Dark Times and Second Chances: Perceived Growth From Adversity

Using a lifespan perspective, we investigated a neglected aspect of research on religion, namely, whether perceptions of growth from adversity might strengthen religious worldviews, thus accounting for feelings about one's own death in old age. A directed content analysis of in-depth interviews from 16 adults aged 65+ focused on life events, religious worldviews, and death. Findings suggested that participants’ religious worldview beliefs were associated with positive reinterpretation of lifespan adversities such that stressors functioned as opportunities for spiritual growth. Participants’ views of and beliefs about death were without fear, indicating the potential influence of highly individualized and deeply spiritual religious worldview beliefs on the abatement of death fear.

New Sacred Places in Contemporary Poland: Ethnographic Case Study of Two Miracles in Sokółka and Legnica

Events that happened in Poland in 2008 and 2013 related to the alleged miracles in Sokółka (in the Podlasie region) and Legnica (in the Silesia region) seriously affected the native ‘sacrosphere.’ Sensational information about the unusual events polarized public opinion by confronting secular and religious worldviews. At the same time, the increase in the devotion of the faithful was accompanied by folklore-forming mechanisms, adding new threads to the ‘miraculous story.’ Ethnographic research performed in the newly founded sanctuaries reveals elements of sensuality specific to folk religiosity. Miracles displaying the motif of blood build the reputation of Sokółka and Legnica as new holy places, attracting pilgrims and tourists from Poland and abroad. Contrary to pessimistic predictions of widespread secularization, there was a revival of the so-called ‘traditional piety.’ Folk religiosity revealed its vitality.

An initial investigation of the role of death concerns in evaluations of metaphoric language about God

Past research suggests that death pushes some individuals to strongly promote religious worldviews. The current work explores the role of conceptual metaphor in this process. Past research shows that metaphors can provide meaning and certainty, suggesting that death may therefore cause people to be more attracted to epistemically beneficial metaphoric descriptions of God. In three studies, we test this possibility against competing alternatives suggesting that death concerns may cause more selective metaphor preferences. Using both correlational (Study 1 and pre-registered replication) and experimental (Study 2) methods, we find that death concern is generally associated with embracing metaphors about God.

A Hundred Forms of Spirituality in the Least Religious Country in the World

This paper is mainly based on interviews and observations that the author made during the process of writing a book about a hundred forms of religious and spiritual movements, teachings, and techniques in Estonia, thus being a reflection of trends and transformations of spiritual thought and practice in a country that has been repeatedly called the least religious country in Europe or even the whole world. Bringing some topical case analyses from this empirical material, the article will offer an amended interpretative framework for discussing features that are relevant in the research of Western contemporary spiritualities, for example multiple, situational, and fluctuating spiritual identities incongruent with the use of stable categories in religiosity statistics; children as important spiritual agents; mediatized liquidity and hybridity of spiritual thought being part of the ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘open-ended’ spiritual environment; and public conflicts and private symbioses of scientific, spiritual, and religious worldviews.

Viewer as a subject of post-secular era: theoretical-methodological foundations

The goal of this research lies in examination of the phenomenon of viewer, as well as in the attempt to give its definition within the framework of post-secular era. Based on the conditions of human existence and worldview, definition is given in the context of hermeneutical approach, revealing the traits of a viewer through post-secularity, and clarifying his connection with such the socialization process. The peculiarity of the subject of research consists in the fact that post-secular society changes the requirements imposed on a viewer, adding a so-called religious prism to the events unfolding on the screen, which raises the question on the specificity of such prism. The scientific novelty of this work lies in examination of the phenomenon of a viewer in the socio-philosophical context, as well as analysis of a viewer in the post-secular era. It is proven that the viewer of post-secular era faces the clash of religious and non-religious worldviews, which leads to the formation of unstable system of value orientations. The article substantiates that the specificity of post-secular situation is to provoke an internal conflict in a viewer, which would affect the perception of cinematographic plotlines based on compliance with certain moral-ethical norms or preservation of the entertainment principle. Resolution of this conflict is possible in case of creating a specific cinematographic product with quasi-religious content, but enclosed in the entertainment shell.

Belief in free will and victim blaming

The more people believe in free will, the harsher their punishment of criminal offenders. A reason for this finding is that belief in free will leads individuals to perceive others as responsible for their behavior. While research supporting this notion has mainly focused on criminal offenders, the perspective of the victims has been neglected so far. We filled this gap and hypothesized that individuals’ belief in free will is positively correlated with victim blaming—the tendency to make victims responsible for their bad luck. In three studies, we found that the more individuals believe in free will, the more they blame victims. Study 3 revealed that belief in free will is correlated with victim blaming even when controlling for just world beliefs, religious worldviews, and political ideology. The results contribute to a more differentiated view of the role of free will beliefs and attributed intentions.