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Social and Behavioral Sciences

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Series

2017

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Religion

Introduction To The Science Of Virtue, Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn Jan 2017

Introduction To The Science Of Virtue, Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

My students look at me funny when I mention 1980, as if we are studying ancient history. It doesn’t seem that long ago to me, but most of them were ten years shy of being born. Mount St. Helens erupted that year, gifting my classmates and me with an inch of ash for our college graduation day in Portland, Oregon. Rubik’s Cube captured the world’s attention and more of my free time than I care to admit. And a concerned couple at my church approached my wife, Lisa, and me a few weeks before we packed our U-Haul for graduate …


Wisdom, Chapter 1 Of The Science Of Virtue: Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn Jan 2017

Wisdom, Chapter 1 Of The Science Of Virtue: Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The day before I started this chapter I played flag football with some of my doctoral students. Though I am thirty years their senior, I tried my best to keep up for three hours of great fun. Today my sore muscles scream any time I try to move. My wife, Lisa, would say they are reprimanding me for my foolishness. Typing on the keyboard is about the only motion that doesn’t hurt. It seems both fitting and paradoxical to begin writing about wisdom the morning after punishing my body in the name of a good time. Hopefully I haven’t just …


Forgiveness, Chapter 2 Of The Science Of Virtue: Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn Jan 2017

Forgiveness, Chapter 2 Of The Science Of Virtue: Why Positive Psychology Matters To The Church, Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Forgiveness is close to the center of everything Christian. It shows up in the heart of the Lord’s Prayer, which is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which is the centerpiece of how we understand Jesus and his astonishing critical wisdom. “Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matt. 6:12).


A Gratitude Intervention In A Christian Church Community, Jens Uhder, Mark R. Mcminn, Rodger K. Bufford, Kathleen Gathercoal Jan 2017

A Gratitude Intervention In A Christian Church Community, Jens Uhder, Mark R. Mcminn, Rodger K. Bufford, Kathleen Gathercoal

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

This field experiment examined the effects of a gratefulness intervention in the context of a Christian church congregation. Two Christian congregations with comparable demographic and socio-economic characteristics were enrolled and assigned to the experimental and comparison conditions. The gratitude intervention was developed collaboratively with church leaders. Though within-subject effects were found for psychological well-being, spiritual well-being, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, daily spiritual experiences, and favorable views of psychology and interdisciplinary collaboration, the comparison group showed similar increases to the intervention group. Thus, the effects of the gratitude intervention were supported within but not across groups. No significant changes …


The Effects Of Grace Interventions In Church Communities, Rodger K. Bufford, Mark R. Mcminn, Jeff A. Moody, Laura Geczy-Haskins Jan 2017

The Effects Of Grace Interventions In Church Communities, Rodger K. Bufford, Mark R. Mcminn, Jeff A. Moody, Laura Geczy-Haskins

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Grace remains little studied though several recent studies have developed promising ways to measure grace. Here we report two studies involving grace interventions as part of an ongoing investigation of positive psychology in the context of Christian church communities, Study One used a crossover design in which two congregations were measured on grace and other variables at the outset, and again after phases one and two. One congregation received a grace intervention during phase one and the second during phase two. Results showed increased scores on grace but not an expected increase in marital satisfaction among married participants. Study Two …