of Humility and Gratitude. In Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality.

Zuniga, S. G., Hodge, A. S., Ellis, H. M., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2023). Gratitude to God and relational virtues. In The Journal of Positive Psychology.

42. Schwalm, F. D., Zandavalli, R. B., de Castro Filho, E. D., & Lucchetti, G. (2021). Is there a relationship between spirituality/religiosity and resilience? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. In Journal of Health Psychology.

Van Tongeren, D. R., Aten, J. D., McElroy, S., Davis, D. E., Shannonhouse, L., Davis, E. B., & Hook, J. N. (2019). Development and validation of a measure of spiritual fortitude. In Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Hodge, D. R., Hong, P. Y. P., & Choi, S. (2019). Spirituality, Employment Hope, and Grit: Modeling the Relationship among Underemployed Urban African Americans. In Social Work Research.

Mushtaq, M., & Ambreen, S. (2024). Emotional Stability and Grit Among Individuals From Different Professions: Does Religiosity Mediate Their Relationship? In Pastoral Psychology.

See also: Ionel, M. S., Ion, A., & Visu-Petra, L. (2022). Personality, grit, and performance in rock-climbing: down to the nitty-gritty. In International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

See also: Ionel, M. S., Ion, A., & Visu-Petra, L. (2023). Personality and rock-climbing performance progression: a 12-months follow-up. In International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

43. Marcus, Z. J., & McCullough, M. E. (2021). Does religion make people more self-controlled? A review of research from the lab and life. In Current Opinion in Psychology.

Wickrama, K. A. S., & Ralston, P. A. (2022). Religiosity and Physical Health of Middle–Old Aged African Americans: The Linking Role of Self-Control. In Journal of Aging and Health.

44. Rosmarin, D. H., Pirutinsky, S., Cohen, A. B., Galler, Y., & Krumrei, E. J. (2011). Grateful to God or just plain grateful? A comparison of religious and general gratitude. In The Journal of Positive Psychology.

Krause, N., Emmons, R. A., & Ironson, G. (2015). Benevolent Images of God, Gratitude, and Physical Health Status. In Journal of Religion and Health.

Nelson, J. M., Hardy, S. A., & Watkins, P. (2023). Transcendent indebtedness to God: A new construct in the psychology of religion and spirituality. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

White, C. J. M., Johnson, K. A., Mirbozorgi, B., & Farias Martelli, G. (2024). Varieties of gratitude: Identifying patterns of emotional responses to positive experiences attributed to God, karma, and human benefactors. In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Oishi, S., Cha, Y., & Choi, H. (2024). Gratitude, indebtedness, and God: gratitude and indebtedness to God are more strongly correlated to each other than gratitude and indebtedness to a person or an object. In The Journal of Positive Psychology.

45. Lim, C., & Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, Social Networks, and Life Satisfaction. In American Sociological Review.

Kent, B.V., Upenieks, L., Jang, D.Y., Ellison, C.G. and Wright, B.R.E. (2024), “See You Sunday?” Effects of Attending a Specific Weekend Religious Service on Emotional Well-Being: A State/Trait Analysis of the SoulPulse Study. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

46. Acevedo, G. A., Ellison, C. G., & Xu, X. (2014). Is It Really Religion? Comparing the Main and Stress-buffering Effects of Religious and Secular Civic Engagement on Psychological Distress. In Society and Mental Health.

Lim, C. (2016). Religion, Time Use, and Affective Well-Being. In Sociological Science.

VanderWeele, T. J. (2017). Religious Communities and Human Flourishing. In Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Brown, J. E., van Mulukom, V., Charles, S. J., & Farias, M. (2023). Do you need religion to enjoy the benefits of Church services? Social bonding, morality and quality of life among religious and secular congregations. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

Though see: Wlodarczyk, A., Zumeta, L., Basabe, N., Rimé, B., & Páez, D. (2021). Religious and secular collective gatherings, perceived emotional synchrony and self-transcendent emotions: two longitudinal studies. In Current Psychology.

47. Wachholtz, A. B., & Pargament, K. I. (2005). Is Spirituality a Critical Ingredient of Meditation? Comparing the Effects of Spiritual Meditation, Secular Meditation, and Relaxation on Spiritual, Psychological, Cardiac, and Pain Outcomes. In Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Wachholtz, A. B., & Pargament, K. I. (2008). Migraines and meditation: does spirituality matter? In Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Wachholtz, A. B., Malone, C. D., & Pargament, K. I. (2015). Effect of Different Meditation Types on Migraine Headache Medication Use. In Behavioral Medicine.

Ford, K., & Garzon, F. (2017). A randomized investigation of evangelical Christian accommodative mindfulness. In Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Masters, K. S., Emerson, R. W., & Hooker, S. A. (2022). Effects of devotional prayer and secular meditation on cardiovascular response to a faith challenge among Christians. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

48. Price, M. E., & Johnson, D. D. P. (2024). Science and religion around the world: compatibility between belief systems predicts increased well-being. In Religion, Brain & Behavior.

49. Brown-Iannuzzi, J. L., McKee, S., & Gervais, W. M. (2018). Atheist horns and religious halos: Mental representations of atheists and theists. In Journal of Experimental Psychology.

50. Sosis, R., & Bressler, E. R. (2003). Cooperation and Commune Longevity: A Test of the Costly Signaling Theory of Religion. In Cross-Cultural Research.

Sosis, R., & Ruffle, B. J. (2003). Religious Ritual and Cooperation: Testing for a Relationship on Israeli Religious and Secular Kibbutzim. In Current Anthropology.

Sosis, R., & Ruffle, B. J. (2004). Ideology, Religion, and the Evolution of Cooperation: Field Experiments on Israeli Kibbutzim. In Socioeconomic Aspects of Human Behavioral Ecology.

Anderson, L. R., & Mellor, J. M. (2009). Religion and cooperation in a public goods experiment. In Economics Letters.

Henrich, J., Ensminger, J., McElreath, R., Barr, A., Barrett, C., Bolyanatz, A., Cardenas, J. C., Gurven, M., Gwako, E., Henrich, N., Lesorogol, C., Marlowe, F., Tracer, D., & Ziker, J. (2010). Markets, Religion, Community Size, and the Evolution of Fairness and Punishment. In Science.

Ahmed, A. M., & Salas, O. (2011). Implicit influences of Christian religious representations on dictator and prisoner’s dilemma game decisions. In The Journal of Socio-Economics.

Paciotti, B., Richerson, P., Baum, B., Lubell, M., Waring, T., McElreath, R., Efferson, C., & Edsten, E. (2011). Are Religious Individuals More Generous, Trusting, and Cooperative? An Experimental Test of the Effect of Religion on Prosociality. In The Economics of Religion: Anthropological Approaches.

Hardy, S. A., Walker, L. J., Rackham, D. D., & Olsen, J. A. (2012). Religiosity and adolescent empathy and aggression: The mediating role of moral identity. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

David, P., & Stafford, L. (2013). A Relational Approach to Religion and Spirituality in Marriage. In Journal of Family Issues.

Brañas-Garza, P., Espín, A. M., & Neuman, S. (2014). Religious Pro-Sociality? Experimental Evidence from a Sample of 766 Spaniards. In PLoS ONE.

Shariff, A. F., Willard, A. K., Andersen, T., & Norenzayan, A. (2015). Religious Priming: A Meta-Analysis With a Focus on Prosociality. In Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Petrovic, K., Chapman, C. M., & Schofield, T. P. (2021). Religiosity and volunteering over time: Religious service attendance is associated with the likelihood of volunteering, and religious importance with time spent volunteering. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

Valencia Caicedo, F., Dohmen, T., & Pondorfer, A. (2023). Religion and cooperation across the globe. In Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

Dhami, S., Wei, M., & Mamidi, P. (2024). Religious identity, trust, reciprocity, and prosociality: Theory and evidence. In Journal of Development Economics.

Kelly, J. M., Kramer, S. R., & Shariff, A. F. (2024). Religiosity predicts prosociality, especially when measured by self-report: A meta-analysis of almost 60 years of research. In Psychological Bulletin.

Nelson, J. M., Hardy, S. A., Tice, D., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023). Returning thanks to God and others: prosocial consequences of transcendent indebtedness. In The Journal of Positive Psychology.

Northover, S. B., Quillien, T., Conroy-Beam, D., & Cohen, A. B. (2024). Religious signaling and prosociality: A review of the literature. In Evolution and Human Behavior.

However see: Chuah, S.-H., Hoffmann, R., Ramasamy, B., & Tan, J. H. W. (2014). Religion, ethnicity and cooperation: An experimental study. In Journal of Economic Psychology.

51. Tan, J. H. W., & Vogel, C. (2008). Religion and trust: An experimental study. In Journal of Economic Psychology.

Gervais, W. M., Shariff, A. F., & Norenzayan, A. (2011). Do you believe in atheists? Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice. In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Hall, D. L., Cohen, A. B., Meyer, K. K., Varley, A. H., & Brewer, G. A. (2015). Costly Signaling Increases Trust, Even Across Religious Affiliations. In Psychological Science.

McCullough, M. E., Swartwout, P., Shaver, J. H., Carter, E. C., & Sosis, R. (2016). Christian religious badges instill trust in Christian and non-Christian perceivers. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

Clifford, S., & Gaskins, B. (2016). Trust Me, I Believe in God: Candidate Religiousness as a Signal of Trustworthiness. In American Politics Research.

Moon, J. W., Krems, J. A., & Cohen, A. B. (2018). Religious People Are Trusted Because They Are Viewed as Slow Life-History Strategists. In Psychological Science.

However see: Thunström, L., Jones Ritten, C., Bastian, C., Minton, E., & Zhappassova, D. (2021). Trust and Trustworthiness of Christians, Muslims, and Atheists/Agnostics in the United States. In Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

52. Ellison, C. G., Bradshaw, M., Storch, J., Marcum, J. P., & Hill, T. D. (2011). Religious Doubts and Sleep Quality: Findings from a Nationwide Study of Presbyterians. In Review of Religious Research.

Umarji, O., & Islam, F. (2024). The role of holistic religiosity on mental health and mental illness: A global study of Muslims. In Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.

Kéri, S., & Kelemen, O. (2024). Signatures of neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and amygdala in individuals with religious or spiritual problem. In Religion, Brain & Behavior.

53. Steptoe, A. (2019). Happiness and Health. In Annual Review of Public Health.

54. Koenig, H. G., & Cohen, H. J. (2002). Psychosocial Factors, Immunity, and Wound Healing. In The Link Between Religion and Health.

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55. Bush, E. G., Rye, M. S., Brant, C. R., Emery, E., Pargament, K. I., & Riessinger, C. A. (1999). Religious Coping with Chronic Pain. In Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

Wachholtz, A. B., & Pargament, K. I. (2005). Is Spirituality a Critical Ingredient of Meditation? Comparing the Effects of Spiritual Meditation, Secular Meditation, and Relaxation on Spiritual, Psychological, Cardiac, and Pain Outcomes. In Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

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Elmholdt, E.-M., Skewes, J., Dietz, M., Møller, A., Jensen, M. S., Roepstorff, A., Wiech, K., & Jensen, T. S. (2017). Reduced Pain Sensation and Reduced BOLD Signal in Parietofrontal Networks during Religious Prayer. In Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Jarego, M., Ferreira-Valente, A., Queiroz-Garcia, I., Day, M. A., Pais-Ribeiro, J., Costa, R. M., Pimenta, F., & Jensen, M. P. (2022). Are Prayer-Based Interventions Effective Pain Management Options? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. In Journal of Religion and Health.

See also: Ferguson, M. A., Schaper, F. L. W. V. J., Cohen, A., Siddiqi, S., Merrill, S. M., Nielsen, J. A., Grafman, J., Urgesi, C., Fabbro, F., & Fox, M. D. (2022). A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived From Patients With Brain Lesions. In Biological Psychiatry.

56. Chan, K. Q., Tong, E. M. W., & Tan, Y. L. (2014). Taking a Leap of Faith: Reminders of God Lead to Greater Risk Taking. In Social Psychological and Personality Science.

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León, A. K., & Pfeifer, C. (2017). Religious activity, risk-taking preferences and financial behaviour: Empirical evidence from German survey data. In Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

Marcus, Z. J., & McCullough, M. E. (2021). Does religion make people more self-controlled? A review of research from the lab and life. In Current Opinion in Psychology.

Kahsay, G. A., Kassie, W. A., Medhin, H., & Hansen, L. G. (2022). Are religious farmers more risk taking? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia. In Agricultural Economics.

Vanheusden, F. J., Vadapalli, S. K., Rashid, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Kim, A. (2024). Religiosity, Financial Risk Taking, and Reward Processing: An Experimental Study. In Journal of Gambling Studies.

However see: Gervais, W. M., McKee, S. E., & Malik, S. (2020). Do Religious Primes Increase Risk Taking? Evidence Against “Anticipating Divine Protection” in Two Preregistered Direct Replications of Kupor, Laurin, and Levav (2015). In Psychological Science.

57. Weisbuch-Remington, M., Mendes, W. B., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2005). The Nonconscious Influence of Religious Symbols in Motivated Performance Situations. In Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

58. Baldwin, M. W., Carrell, S. E., & Lopez, D. F. (1990). Priming relationship schemas: My advisor and the Pope are watching me from the back of my mind. In Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

59. Toburen, T., & Meier, B. P. (2010). Priming God-Related Concepts Increases Anxiety and Task Persistence. In Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

60. Khenfer, J., Roux, E., & Tafani, É. (2014). Aide-toi, le Ciel t’aidera : quand et comment les croyances religieuses affectent la poursuite du but du consommateur. In RIMHE : Revue Interdisciplinaire Management, Homme & Entreprise.

Khenfer, J., Roux, E., Tafani, É., & Laurin, K. (2017). When God’s (not) needed: Spotlight on how belief in divine control influences goal commitment. In Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

61. Holbrook, C., Fessler, D. M. T., & Pollack, J. (2016). With God on our side: Religious primes reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a menacing adversary. In Cognition.

62. Testoni, I., Milo, V., Ronconi, L., Feltrin, A., Zamperini, A., Rodelli, M., Germani, G., & Cillo, U. (2017). Courage and representations of death in patients who are waiting for a liver transplantation. In Cogent Psychology.

Wu, E. C., & Cutright, K. M. (2018). In God’s Hands: How Reminders of God Dampen the Effectiveness of Fear Appeals. In Journal of Marketing Research.

See also: Ferguson, M. A., Schaper, F. L. W. V. J., Cohen, A., Siddiqi, S., Merrill, S. M., Nielsen, J. A., Grafman, J., Urgesi, C., Fabbro, F., & Fox, M. D. (2022). A Neural Circuit for Spirituality and Religiosity Derived From Patients With Brain Lesions. In Biological Psychiatry.

63. Inzlicht, M., McGregor, I., Hirsh, J. B., & Nash, K. (2009). Neural Markers of Religious Conviction. In Psychological Science.

Inzlicht, M., & Tullett, A. M. (2010). Reflecting on God: Religious Primes Can Reduce Neurophysiological Response to Errors. In Psychological Science.

Good, M., Inzlicht, M., & Larson, M. J. (2014). God will forgive: reflecting on God’s love decreases neurophysiological responses to errors. In Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

64. Bounds, E. M., Nelson, J. M., Melton, K. K., Glanzer, P. L., & Schnitker, S. A. (2023). Religiosity Moderates Goal Courage and Self-Worth in Collegiate Christian Athletes. In Religions.

65. Dillon, K. M., & Tait, J. L. (2000). Spirituality and being in the zone in team sports: A relationship? In Journal of Sport Behavior (Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp. 91–100).

Foster, R. N. (2012). Flow and spirituality: The relationship within undergraduate male and female varsity athletic participants. PhD Thesis.

66. Aghababaei, N. (2013). Between you and God, where is the general factor of personality? Exploring personality-religion relationships in a Muslim context. In Personality and Individual Differences.

O’Connor, L. E., Rangan, R. K., Berry, J. W., Stiver, D. J., Hanson, R., Ark, W., & Li, T. (2015). Empathy, Compassionate Altruism and Psychological Well-Being in Contemplative Practitioners across Five Traditions. In Psychology.

Dunkel, C. S., Reeve, C. L., Woodley of Menie, M. A., & van der Linden, D. (2015). A comparative study of the general factor of personality in Jewish and non-Jewish populations. In Personality and Individual Differences.

Dunkel, C. S., van der Linden, D., Kawamoto, T., & Oshio, A. (2021). The General Factor of Personality as Ego-Resiliency. In Frontiers in Psychology.

67. Yonker, J. E., Schnabelrauch, C. A., & DeHaan, L. G. (2011). The relationship between spirituality and religiosity on psychological outcomes in adolescents and emerging adults: A meta‐analytic review. In Journal of Adolescence.

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68. Feess, E., Mueller, H., & Ruhnau, S. G. (2014). The Impact of Religion and the Degree of Religiosity on Work Ethic: A Multilevel Analysis. In Kyklos.

Though see: Taghavi, S., & Segalla, M. (2023). Is Work an Act of Worship? The Impact of Implicit Religious Beliefs on Work Ethic in Secular vs. Religious Cultures. In Journal of Business Ethics.

69. Carter, E. C., McCullough, M. E., Kim-Spoon, J., Corrales, C., & Blake, A. (2012). Religious people discount the future less. In Evolution and Human Behavior.

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Morgan, J., Clark, D., Tripodis, Y., Halloran, C. S., Minsky, A., Wildman, W. J., Durso, R., & McNamara, P. (2016). Impacts of religious semantic priming on an intertemporal discounting task: Response time effects and neural correlates. In Neuropsychologia.

Kurt, D., Inman, J. J., & Gino, F. (2018). Religious shoppers spend less money. In Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

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Hong, S., Lee, J., Oh, F. D., & Shin, D. (2024). Religion and Household Saving Behavior. In Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance.

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70. Iles-Caven, Y., Gregory, S., Ellis, G., Golding, J., & Nowicki, S. (2020). The Relationship Between Locus of Control and Religious Behavior and Beliefs in a Large Population of Parents: An Observational Study. In Frontiers in Psychology.

71. Gómez, Á., López-Rodríguez, L., Sheikh, H., Ginges, J., Wilson, L., Waziri, H., Vázquez, A., Davis, R., & Atran, S. (2017). The devoted actor’s will to fight and the spiritual dimension of human conflict. In Nature Human Behaviour.

Tossell, C. C., Gómez, A., de Visser, E. J., Vázquez, A., Donadio, B. T., Metcalfe, A., Rogan, C., Davis, R., & Atran, S. (2022). Spiritual over physical formidability determines willingness to fight and sacrifice through loyalty in cross-cultural populations. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

72. Wester, F. E. (2009). Soldier spirituality in a combat zone: Preliminary findings about correlations with ethics and resiliency. In Journal of Healthcare Science and the Humanities.

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73. Frisanco, A., Schepisi, M., Tieri, G., & Aglioti, S. M. (2022). In God’s virtual shoes: embodying the avatar of an omnipotent agent modulates the perception of one’s own abilities and enhances feelings of invulnerability.

74. Pollack, J., Holbrook, C., Fessler, D. M. T., Sparks, A. M., & Zerbe, J. G. (2018). May God Guide Our Guns: Visualizing Supernatural Aid Heightens Team Confidence in a Paintball Battle Simulation. In Human Nature.

75. Holbrook, C., Pollack, J., Zerbe, J. G., & Hahn-Holbrook, J. (2018). Perceived supernatural support heightens battle confidence: a knife combat field study. In Religion, Brain & Behavior.

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