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Bulbulia JA, Afzali MU, Yogeeswaran K, Sibley CG. Long-term causal effects of far-right terrorism in New Zealand. PNAS Nexus 2023; 2:pgad242. [PMID: 37614668 PMCID: PMC10443658 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
The Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019, committed by a radical right-wing extremist, resulted in the tragic loss of 51 lives. Following these events, there was a noticable rise in societal acceptance of Muslim minorities. Comparable transient reactions have been observed elsewhere. However, the critical questions remain: can these effects endure? Are enduring effects evident across the political spectrum? It is challenging to answer such questions because identifying long-term causal effects requires estimating unobserved attitudinal trajectories without the attacks. Here, we use six preattack waves of Muslim acceptance responses from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) to infer missing counterfactual trajectories (NZAVS cohort 2012, N = 4,865 ; replicated in 2013 cohort, N = 7,894 ). We find (1) the attacks initially boosted Muslim acceptance; (2) the magnitude of the initial Muslim acceptance boost was similar across the political spectrum; (3) no changes were observed in negative control groups; and (4) two- and three-year effects varied by baseline political orientation: liberal acceptance was stable, conservative acceptance grew relative to the counterfactual trend. Overall, the attacks added five years of growth in Muslim acceptance, with no regression to preattack levels over time. Continued growth among conservatives highlights the attack's failure to divide society. These results demonstrate the utility of combining methods for causal inference with national-scale panel data to answer psychological questions of basic human concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A Bulbulia
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Psychology, Speech, Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - M Usman Afzali
- School of Psychology, Speech, Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Kumar Yogeeswaran
- School of Psychology, Speech, Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Chris G Sibley
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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Highland B, Worthington EL, Davis DE, Sibley CG, Bulbulia JA. National longitudinal evidence for growth in subjective well-being from spiritual beliefs. J Health Psychol 2021; 27:1738-1752. [PMID: 33855887 DOI: 10.1177/13591053211009280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research finds an association between spirituality and subjective well-being. However, the widespread use of poorly defined concepts of spirituality, tautological spirituality scales, and heavy reliance on cross-sectional samples cast doubts on prior findings. Here, we leverage ten waves of panel data from a nationally diverse longitudinal study to systematically test whether having spiritual beliefs leads to growth in personal well-being and life satisfaction (N = 3257, New Zealand, 2010-2020). Contrary to previous research, we find that belief in a spirit or life force predicts lower personal well-being and life satisfaction. However, in support of previous speculation, belief (relative to disbelief) in a spirit or life force predicts increasing personal well-being and life satisfaction over time. These findings are robust even while accounting for known demographic influences; they even hold among those who believe in a God but disbelieve in a spirit or life force. The recent growth in spiritual beliefs and decline in traditional religion across many industrial societies motivates further causal investigations of the mechanisms by which spiritual beliefs lead to growth in subjective well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Don E Davis
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Chris G Sibley
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Joseph A Bulbulia
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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Shaver JH, Power EA, Purzycki BG, Watts J, Sear R, Shenk MK, Sosis R, Bulbulia JA. Church attendance and alloparenting: an analysis of fertility, social support and child development among English mothers. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190428. [PMID: 32594868 PMCID: PMC7423262 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many aspects of religious rituals suggest they provide adaptive benefits. Studies across societies consistently find that investments in ritual behaviour return high levels of cooperation. Another line of research finds that alloparental support to mothers increases maternal fertility and improves child outcomes. Although plausible, whether religious cooperation extends to alloparenting and/or affects child development remains unclear. Using 10 years of data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we test the predictions that church attendance is positively associated with social support and fertility (n = 8207 to n = 8209), and that social support is positively associated with fertility and child development (n = 1766 to n = 6561). Results show that: (i) relative to not attending, church attendance is positively related to a woman's social network support and aid from co-religionists, (ii) aid from co-religionists is associated with increased family size, while (iii) fertility declines with extra-religious social network support. Moreover, while extra-religious social network support decreased over time, co-religionist aid remained constant. These findings suggest that religious and secular networks differ in their longevity and have divergent influences on a woman's fertility. We find some suggestive evidence that support to mothers and aid from co-religionists is positively associated with a child's cognitive ability at later stages of development. Findings provide mixed support for the premise that ritual, such as church attendance, is part of a strategy that returns high levels of support, fertility and improved child outcomes. Identifying the diversity and scope of cooperative breeding strategies across global religions presents an intriguing new horizon in the evolutionary study of religious systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ritual renaissance: new insights into the most human of behaviours'.
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Affiliation(s)
- John H Shaver
- Religion Programme, School of Social Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.,Centre for Research on Evolution, Belief and Behaviour, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Eleanor A Power
- Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Benjamin G Purzycki
- Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 3, Building 1451, 525, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Joseph Watts
- Religion Programme, School of Social Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.,Centre for Research on Evolution, Belief and Behaviour, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.,Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Rebecca Sear
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Mary K Shenk
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16801, USA
| | - Richard Sosis
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, U-2176, Storrs, CT 06269-2176, USA
| | - Joseph A Bulbulia
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany.,Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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Mogan R, Fischer R, Bulbulia JA. To be in synchrony or not? A meta-analysis of synchrony's effects on behavior, perception, cognition and affect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Shaver JH, Troughton G, Sibley CG, Bulbulia JA. Religion and the Unmaking of Prejudice toward Muslims: Evidence from a Large National Sample. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0150209. [PMID: 26959976 PMCID: PMC4784898 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2015] [Accepted: 02/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In the West, anti-Muslim sentiments are widespread. It has been theorized that inter-religious tensions fuel anti-Muslim prejudice, yet previous attempts to isolate sectarian motives have been inconclusive. Factors contributing to ambiguous results are: (1) failures to assess and adjust for multi-level denomination effects; (2) inattention to demographic covariates; (3) inadequate methods for comparing anti-Muslim prejudice relative to other minority group prejudices; and (4) ad hoc theories for the mechanisms that underpin prejudice and tolerance. Here we investigate anti-Muslim prejudice using a large national sample of non-Muslim New Zealanders (N = 13,955) who responded to the 2013 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. We address previous shortcomings by: (1) building Bayesian multivariate, multi-level regression models with denominations modeled as random effects; (2) including high-resolution demographic information that adjusts for factors known to influence prejudice; (3) simultaneously evaluating the relative strength of anti-Muslim prejudice by comparing it to anti-Arab prejudice and anti-immigrant prejudice within the same statistical model; and (4) testing predictions derived from the Evolutionary Lag Theory of religious prejudice and tolerance. This theory predicts that in countries such as New Zealand, with historically low levels of conflict, religion will tend to increase tolerance generally, and extend to minority religious groups. Results show that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments are confounded, widespread, and substantially higher than anti-immigrant sentiments. In support of the theory, the intensity of religious commitments was associated with a general increase in tolerance toward minority groups, including a poorly tolerated religious minority group: Muslims. Results clarify religion's power to enhance tolerance in peaceful societies that are nevertheless afflicted by prejudice.
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Affiliation(s)
- John H. Shaver
- Religious Studies Programme, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Geoffrey Troughton
- Religious Studies Programme, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Chris G. Sibley
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Joseph A. Bulbulia
- Religious Studies Programme, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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Bulbulia JA, Xygalatas D, Schjoedt U, Fondevila S, Sibley CG, Konvalinka I. Images from a jointly-arousing collective ritual reveal affective polarization. Front Psychol 2014; 4:960. [PMID: 24399979 PMCID: PMC3872332 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2013] [Accepted: 12/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Collective rituals are biologically ancient and culturally pervasive, yet few studies have quantified their effects on participants. We assessed two plausible models from qualitative anthropology: ritual empathy predicts affective convergence among all ritual participants irrespective of ritual role; rite-of-passage predicts emotional differences, specifically that ritual initiates will express relatively negative valence when compared with non-initiates. To evaluate model predictions, images of participants in a Spanish fire-walking ritual were extracted from video footage and assessed by nine Spanish raters for arousal and valence. Consistent with rite-of-passage predictions, we found that arousal jointly increased for all participants but that valence differed by ritual role: fire-walkers exhibited increasingly positive arousal and increasingly negative valence when compared with passengers. This result offers the first quantified evidence for rite of passage dynamics within a highly arousing collective ritual. Methodologically, we show that surprisingly simple and non-invasive data structures (rated video images) may be combined with methods from evolutionary ecology (Bayesian Generalized Linear Mixed Effects models) to clarify poorly understood dimensions of the human condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A Bulbulia
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand ; LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Dimitris Xygalatas
- LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic ; Interacting Minds Center, Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Uffe Schjoedt
- Interacting Minds Center, Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Sabela Fondevila
- Center for Human Evolution and Behavior, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid, Spain
| | - Chris G Sibley
- Department of Psychology, University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ivana Konvalinka
- Section for Cognitive Systems, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark Lyngby, Denmark
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