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Full-Text Articles in Communication
Forecasting Changes In Religiosity And Existential Security With An Agent-Based Model, Ross J. Gore, Carlos Lemos, F. Leron Shults, Wesley J. Wildman
Forecasting Changes In Religiosity And Existential Security With An Agent-Based Model, Ross J. Gore, Carlos Lemos, F. Leron Shults, Wesley J. Wildman
VMASC Publications
We employ existing data sets and agent-based modeling to forecast changes in religiosity and existential security among a collective of individuals over time. Existential security reflects the extent of economic, socioeconomic and human development provided by society. Our model includes agents in social networks interacting with one another based on the education level of the agents, the religious practices of the agents, and each agent's existential security within their natural and social environments. The data used to inform the values and relationships among these variables is based on rigorous statistical analysis of the International Social Survey Programme Religion Module (ISSP) …
Exploring Prayer Contexts And Health Outcomes: From The Chair To The Pew, E. James Baesler, Kevin Ladd
Exploring Prayer Contexts And Health Outcomes: From The Chair To The Pew, E. James Baesler, Kevin Ladd
Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications
Prayer in personal, interpersonal, small, and large group contexts is described in relationship to physical, psychological, and spiritual health. A sample of college and middle-aged adults (N = 189) completed cross-sectional surveys. Quantitative analyses revealed that prayer in all contexts predicted higher levels of spiritual health, and that the strongest prayer predictors of health were: large group prayer for mental health, and private and large group prayer for spiritual health. Qualitative results revealed that prayers for physical health in close personal relationships, and table blessing prayers among family members, were two of the most common types of prayer. Suggestions for …
Prayer As Interpersonal Coping In The Lives Of Mothers With Hiv, E. James Baesler, Valerian J. Derlega, Barbara A. Winstead, Anita Barbee
Prayer As Interpersonal Coping In The Lives Of Mothers With Hiv, E. James Baesler, Valerian J. Derlega, Barbara A. Winstead, Anita Barbee
Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications
The spirituality of 22 mothers diagnosed with HIV was explored through face-to-face interviews and revealed that 95% of the mothers pray. Active prayers (e.g., talking to God by adoring, thanking, confessing, and supplicating) were more frequently reported than receptive prayers (e.g., quietly listening to God, being open, surrendering). Supplicatory or petitionary prayers for help and health were the most frequent type of prayer, and adoration was the least frequent. The majority of mothers in the sample perceived prayer as a positive coping mechanism associated with outcomes such as: support, positive attitude/affect, and peace. Overall, results supported expanding the boundary conditions …
Religious Orientation, Persuasion, And Communicator Style, E. James Baesler
Religious Orientation, Persuasion, And Communicator Style, E. James Baesler
Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications
Using a functional approach to religion as an explanatory framework, this essay argues that a quest religious orientation is associated with particular communicator styles and with religious persuasion. The research positively associates quest religious orientation with susceptibility to religious persuasion and negatively associates it with the religious need to persuade others. The results do not generally support the relationship between a quest religious orientation and communicator styles, but the study finds partial support for the relationship between a quest religious orientation and an attentive communicator style.