Spirituality of Science: Implications for Meaning, Well-Being, and Learning.

Scientists often refer to spiritual experiences with science. This research addresses this unique component of science attitudes-spirituality of science: feelings of meaning, awe, and connection derived through scientific ideas. Three studies (N = 1,197) examined individual differences in Spirituality of Science (SoS) and its benefits for well-being, meaning, and learning. Spirituality of Science was related to belief in science, but unlike other science attitudes, spirituality of science was also associated with trait awe and general spirituality (Study 1). spirituality of science also predicted meaning in life and emotional well-being in a group of atheists and agnostics, showing that scientific sources of spirituality can provide similar psychological benefits as religious spirituality (Study 2). Finally, Spirituality of Science predicted stronger engagement and recall of scientific information (Study 3). Results provide support for an experience of spirituality related to science, with benefits for meaning, well-being, and learning.

Attitudes, behavior, and institutional inversion: The case of debt.

Psychologists often posit relatively straightforward attitude-behavior links. They also often study cultural arrangements as manifestations of attitudes and values writ large. However, we illustrate some difficulties with scaling up attitude-behavior principles from the individual-level to the cultural-level: Historical attitudes and values can lead to the creation of intermediating institutions, whose value-expressive functions may be at odds with the behavioral outcomes they produce. Through "institutional inversion," institutions may facilitate rather than inhibit stigmatized behavior. Here we examine attitudes and behavior related to debt, contrast historically Protestant versus Catholic places, and show how cultural attitudes against debt may lead to the creation of institutions that increase-rather than decrease-borrowing. Historical antidebt attitudes in Protestant places have led to contemporary households in Protestant cultures now carrying the highest debt loads. We discuss the importance of supply side factors, attitude → institutions → behavior causal chains, and some blind spots that lead to unintended consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of the Feasibility and Perceived Value of Integrating Learn the Signs. Act Early. Developmental Monitoring Resources in Early Head Start.

Many children with developmental disabilities are not identified before age 3 years old preventing them from being able to fully benefit from early intervention services. Early childhood educators, particularly those in Early Head Start (EHS) programs, are important partners in the early identification of children with developmental delays. Learn the Signs. Act Early. (LTSAE) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that provides free developmental monitoring resources to increase the early identification of children with developmental delays and disabilities. This paper presents findings from the first evaluation of the use of LTSAE resources in EHS, which was conducted across four states and 11 EHS programs from fall 2018 through spring 2019. Surveys (n=448) and interviews (n=39) with EHS management, staff, and parents indicated that LTSAE resources were valued and accepted, and their use in EHS considered feasible. Importantly, families and staff reported the LTSAE materials provided shared language to help them more effectively discuss development. These findings inform EHS and other early education programs that wish to enhance developmental monitoring, screening, and referral.

Anthropocentric biases in teleological thinking: How nature seems designed for humans.

People frequently see design in nature that reflects intuitive teleological thinking-that is, the order in nature that supports life suggests it was designed for that purpose. This research proposes that inferences are stronger when nature supports human life specifically. Five studies (N = 1,788) examine evidence for an anthro-teleological bias. People agreed more with design statements framed to aid humans (e.g., "Trees produce oxygen so that humans can breathe") than the same statements framed to aid other targets (e.g., "Trees produce oxygen so that leopards can breathe"). The bias was greatest when advantages for humans were well-known and salient (e.g., the ozone layer) and decreased when advantages for other targets were made explicit. The bias was not eliminated by highlighting the benefits for other species, however, and emerged spontaneously for novel phenomena ("Jupiter's gravity protects Earth from asteroids"). We conclude that anthropocentric biases enhance existing teleological biases to see stronger design in phenomena where it enables human survival. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Hedonics of Debt.

Psychologists and economists often discuss the "pain" of paying for our purchases. Four experiments examine how people evaluate prospective debt payments, analyzing how different features of a loan (down payment, final payment, duration, monthly payments) affect willingness to accept the loan. Akin to previous findings on physical pain, participants exhibited duration neglect and overweighted final moments. However, participants also focused heavily on the monthly or average payment (unlike in retrospective studies of physical pain where only peak-end moments seem to count). In Experiment 2, participants' willingness to accept the loan was not significantly diminished by making it more expensive through keeping the same monthly payment but extending the length of the loan by 40% (evincing duration neglect). Further, in Experiments 3 and 4, we show that participants increased their willingness to buy if loans were made longer and more expensive by adding smaller, less "painful" payments to the end.

Institutional inversion and the connection between collective attitudes and behavior.

Most psychologists assume a harmonious correspondence between attitudes, behavior, and cultural institutions. However, institutions often act as intermediating forces between collective attitudes and behavior, and institutions' value-expressive function may be at-odds with the actual behavioral outcomes they produce. We illustrate this with the paradox-of-debt: Protestant cultures have traditionally been relatively less sympathetic to debtors than Catholic cultures have been. Consequently, Protestant cultures set up more pro-creditor institutions. With lending being safer and more profitable in Protestant cultures, creditors increased the amount they were willing to lend. With more credit available, people now borrow more in Protestant (versus Catholic) cultures. Intermediating institutions may thus invert the usual attitude-behavior relationship, facilitating rather than inhibiting traditionally stigmatized behavior.

Meanings and Functions of Money in Different Cultural Milieus.

We explore the psychological meanings of money that parallel its economic functions. We explore money's ability to ascribe value, give autonomy, and provide security for the future, and we show how each of these functions may play out differently in different cultural milieus. In particular, we explore the meanings and uses of money across ethnic groups and at different positions on the socioeconomic ladder, highlighting changes over the last 50 years. We examine the dynamics of redistribution between the individual, the family, and the state in different cultures, and we analyze the gendering of money in the world of high finance and in contexts of economic need. The field of behavioral economics has illustrated how human psychology complicates the process of moving from normative to descriptive models of human behavior; such complexity increases as we incorporate the great diversity within human psychology.

Defining Social Class Across Time and Between Groups.

We examined changes over four decades and between ethnic groups in how people define their social class. Changes included the increasing importance of income, decreasing importance of occupational prestige, and the demise of the "Victorian bargain," in which poor people who subscribed to conservative sexual and religious norms could think of themselves as middle class. The period also saw changes (among Whites) and continuity (among Black Americans) in subjective status perceptions. For Whites (and particularly poor Whites), their perceptions of enhanced social class were greatly reduced. Poor Whites now view their social class as slightly but significantly lower than their poor Black and Latino counterparts. For Black respondents, a caste-like understanding of social class persisted, as they continued to view their class standing as relatively independent of their achieved education, income, and occupation. Such achievement indicators, however, predicted Black respondents' self-esteem more than they predicted self-esteem for any other group.