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Humbly More Religious: The Role of Humility in Religious Change
Get PDFRecent polls indicate that rates of individuals in the United States who identify as currently religious are declining (Twenge et al., 2016). Events such as COVID-19, presidential elections, and personal adversity affect religious change, likely because such events threaten one\u27s religious worldview. One understudied area of religious change is intellectual humility. Religious change may be more welcome and less destabilizing. We seek to better understand religious change by examining the critical role of humility. In this study, individuals who attended a ex-vangelical conference participated in a year-long longitudinal study where they answered surveys in both 2019 and 2020. These surveys focused on religious affiliation, intellectual humility about existential issues (IH-E), and religious deconstruction. In total, 240 individuals (85.8% women, 11.2% men, 2.4% gender-nonconforming, and .6% transgender) participated. Additionally, the majority of participants were white/caucasian (57.9%). Of this population, there were individuals who have always been religious (45.6%), were formerly non-religious but now identify as religious (5.9%), left religion but have reidentified (12.4%), are formerly religious (33.1%), and who were never affiliated with religion (3%). Results revealed a significant interaction between religious change (moving toward religion) and intellectual humility (IH-E) around existential concerns on change in religious well-being (b = .77, SE = .27, t = 2.82, p = .006). Specifically, for those low in IH-E, religious change predicted less religious well-being one year later (p = .061), whereas for those high in IH-E, religious change predicted greater religious well-being (p = .027). Having humility when undergoing religious change seems critical for religious well-being. Specifically, moving toward religion humbly results in greater future religious well-being, whereas doing so arrogantly impairs future religious well-being. In the future, we look to advance our research by investigating the relationship between humility and religious deconstruction more broadly
Photovoice: Telling Our Stories, An LGBTQIA Student Project
Get PDFA poster for the exhibition Photovoice: Telling Our Stories held February 3–May 13, 2023.https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/kam_poster/1060/thumbnail.jp
Modeling Olfactory Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease in Zebrafish
Get PDFParkinson\u27s Disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by dopaminergic neuronal loss and motor impairment, affects roughly 1 in 500 people. Interestingly, olfaction loss is prevalent in over 95% of those with PD. However, the underlying mechanisms of PD and olfactory dysfunction are not well understood. Zebrafish provide an ideal model to study neurodegenerative diseases and regenerative processes as they present neurogenic capability (i.e., generation of new neurons) and a high degree of neuroplasticity. We developed a model to study the association between dopaminergic loss and olfactory dysfunction in zebrafish. To do this, we used adult zebrafish of both sexes and injected 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the cerebrospinal fluid at the ventricular zone. We assessed dopaminergic neuronal loss, markers of inflammation, and motor and olfactory behavior 1 and 3 days post injection (dpi). We predicted that following the injection of 6-OHDA there would be dopaminergic neuronal loss and an increase in neuroinflammation, resulting in olfactory loss. We show that at 1 dpi, the olfactory bulbs present a dramatic increase in the number of apoptotic cells, confirming an effective lesioning method. Our preliminary results convey no significant difference in the amount of dopaminergic (TH, tyrosine hydroxylase +) neurons, although a clear trend exists. This trend continues 3 dpi, however we observed control levels of cell apoptosis 3 dpi. Further, there was a stark increase in the neuroinflammatory response, by means of GFAP staining 1 and 3 dpi. Interestingly, we found that 1 and 3 dpi fish displayed increased swimming distance and speed, suggesting that injections might be altering motor behavior. Surprisingly, even after the disclosed morphological differences in the bulbs, we found no differences in olfactory function. Overall, our results show that we successfully optimized a method for injection of 6-OHDA to target dopaminergic neurons in the olfactory system
Can’t Escape Hell: Negative Religious Beliefs Persist Among Religious Dones
Get PDFPrevious research on deidentification from religion explores the residual effects of religion (i.e., religious residue; Van Tongeren et al., 2021). We sought to understand religious residue effects, and predicted that although currently religious individuals would report the highest degree of religious cognition, religious dones would report greater religious cognition than never religious individuals. We examined negative religious beliefs, taboos, pattern detection, and superstitious thinking. A total of 925 participants from the United States and the United Kingdom were recruited through Prolific; 300 currently religious, 298 religious dones and 327 never religious (236 male, 578 female, 4 transgender, 1 other, 4 prefer not to say, 92 no response). Participants were majority white/caucasian (88%) with an age range of 18-77 (average 36.94). Participants responded to a survey regarding the examined topics. A significant main effect was found for religious identity for negative religious beliefs, F(2, 839) = 228.94, p \u3c .001, eta2 = .35 (.30-.40). As predicted, currently religious individuals reported the highest level of religious belief (M = 3.42, SD = .93); significantly more than religious “dones” (M = 2.07, SD = .86) and never religious individuals (M = 1.87, SD = 91; both ps \u3c .001). Religious “dones” also reported significantly greater religious beliefs than never religious individuals (p = .028). We also examined the residual associations of beliefs on other target variables when comparing religious “dones” and never religious individuals across 5,000 bootstrapping iterations using PROCESS. Results indicated a significant indirect effect of negative religious beliefs on pattern detection (estimate = .03, SE = .02, 95% CI .01 to .07) and superstition (estimate = .11, SE = .04, 95% CI .03 to .19). As religious dones reported greater negative religious beliefs, they also were more likely to perceive an erroneous pattern and endorse superstitious beliefs—suggestive of a religious residue effect. This research provides evidence for persistent religious residue on religious cognition, and the centrality of persistent negative religious beliefs
Infants’ Ability to Associate Objects and Their Names
Get PDFLanguage learning is a complex, dynamic process (Kaplan, 2008). Nevertheless, research indicates that infants as young as 6 months can learn the names for common objects (Bergelson & Swingley, 2012). Learning to associate objects and their names is a difficult task. However, research demonstrates that when infants see objects and hear their names simultaneously across multiple settings, they can begin to associate word-object pairings (Yu & Smith, 2008). This process is called cross-situational learning. The present study uses eye-tracking to examine how infants accomplish cross-situational word learning. Infants are randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a naming condition where object names are heard (experimental) and a no naming condition where they are not heard (control). Participants see 12 novel objects on a screen across 80 trials. During each trial, three of the 12 objects are shown (one target , two distractors ). In the naming condition (experimental), one object per trial ( target ) is named (figure A). In the no-naming condition (control), the target is not named. The eye tracker records where participants are looking on the screen. Thirteen infants have participated thus far. We computed the percentage of time infants looked to the target objects compared to distractor objects. If infants in the naming condition are learning to map the novel words to the correct objects, we expect them to look more to the target objects compared to participants in the no-naming condition, but not more to the distractor objects. This is precisely what our preliminary data demonstrates (figure C). This pattern suggests that even when infants see several objects while hearing one object\u27s name, they can learn to link the names to the correct objects over time. Our next steps include gathering more infant data and doing a trial by trial analysis to better understand how infants are accomplishing this cross-situational word learning
A Comparison of the Nike Vaporfly and Nike Dragonfly’s Effect on Running Economy
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to compare the oxygen consumption, stride rate, and stride length of highly trained distance runners wearing the Nike Vaporfly and Nike Dragonfly spikes while running at competitive speeds. Fifteen (6 men and 9 women) collegiate volunteers (aged 18-22) were recruited from Hope College’s Division III cross country team. Participants engaged in a total of 3 visits. On the first visit, all participants were familiarized with the testing protocol. For visits 2 and 3, a planned crossover was completed, and either the Vaporfly or Dragonfly was assigned for each participant to wear. All trials were completed on an antigravity treadmill with body support set at 100%. Participants ran three 4-minute running economy stages, and then immediately performed a maximal test to volitional exhaustion (VO2max). Mean oxygen consumption for females wearing the Vaporfly shoe at 14 and 16 kph were 42.3 ± 1.4 and 47.1 ± 1.71 ml/kg/min respectively, while mean oxygen consumption for females wearing the Dragonfly shoe at 14 and 16 kph were 42.2 ± 1.7 and 45.9 ± 1.6 ml/kg/min, respectively. Mean oxygen consumption for males wearing the Vaporfly shoe at 14 and 16 kph were 43.1 ± 1.0 and 49. 2 ± 1.0 ml/kg/min respectively, while mean oxygen consumption for males wearing the Dragonfly shoe at 14 and 16 kph were 43.5 ± 1.9 and 49.3 ± 1.8 ml/kg/min, respectively. No differences were found in oxygen consumption (p=0.603 for females, p=0.930 for males), stride rate (p=0.487), or stride length (p=0.428) between shoe types. Based on the results of this study, the Vaporfly and Dragonfly shoes result in similar running economy and stride parameters. Further research should investigate the performance of the Vaporfly and Dragonfly on a traditional treadmill instead of the BOOST antigravity treadmill utilized for the present study
Conceptualizing Hope as a Virtue
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to develop a quantitative measure for conceptualizing hope as a virtue while expanding on the psychological framework of hope theory. Hope has predominantly been studied in positive psychology under Snyder\u27s Hope Theory framework (Snyder, 2002). However, its current definition does not encompass a virtuous definition of hope, something that is inherently good. Hope Theory predominately studies hope as a personal trait that promotes individual success and well-being (Schornick et al., 2022). Virtues are a target of much scientific focus and a theoretical framework has recently been proposed to further its empirical study (Fowers et al., 2021). This study follows a qualitative study of moral exemplars of hope and operationally defines virtuous hope as the following: Virtuous hope involves the ardent pursuit of realizing a particular vision of the common good with intention and action, often growing out of adversity, and shaped in relation to other people and the transcendent. Its definition is built on qualitative interviews with moral exemplars of hope. 33 quantitative items were drafted and piloted with an undergraduate sample in the United States, as well as a paid international sample sourced through Prolific. Factor analysis, cronbach\u27s alphas and invariance analyses will be conducted to test and hone the scale. To determine construct validity, the items were piloted alongside measures of hope theory, eschatological hope, depression, justice sensitivity, and flourishing. We hypothesized a mild to moderate positive correlation between virtuous hope, eschatological hope, justice sensitivity, and hope theory and a negative correlation with depression. We anticipate that both eschatological hope (hope from God) and justice sensitivity will be more closely related with virtuous hope compared to hope theory. This study would provide a quantitative measure that is consistent with virtue science and broadly usable to study hope as a virtue
Religious Liberty in Modern American Constitutional Law
Get PDFIn its most recent completed term, the United States Supreme Court decided a number of key cases altering the placement of religious liberty in modern American constitutional law. While the Court has long struck different balances between preserving the constitutional mandates on both religious liberty and religious establishment, there has been a general consensus by those studying the Court that their interpretations over the past twenty years underneath the Roberts Court have trended towards the more accommodationist understanding of religious liberty. There is less agreement on what this newly composed Court and their recent decisions mean for the direction of constitutional understanding of religious liberty. Whether this term is a continuation of a long-standing trend in religious liberty jurisprudence, a complete overhaul by religious zealots, or simply cleaning the house of disorganized and unclear precedent, there are three cases from this last term which offer insight into the current state of religious liberty in American constitutional law. This research examines the opinions of the Court in these cases — Kennedy v. Bremerton, Carson v. Makin, and Shurtleff v. Boston — as key indicators of where the Court is now and where it may be going
Organic Matter Quality Influences Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration Rates in Peatland Soils
Get PDFThe vulnerability of peatland carbon reservoirs to decomposition in a warming climate remains a key uncertainty in Earth System Models. This will be determined in part by the quality of the peatland organic matter, i.e. the ease by which it is decomposed by the microbial community. We developed an index of organic matter quality based on the biochemical composition of the peat. The index uses a principal components analysis of proxies based on the carbohydrate composition, hydrolysable amino acids, C:N, pH, and nutrient availability in the peat porewater. The index was compared with measurements of aerobic and anaerobic respiration rates from microcosm incubations of peat from several depth intervals in cores collected from four areas of Miner Lake Bog (Fennville, MI). We found that both the index and respiration rates declined with depth in the cores. In general, the correlation between organic matter quality and respiration was strongest for aerobic CO2 production, intermediate for anaerobic CO2, and weakest for CH4. This indicates that organic matter quality is an important predictor of the vulnerability of peat to decomposition. However, other factors may be more important in determining CH4 production. With further development, the index can be employed in other peatlands to interpret the organic matter quality and predict future greenhouse gas emissions
\u3ci\u3ePomegranates Underneath\u3c/i\u3e: A Student-Produced Production
Get PDFThe purpose of this presentation is to bring to light the work of the students involved in this fully student- produced and original production of Pomegranates Underneath. As a 490 project produced through the Theatre Department here at Hope College, its goal was for students to fully produce, design, and create a performance, giving them full responsibility for its execution. The thesis of this 490 was creativity under pressure. The production team spent a total of five weeks writing, designing, rehearsing, tech-ing, and performing a fully-developed production. The project was meant to push us to our limits both creatively and logistically, while still allowing us to produce a complete work of which we were proud. Each playwright, director, designer, stage manager, actor, and crew member was working on their own aspect of the production within this condensed timeline, which emphasized collaboration and adaptability. Ultimately, this all culminated in a weekend run of the play which was open to all to see and enjoy