Martin Lang

New pre-print analyzing 25,000 Christian sermon transcripts across the USA. Churches account for most systematic variance in sermon content, geographic region accounts for none. We identify niches in sermon content that may guide religious competition in USA.

osf.io/preprints/ps...

In our new paper, we show why religious signals can serve as reliable markers of commitment: insiders perceive both cooperative and supernatural benefits in participation, but outsiders—who don’t share those supernatural expectations—see no comparable gains, making the signal not worhtwile

Position: Full-Time Data Scientist, Developing Belief Network Position: Full-Time Data Scientist, Developing Belief Network Description: We are looking for a full-time data scientist to join the Developing Belief Network, a global team of psychologists studying...

If you're a data scientist interested in a full-time or part-time role working with developmental psychologists on cross-cultural data from parents and children, check out this position with the Developing Belief Network. Application review begins October 15, 2025. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Research poster which says: "What does your favourite literary genre say about you? Help us find out! This 10-15 minute survey for an Oxford Brookes University research project asks questions about books you like to read/listen to, as well as some of your interests, worries & coping styles. https://tinyurl.com/Brookesfictionsurvey" on a background image of books.

We're looking for participants for a 10-15 minute survey asking about your favourite fiction genre, interests, worries & coping styles.

brookeshls.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

We're trying to better understand how engagement with fiction relates to how you engage with the world - let us know!

PsyArXiv is now down to only ~40% of the backlog we started with, thanks to our amazing moderators 🎉 To all mods: thank you so much for your hard work!

Did one of your preprints get approved recently? Help us show our thanks by liking and sharing this post :)

#PsyArXiv #PsychSciSky

Latest articles from Religion, Brain & Behavior Browse the latest articles and research from Religion, Brain & Behavior

Book symposium for Jesper Sørensen’s *Why Cultures Persist* posted online at Religion, Brain and Behavior. With commentaries from, among others, RCC’s Anders Klostergaard Petersen and @bgpurzycki.bsky.social.

www.tandfonline.com/action/showA...

Great stuff! Is there a non-paywalled version please?

Screenshot of title and abstract of paper, "In their God we trust: Religious Cognition increases cooperation across religious divides." Abstract: Belief in moralizing Gods is widely thought to foster cooperation between coreligionists, but there is disagreement regarding whether this effect is limited to the religious ingroup or if it extends to members of religious outgroups. Here we report the results of a cross-cultural research program that demonstrates that people who think about God (a) are more trusted by both coreligionists and members of other religious groups and (b) typically behave in a more trustworthy manner toward both ingroups and outgroups. We ran three preregistered studies (N= 1,784) with Christians and Muslims in the United States, Jews and Muslims in Israel, and Christians and Hindus in Fiji. Our contexts varied in multiple ways, including the level of intergroup conflict. Using two-player trust games involving real money, we varied whether participants interacted with ingroup or outgroup members and whether reciprocators considered God when deciding how much to return to trustors. We nd in each context that making moralizing God beliefs of one player salient enhances both intragroup and intergroup cooperation. Our ndings add to a nascent literature documenting the potential for religious cognition to extend moral norms across intergroup divides. We discuss implications for theories of the emergence of moralizing Gods and implications for public debates about religious pluralism in diverse societies.

Now out in JPSP! Behavioral economic experiments w/ Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Jews in the U.S., Israel and Fiji show that belief in God can facilitate cooperation, even across religious divides! More about our work (co-led with @jeremyginges.bsky.social) below! psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

YouTube video by Peer Community In Fate of PCI recommended preprint

PCI Psychology is open for submissions! Did you know that you can easily submit your recommended preprint to 20+ PCI Psych friendly journals? See all friendly journals here: psych.peercommunityin.org/about/pci_fr...
#PsychSciSky #SciPub

Which Kind of Science Reform What hope is there for science reform, if we can't agree on what to reform? Right now, principles are more important than practices.

How can we reform science? I have some ideas. But I am not sure you’ll like them, because they don’t promise much. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07...

Post-Doctoral Position on Cultural Adaptation in Forest Management The University of Maine seeks a post-doctoral researcher for a two-year project on human cultural adaptation in forest management, requiring a strong quantitative background and experience in modeling.

New 2 year post-doc position on cultural adaptation in complex environmental management.

HBES is happy to recognize the following Rising Stars (<8 years post-PhD) for their research contributions:
Mohammad Atari: mohammadatari.com
Catherine Molho: catherinemolho.github.io
Daniel Redhead: www.rug.nl/staff/d.j.re...
Julia Stern: www.uni-bremen.de/en/pppd/team...

Morality and the Gods Cambridge Core - Applied Psychology - Morality and the Gods

Free online for the next two weeks: @bgpurzycki.bsky.social‘s *Morality and the Gods*. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Folks, it's time to submit your papers to PCI Psychology. Here is our invitation to you, taken from our editorial osf.io/preprints/ps...

These are great ideas for all PIs.

Who needs fancy R packages for graphs, when you can plot them in the sand? Many thanks to @martinlangcz.bsky.social for teaching today's class at our field school in Mauritius

This highlights the point that comparisons between humans and machines are continually muddied by a lack of distinction between evolution and development, both of which contribute to learning in the broad sense.

Postdoctoral researcher in social cognition | Masaryk University

Post-doc opportunities in religious cognition don't come up too often these days, but here's a good one in the Czech Republic with @martinlangcz.bsky.social www.muni.cz/en/about-us/...

Global scientists that apply for an ERC to relocated to the EU+UK can now apply for 2m + the ERC (which is 1.5, 2, or 2.5) + startup for large facilities (another potential 0.5). Chance of getting it isnt astronomical but with a resume and plan worth a try! Good time to spend a ~decade in the EU?

Associations between religiosity and climate change beliefs and behaviours in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) Individual actions are crucial to mitigating the impact of anthropogenic climate change. Understanding the factors shaping individuals’ climate beliefs and behaviours is therefore essential to help en...

Can religious beliefs shape peoples' attitudes and behaviours regarding climate change?

We explored this using data from a large-scale UK cohort study (ALSPAC)

In short: Perhaps, but it's complicated. Answer depends on generation, religiosity measure and climate question

doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Yes, we used them for both kids, liked that they are unscented

And: I'm hiring a post-doc! I'm looking for someone with a strong computational background who can start in the summer (or sooner). Details here: apply.interfolio.com/165122

Feel free to reach out with questions (email is best: smlevine@mit.edu) and please share widely!

Rep2SI: Reputation & the Reproduction of Social Inequality. A Leverhulme-funded project based at the LSE, combining ethnography, economic games, and modelling. We're looking for a modeller to join our core team as a two-year postdoctoral research officer.

🚨Job alert! Two-year postdoc to join the Rep2SI project at @lsemethodology.bsky.social! We're looking for a modeller to join our team of ethnographers & experimentalists studying the role of reputation and reputational concern in perpetuating social inequality.
Apply by 4 May: tinyurl.com/yjccd3vv

Frankly, that was one of the most surprising thing when I moved to the US 10 years ago. I asked my landlords for an account number to send them rent and they had no idea what I mean

If you want to understand why we do the things we do, being trained in cross-cultural and evolutionary perspectives is a pretty good start 😊 excellent thread from CCE's @abbeyepage.bsky.social on our MSc in Psychology, Culture & Evolution, now accepting applications 👇

Sorry no PhD positions at the moment, but thanks for your interest!

🚨 Now accepting commentary proposals!! 🚨Thrilled to share that our paper --- "Resource-rational contractualism: A triple theory of moral cognition" --- was accepted for publication at Behavioral and Brain Sciences and is open for commentary!

Where do moralizing religions come from? Useless cognitive by-products?Cultural group selection for complex societies?

Our Psych Review paper argues: neither. Let’s rethink their cognitive & evolutionary origins🧵
w/ @manvir.bsky.social @nbaumard @jbaptistandre.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1037/rev0...

Apply for a fellowship to join us for 2 years at Oxford Brookes Uni!

Deadline is 18 March.

(<7 years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application)