Acts of God
Mendicant orders and the foundations of impersonal exchange
Benito Arruñada & Lucas López-Manuel
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, March 2026
Abstract:
We argue that the main Mendicant Orders of the Late Middle Ages — Dominican and Franciscan — were instrumental in shaping key cultural and institutional traits of impersonal exchange by updating both moral codes and religious practice. As one of the three pillars of impersonal exchange — alongside state capacity and merchant institutions — religiously infused moral cognition provides the focus of our analysis. In line with their specializations, we document opposing effects of the two Orders on individualism, impersonal prosociality, and impartial enforcement: positive from exposure to the Dominicans and negative from exposure to the Franciscans. These effects stem from deep moral changes tied to the emotions of guilt, shame, and compassion, with knowledge and education accounting for historical persistence. We assess these differences across multiple datasets, analytical levels, and historical contexts — always focusing on the differential effects of the two Orders. Our findings invite a reassessment of the Church’s role in cultural and institutional development and underscore the divergent effects of its branches and doctrines.
The Impact of Differing Identity Meanings on Fears of Death
Justin Huft
Social Psychology Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
The relationship between fear of death and religiosity remains unclear, with research offering conflicting evidence. Existing theories — including buffering theory, terror management theory, death apprehension theory, and curvilinearity theory — have struggled to reconcile findings that suggest positive, negative, or curvilinear relationships. This study introduces a novel framework to categorize identity meanings. Grounded in identity theory, I distinguish between behavioral religiosity meanings (e.g., religious attendance) and attitudinal religiosity meanings (e.g., self-perceived religiosity). Using Chapman Survey of American Fears (Waves 2–7) data sets, I find that results reveal opposing effects: behavioral religiosity meanings are negatively related to fear of death, and attitudinal religiosity meanings are positively related to fear of death. These findings clarify mixed results in the literature, suggesting that underlying identity meanings not only can be categorized but also have differential implications for an identity. This study advances identity theory by categorizing identity meanings and calls for nuanced analyses of religiosity's emotional consequences, informing theoretical discourse and practical interventions.
Religion and Black/White Residential Segregation: The Influence of Religious and Regional Context
David Sikkink & Michael Emerson
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research on religious tradition and residential segregation focuses on “open” versus “closed” civic orientations, but ignores the structural effects of religious fields as well as other relevant differences, such as Catholic immigrant parishes and the communal role of Black Protestantism in response to racial hostility in large northern cities during the Great Migration. We argue that the dominant religion in a regional religious field reinforces racial segregation in local areas. Using the county-level 2010 and 2020 US Religion Census, we find that Catholic and mainline Protestant number of adherents is positively related to Black/White residential segregation in the North. Southern mainline Protestantism, as a minority religious actor that played a key role in the Civil Rights movement, is negatively associated with segregation. In contrast, evangelical Protestantism is positively related to segregation in the South, where it has strongly shaped Southern orientations to race, and negatively related in northern regions, especially in the Midwest.
Cultural Roots of Prejudice: Cultural Scripts and the Reactivation of Antisemitism in Germany
Eylem Kanol & Max Schaub
Perspectives on Politics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Negative out-group attitudes are often attributed to perceptions of competition or threat. We propose an alternative source: culture, conceptualized as cultural scripts — interconnected networks of meanings that link particular group identities to negatively connoted phenomena. Evidence comes from three studies on the reactivation of the cultural script of traditional antisemitism in Germany. We begin our analysis by isolating the cultural script through automated analysis of a corpus of antisemitic texts. Next, using survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 17,800), we document an increase in antisemitism among Christian believers. This, we argue, is due to the pandemic activating the cultural script of traditional antisemitism, which links Judaism with the spread of disease. By means of an additional survey (n = 2,000) and a concept association task, we demonstrate the presence of the cultural script in the minds of Christian believers. Two priming experiments explore how elements of the script can be triggered. Our work demonstrates the deep cultural roots of negative out-group attitudes and suggests a novel set of methods for studying them.
Religious markers reduce perceived trustworthiness in a Muslim-majority country
Joshua Hellyer et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 February 2026
Abstract:
First impressions often hinge on visible cues, leading people to infer the trustworthiness of strangers from their appearance and dress. While religiosity is generally associated with greater perceived trustworthiness, little is known about how visible religious markers, such as clothing and grooming styles, shape trust judgments in Muslim-majority societies, where such signals are widespread and easily recognizable. We examine this question using a large-scale vignette experiment embedded in a nationally representative face-to-face survey in Turkey. By experimentally varying profile characteristics, we identify the causal effect of a Muslim headscarf or beard on perceived trustworthiness. Contrary to expectations, individuals displaying these religious badges are generally viewed as less trustworthy than otherwise identical profiles, even by highly religious respondents. Mediation analyses show that these effects arise because religious badges signal multiple attributes, not only religiosity but also political orientation and physical attractiveness—and that these inferred meanings differ by gender: women’s headscarves and men’s beards prompt distinct patterns of inference. These findings show that visible religious markers shape trust judgments through multivalent social inferences rather than perceived piety alone. The results highlight how observers draw on broader social and political associations when interpreting religious markers, providing evidence on how public expressions of religion affect everyday trust judgments.
The Faith Factor. How Scholars’ Religiosity Biases Research Findings on Secularization
Valeria Rainero, Jörg Stolz & Ruud Luijkx
Sociological Science, February 2026
Abstract:
Secularization is one of the most debated areas of research in current sociology of religion. Despite hundreds of empirical studies, researchers do not even agree on the very existence of secularization in different parts of the world. This article investigates whether some of the variability in findings may be attributed not to the social reality investigated but to bias in the form of researchers’ own religiosity. Specifically, we test whether researchers’ religiosity is correlated with two outcomes: their personal belief in the secularization thesis and the likelihood of supporting secularization in their published articles. To address this question, we constructed an international database of scholars working on secularization and conducted a survey measuring their religiosity and beliefs about religious decline. We then coded their publications according to whether they supported the secularization thesis and linked the two data sets. We find significant evidence of a “(non-)religious bias.” Either in their private attitudes or public writings, religious researchers find less evidence for the secularization thesis, whereas secular scholars find more. This result cannot be explained by differences in research methods, study quality, or the religious and geographic contexts under investigation.
Where Hope Thrives: Demographic Variation in Hope across 22 Countries
Victor Counted et al.
Journal of Happiness Studies, January 2026
Abstract:
This cross-national study explores self-rated hope across diverse national and demographic contexts, aiming to bridge the gap in understanding its variability and influence on human flourishing. Utilizing the Global Flourishing Study dataset from 22 countries (N = 202,898) and employing random effects meta-analysis, we explore the cross-national variations in self-rated hope across various sociodemographic factors, including age, gender, marital status, employment, religious service attendance, education, and immigration status. Our findings reveal considerable variations in levels of hope across countries, and some notable differences across demographic groups, highlighting unique individual and societal differences within countries. Pooled across countries, older individuals generally reported slightly higher levels of hope compared to younger individuals; levels of hope were slightly higher among individuals who were married, employed, or had higher levels of education. Of the various demographic factors examined, the largest pooled differences concerned religious service attendance, with those attending religious services more than once a week reporting considerably higher hope levels across multiple countries. However, patterns do vary across countries which underscores how the concept of hope varies and is shaped across geographical and cultural contexts. These insights enhance our understanding of hope as a dynamic construct that is shaped by the places and contexts in which people live, emphasizing the need for culturally sensitive approaches in fostering hope and human flourishing.
The chemical habitability of Earth and rocky planets prescribed by core formation
Craig Walton et al.
Nature Astronomy, forthcoming
Abstract:
A crucial factor governing the habitability of exoplanets is the availability of bioessential elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), which foster prebiotic chemistry and sustain life after its emergence. However, concentrations of P and N in planetary mantles vary, owing to initial availability and oxidation conditions during planet formation, and thus their characterization and availability in planetary environments are challenging. Here we use a core-formation model to show that moderate oxygen fugacity during core formation is the key parameter to the availability of these two elements, with the existence of a narrow ‘chemical Goldilocks zone’ that allows both P and N to be present with the right abundances in the mantle. Earth falls within this zone, whereas planets with more reducing/oxidizing conditions will sequester P/N into the core, hindering their availability for life. Future observations refining estimates of the oxygen fugacity prevalent during exoplanet core formation will be crucial to properly evaluate exoplanetary habitability and correctly interpret possible biosignatures.