The Psychology of Prayer: A Review of Empirical Research

Siôn, Tania ap; Francis, Leslie J.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9018-9_14

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Following the global neglect, from the mid-1980s until now, prayer has gained central importance in understanding the effect of religion and spirituality on human health (22). Religion and religious practices are embedded in the Iranian culture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Recitation of Tawassul Prayer on Anxiety and Physiological Parameters of Patients with Myocardial Infarction Admitted to Coronary Care Unit: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sadati

Raiesdana²,

Asgari³

et al. 2021

ircmj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and Aims: Anxiety following acute myocardial infarction is a particularly important issue. Prayer is one of the basic human needs that is related to mental health. In this regard, this study aimed to determine the effect of recitation of Tawassul prayer on anxiety and physiological parameters of patients with myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was performed on 80 patients for 6 months from August 2017 to March 2018. They were selected by the targeted sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups with gender and age block randomization. The subjects were asked to complete the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Physiologic parameters were measured and participants in the intervention group listened to the recitation of the Tawassul Prayer with headphones. Results: In the experimental group, the mean of anxiety scores before and after intervention were 11.17±3.06 and 5.81±3.16, respectively, which had a significant difference (P<0.001). There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean scores of anxiety before and after intervention (P<0.001) and the respiratory rate before and after intervention (P=0.025). Conclusion: Prayer affected the level of anxiety and respiratory rate. This prayer is useful for reducing anxiety and improving the respiratory rate in patients with myocardial infarction.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Recitation of Tawassul Prayer on Anxiety and Physiological Parameters of Patients with Myocardial Infarction Admitted to Coronary Care Unit: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sadati

Raiesdana²,

Asgari³

et al. 2021

ircmj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, recent scholarship on prayer emerges from diverse geographical locations. The effect of prayer on the transformation of the individual is of interest within psychology (see Sion and Francis, 2009), sociology, and anthropology. Psychological studies have looked into how prayer practices and routines have contributed to overall well-being or increased mental health (Ijaz et al, 2017) and have recognised that an individual’s cognitive and social positionality play a role in understanding prayer practices (Sharp, 2012).…”

Section: Engaging With the ‘Sociology Of Prayer’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prayer as an actant: Freedom and sociality in the subject formation of a Catholic nun in Kerala, South India

ANTONY

Robinson

2023

Social Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Going beyond current sociological and anthropological understandings, the article harnesses Latour’s idea of actant to grasp prayer as a comparatively independent entity, analytically cleavable from the nun’s act of praying. Based on an ethnographic study of two indigenous congregations of Catholic nuns in Kerala, India, the article argues that conceptualising prayer as actant takes it out of pure interior spirituality and re-imagines it as a form of the sociality of a nun, which includes her relationships with herself, with God, and with those inside and outside the convent, particularly those who solicit her prayers. Perceiving prayer as an actant brings the non-human, divine but real and active presence of God into sociological conversation, enabling us to examine its crucial place in the discipline and formation of the nun as a subject within her everyday life in the congregation. Moreover, analysing its diverse modes locates prayer within the networks and relationships of the congregational community, thereby engaging Foucault’s subjectivation with Latour’s actant.

show abstract

“…Despite, or perhaps because of, its definitional ambiguities and evolving nature (Woodhead, 2015), it has long been the subject of theoretical and empirical scholarship beyond the realms of pure theology, with a conspicuous renaissance of interest since the 1980s. Especially notable contributions have been made by psychologists (Francis and Evans, 1995; Francis and Astley, 2001; Breslin, 2006; ap Siôn and Francis, 2009; ap Siôn, 2010: 32–129; Spilka and Ladd, 2013; Ladd, 2016) and sociologists (Giordan and Woodhead, 2013, 2015). Although these academic studies have extended to Great Britain, their focus has been somewhat concentrated, notably on the personality and other correlates of prayer among children and young people, investigated by Leslie Francis and members of his research group 1 , and latterly on adult requests for intercessory prayer, particularly examined by Tania ap Siôn (2010: 141–290) 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Britain on its knees: Prayer and the public since the Second World War

Field

2017

Social Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As an additional – and less familiar – key performance indicator of secularization, this article offers a meta-analysis of over-time quantitative data about private prayer in modern Britain, mostly derived from national cross-sectional sample surveys among adults. Despite the fragmentary nature of the evidence and its methodological challenges, with consequent variability in results, the direction of travel is clear. Self-reported regular (weekly or more) private prayer has declined from one-half to one-quarter of the population over the past half-century, while the proportion never praying has risen from one-fifth to one-half. There have been parallel falls in belief in prayer and its efficacy. Gender, age, and ethnicity are the main secular attributes impacting prayer behaviour, relatively higher levels of which also correlate with above average religiosity, belief in God, and churchgoing and with being Roman Catholic or non-Christian. Prayer statistics thus corroborate other indicators which suggest that secularization in Britain has been a progressive, rather than sudden, process.

show abstract

The Psychology of Prayer: A Review of Empirical Research

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Effect of Recitation of Tawassul Prayer on Anxiety and Physiological Parameters of Patients with Myocardial Infarction Admitted to Coronary Care Unit: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Effect of Recitation of Tawassul Prayer on Anxiety and Physiological Parameters of Patients with Myocardial Infarction Admitted to Coronary Care Unit: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Prayer as an actant: Freedom and sociality in the subject formation of a Catholic nun in Kerala, South India

Britain on its knees: Prayer and the public since the Second World War

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About