A Flaw in the Methodology in the Studies of Prayer by Psychologists
Hope, Orientation and Tranquility in Prayer
Freud recognized that one of the problems with religions, religious beliefs, and spirituality is that the concept of “God” and “Spirit” or “spirits” is that it invokes the “Supernatural.” The problem being of course that the supernatural is, in fact “super” natural and not being natural is not measurable. You cannot put God or Spirit under the microscope. Thus, Freud reasoned that ‘scientifically’ the only truly meaningful way of approaching religion and spirituality is from a functional approach. That is, one can only analyze the “function” of religious beliefs and spirituality. It is surprising that there have not been a whole lot of studies on prayer. Many of them have found that prayer fails and is not a viable human activity. All studies that I have seen, have focused and analyzed the ‘efficacy’ of prayer. That is, they look at whether prayer actually works. So, these studies are trying to measure “divine intervention” for all practical purposes and so are trying to measure the “supernatural” which Freud believed could not be done.
Byrd’s Prayer Study
In one of the interesting and positive studies of prayer, the medical cardiologist-doctor, Randolph C Byrd conducted a large study of the effects of prayer on health of 393 hospital patients. Byrd notes in his article that “In reviewing the social and scientific literature on the efficacy of prayer to the Judeo-Christian God there seems to be no end to articles discussing it but very few articles that actually test for the effects of prayer. The Bible records examples of the effectiveness of prayer in healing in the book of Genesis 20:17, 18; Numbers 12:13; and Acts 28:8.” (p. 828 (1))
Patients were randomly assigned to experimental “prayer groups” or control groups and the hospital staff had no knowledge of who belonged to which group. All patients were given an extensive physical examination before being engaged in the experiment. Byrd summarizes the positive results of his experiment: “The severity score showed that the prayer group had an overall better outcome (P < .01) and the multivariate analysis produced a P value of <.0001 on the basis of the prayer group’s lesser requirements for antibiotics, diuretics, and intubation/ventilation.” (p.829, (1)) While most of the relatively few studies on prayer produced no significant positive results, Byrd’s experiment double-blind experiment did produce some positive results. What is interesting is that three to seven prayer “intercessors” were assigned to each patient in the experimental group. David Wulff notes that “When the overall course of the hospital stay was graded good, intermediate or bad, the prayed-for patients scored significantly higher.” (p. 171 (2))
Viktor Frankl’s Vision of Spirituality
Viktor Frankl, the brilliant Jewish psycho-analyst, noted in his iconic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, that from his experience in Nazi concentration camps, he found that it was not necessarily the robust or the physically well-built men that survived, but the 'spiritual' or intellectual types. He believed that these spiritual men had a corner of their mind into which to retreat from the very brutal, cruel, and inhumane world in which they lived. Of course, Frankl is famous for his argument that the primary drive of a human being is the Will to meaning! Recently I met a woman named Millie, a coworker, whose daughter, Joyce, not long ago, was diagnosed with liver cancer. Joyce’s doctor gave her one year to live. Both Millie and Joyce, are fervent “believers” and prayed incessantly and intensely. After a couple of months, the tumors in her liver actually shrank. And just last week, at the end of October (2018), Millie told me that Joyce is now cancer-free!!! In my view, the emotion or drive of “hope” is a vital force and characteristic of human consciousness. As Joyce’s mother, Millie, stated emphatically, "A positive attitude is everything!"
Tom, a psychologist who cares for autistic children, stated, “I think that spirit is absolutely essential for survival. It seems that when people lose their spirit…. they die.” In medicine, with medical doctors like Dr. Harold Koenig (of duke University), Dr. Amit Sood (Mayo clinic), or PhD Keith Karren, the “body-mind-spirit” paradigm has become quite popular – again (Pythagoras was the first philosopher to propose that model in his philosophy). Keith Karren does emphasize the importance of emotions and specifically designates “hope” as a vital and pivotal emotion in human consciousness. In his book, Mind Body Spirit, he states, “As it turns out, optimism has tremendous influence on the immune system. In fact, it sends “live messages to the body and literally kicks the immune system into gear, promoting the healing process. And that has been a consistent finding of more than five hundred scientific studies…..” (p.62) It should be noted that besides speaking about compassion, the scriptures also address the subject of hope several times: Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mr. Wright’s Miracle
The "Placebo" effect is a widely-tested, well-documented and convincingly demonstrated effect and phenomenon. You give a person a medication and tell them this will cure them of whatever disease or illness they have - and it works. Beliefs are extremely powerful drives in human consciousness. So, in that context, I would bring to your attention a story documented by modern medicine so you understand that the human body is capable of some amazing things – more so than what one might ordinarily think possible. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist and author, tells the rather miraculous story of Mr. Wright as recounted by his doctor, Dr. Klopfer.
The story begins with Mr. Wright at death’s door. “His body was riddled with tumors, his liver and spleen were enlarged, his lungs were filled with fluid, and he needed an oxygen mask to breathe.” (p.3) On hearing about the new drug Krebiozen, touted by the media as a miracle cure, Mr. Wright pleaded with Dry Klopfer to be given the drug. Dr. Klopfer gave him an injection on Friday. On returning Monday, Dr. Klopfer discovered, much to his astonishment, that “Mr. Wright’s tumors had shrunk to half their original size, something that even radiation treatments could not have accomplished….and after ten days practically all signs of the disease had disappeared.” But that is not the end of the story.
Mr. Wright was the only patient who showed any improvement. A couple of months later the Food and Drug administration published a very negative report on the drug Mr. Wright had been given. After hearing of the report, Mr. Wright “immediately became ill.” Dr. Klopfer realized that it was Mr. Wright’s belief in the drug that had affected the cure. So, he told Mr. Wright a “new, super-refined, double-strength product” had come out. After injecting him with water, Mr. Wright improved right away and his tumors disappeared again. Then a new report by the American Medical Association calling Krebiozen “worthless” was published in newspapers. Two days after reading the newspaper article trashing Krebiozen, Mr. Wright was dead.
The power of belief, the empowerment of meaning, is an incredibly strong force in human behavior. The human body is quite literally a miracle and it is clear from this story that the human body is incredibly intricate that must be interconnected at the microscopic level. One person I told this story to responded, “Oh, yes, the placebo effect.” Einstein once said anyone who can’t perceive the miracles that happen each and every day in this world is, for all practical purposes, dead to the world. Placebo effects don’t suddenly and completely cure people – just doesn’t happen. Mr. Wright’s story goes way beyond the placebo effect. Personally, I consider Mr. Wright’s story a reflection of human spirit. The human body and spirit are capable of incredible things. The moral of the story is “Never give up!” and as Millie says, “Always stay positive!”
The Methodological Flaw in Studies of Prayer
That brings us full circle back to the issue of prayer. Freud in one of his saner moments stated categorically that the only real possible approach for science in understanding religion and religious beliefs is to analyze its function(s). In the preceding paragraph I believe I have shown that, in general, psychology has not done functional analyses. That, is in the Psychology of Religion there would seem to exist a prevalent methodological flaw in the psychological approach to religion. So, in light of a functional approach, one should ask, ‘What possible functions could prayer possibly have?’ First, I would mention in passing that science has shown that to some extent meditation, as well as prayer, to an extent has been shown to have a calming and stabilizing effect. Anglican father Tom told me, once, when we were talking about prayer, that there is one specific prayer that helps him a lot when he gets upset. He said as soon as he reads it the prayer calms him down. I’m sure that is true for many people, though, to my knowledge, that characteristic has not been studied by psychologists. And common sense would seem to suggest that prayer might also help focus peoples’ attention on some salient issue or issues and thus possibly assist a person in grappling with a problem and seeking possible solutions for problems.
Orientation: One possible function of prayer
Some years ago, I saw a TV video clip about a woman outside a Cathedral in Paris who had just come from praying after the second bloody ISIS attack in France. A number of French people were killed. The question that occurred to me was, “What had she been praying about in the Catholic Cathedral? The thought crossed my mind that she very well may have been “orienting” herself to that terrible and violent act of terrorism by ISIS. I’m sure she would have prayed for the victims and the families of the victims of that attack. In praying for the victims of that terrorist act I’m sure the anterior cingulate region in her brain, which has been implicated in feelings of empathy for others, was activated.
Roy Baumeister has shown that the “Need to Belong” is a powerful drive in human nature, and powerful emotions are involved in the need to belong. So, the bottom line in praying for others, positive “affects” and emotions would have been generated. And science has shown that positive emotions have definite health benefits. Also, she would thus reinforce her self-image as a compassionate individual. In praying for the police and in reaching out to God, she would be calming her fears and assuring herself of protection. I’m sure the woman also prayed for the police, hoping I’m sure they would bring these criminals to justice and protect her. So, that kind of orientation would have a calming effect and probably reduce anxiety. Baumeister notes that even “false” beliefs in “Control” (he argues that a lot of religion is about “control – though to my best recollection he doesn’t being up Christ’s teaching about compassion) generate positive affect and reduce anxiety. Hume, long, long before Baumeister) argued pretty much exactly the same thing. I would argue that if a person is trying to exert control in a situation which is dangerous it is actually possible, however unlikely, that some real positive good might come of it.
Conclusion:
To my knowledge, none of the studies on prayer addressed the question of what the function of prayer is in human consciousness and the human mind. Psychology seems to have focused entirely on the efficacy of “divine intervention,” as it were. That focus distorts the truth and reality of prayer by sending the message that prayer is ineffective. A textbook on Aging lists two studies which showed prayer is ineffective. Yet when one assesses prayer in giving "hope" and providing "orientation" to people, then prayer would seem readily apparent to actually be a very worthwhile endeavor. Also as the prominent social psychologist Roy Baumeister points out, the need to belong and relationships with others can be very powerful influences in one’s life. Thus, praying for others could potentially tap into very powerful instincts, emotions, and biochemicals. For instance, prayer for others would probably involve the anterior cingulate which has been demonstrated to function instinctually in expression of empathy for others (i.e. Psychologist Tania Singer's study of empathy).
In any case the studies of prayer by psychology, by consistently taking the “divine intervention” or supernatural” aspect way out of context would seem to make those studies seriously (and terminally) flawed. These studies should be “thrown out” and eliminated because of that. Psychology consistently distorts spirituality and religious beliefs. Freud has been around for nearly one hundred hears. One can only wonder why psychologists, who are all well aware of Freud, failed to bring up the issue of “function” and utterly failed to criticize or object to the studies of prayer. The “superstitious stigma” of spirituality is very powerful among social scientists and psychologists in particular, and would seem to influence a seeming consistent distortion of religious beliefs and spirituality.
(1) Byrd, R. C. (1988). Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Population. Southern Medical Journal, 81, 826-829.
(2) Wulff, David M. Wulff (1991), The Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views, John Wiley and Sons, New York
James Gillies and Robert A. Neimeyer (2006), Loss, Grief, And The Search For Significance Toward A Model Of Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement, Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 19: 31-65, 2006
Mark R. Leary and June Price Tangney (editors) (2003), Handbook of Self and Identity, The Guilford Press, New York, 2003
Tania Singer references:
http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Experts/Tania-Singer.htm
https://charterforcompassion.org/discovering-empathy/dr-tania-singer-and-the-neuroscience-of-empathy
Dr Amit Sood Mindfulness: https://www.mindfulleader.org/amit-sood
Dr. Harold Koenig Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Koenig on what spirituality can do for you: https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/2006/05/what-religion-can-do-for-your-health.aspx