Kevin Ladd is a social psychologist and Associate Professor at Indiana University. He conducts most of his research in the area of the psychology of religion. In particular, he is interested in the topic of prayer. He is co-author, with Bernard Spilka, of The Psychology of Prayer: A Scientific Approach.
He is currently working on a three year project funded by the John Templeton Foundation to explore what people tend to think about while praying, how people literally see the world in terms of spiritual importance, what people tend to feel while praying, and how people use their bodies while praying. Other research interests include the interface of science & religion, prayer, wisdom, music, ritual, health, coping, prejudice, psychometrics, physiology, neuroimaging, synesthesia, spiritual transformation, character development, personality, clergy & congregational performance/satisfaction, magic.
Ladd begins the interview by discussing what it means to pray. Perhaps most important, he explains how prayer is defined for research purposes, emphasizing that there is no essential definition, nor is one desirable. In taking care to uphold a scientific understanding of prayer, rather than a theologically apologetic one,...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
The views expressed in podcasts, features and responses are the views of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Religious Studies Project or our sponsors. The Religious Studies Project is produced by the Religious Studies Project Association (SCIO), a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (charity number SC047750).
