W Paul Williamson
Biographic Data
| ID | 257466 |
|---|---|
| NAME | W Paul Williamson |
| GIVEN NAMES | W Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Williamson |
| SIGNATURE | WILLIAMSON W P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Henderson State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8200-3592 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Christian Serpent Handling Sects of Appalachia and their fundamentals of faith
Introduction to Special Issue in Honor of Ralph W. Hood, Jr
Williamson WP, Silver CF, Streib H. Introduction to Special Issue in Honor of Ralph W. Hood, Jr. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion . 2021;31(3):153-155
In the Face of Adversity
This study explored the lived experience of adversity as spiritual struggles among fundamentalists. Ten Christian fundamentalists participated in phenomenological interviews and provided descriptions of their experiences with adversity. A hermeneutic-thematic analysis of transcribed interviews derived a structured pattern of five interdependent themes that described meaning in the experience of adversity for all participants. In adversity, they w…
Conjectures and Controversy in the Study of Fundamentalism
In Conjectures and Controversy in the Study of Fundamentalism, W. Paul Williamson takes a critical look at the sociohistorical emergence of fundamentalism and examines how historians constructed popular, though questionable, conceptions of the movement that have dominated decades of empirical research in psychology. He further analyzes the notions of militancy and anti-modernity as valid characterizations of fundamentalism and examines whether fu…
The Lazarus Project
The God Mysticism Scale
The Experience of Muslim Prayer
Poison-drinking in obedience to the faith
In Appalachia, there are certain Christian sects who handle venomous serpents in their church services. Although their serpent handling has received some attention, another of their practices, poison-drinking, has all but escaped the concern of investigators. Addressing this issue, this study included phenomenological interviews with seven believers who ingested strychnine at church. A hermeneutic analysis of their transcribed interviews discover…
Religious fundamentalism and perceived threat
This study investigated the experimental effect of threat on religious fundamentalism (RF) and the tendency towards reprisal. We presented 102 Christians with one of three scenarios, involving the hire of a Christian biologist, evolution biologist, or a (neutral) communications expert as professor at their university, and also the subsequent sanctioning of his speeding violation. Moderated multiple regression analyses of Christian/evolutionist da…
Religious fundamentalism and racial prejudice
We examined religious fundamentalism (RF) and racial prejudice (RP) using the implicit Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and explicit Feeling Thermometer (FT). Ninety undergraduates (38 Blacks and 52 Whites) from a small southern USA university participated. We experimentally manipulated aggression/love Bible texts to study any influence on RP, but found that it had no effect on reducing pretest–posttest AMP scores. Analysis of AMP posttest d…
The Role of Mentoring in Spiritual Transformation
The Lazarus Project
This is a longitudinal study of spiritual transformation at the Lazarus Project (LP), a 12-month Pentecostal-Charismatic residency program for substance abuse. In 2006, we began administering to residents an assessment protocol consisting of psychological (depression, self-esteem, psychopathology, Big 5 personality markers) and religiosity (fundamentalism, religious orientation, spiritual well-being, mysticism) measures. Assessments were at: (T1)…
Spiritual Transformation
Spirit baptism
Pentecostalism and glossolalia have received much attention from the social sciences in recent decades. Although much has been learned from research, little attention has been given to initial Spirit baptism (SB) from a descriptive point of view, and none has been given from a phenomenologically oriented approach – which was the concern of this study. To investigate the experience of SB, we conducted phenomenological interviews with eight partici…
The Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale
This paper introduces a new five-item cross-cultural fundamentalism scale based on the principle of intratextuality. Free of belief content and concerns with militancy, each of the five items taps into a different facet of intratextuality that collectively assess the attitudes that fundamentalists maintain toward their sacred text—namely, a persuasion that it is divine in origin, inerrant, privileged above all other texts, authoritative, and unch…
Survey Research and Islamic Fundamentalism
Psychology of religion research has historically borrowed heavily from the quantitative approach of mainstream psychology. This study illustrates difficulties that are sometimes related to this practice, even when using instruments that have proven to be psychometrically sound. We distributed an earlier reliable and valid version of the Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale (CitationWilliamson & Hood, 2005), developed with a U.S. Christian sample, in…
Religious Orientation, Incentive, Self-Esteem, and Gender as Predictors of Academic Dishonesty
It is widely assumed that religion is responsible for dictating and guiding moral behavior. This study investigated that claim and its relationship to monetary incentive, self-esteem, and gender within the context of academic dishonesty. A sample of 65 undergraduate students (32 men; 33 women) were assessed using a revision of Allport's Religious Orientation Scale (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) and then monitored for cheating on a computerized versi…
Differential Maintenance and Growth of Religious Organizations Based upon High-Cost Behaviors
W. Paul Williamson, Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Differential Maintenance and Growth of Religious Organizations Based upon High-Cost Behaviors: Serpent Handling within the Church of God, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Dec., 2004), pp. 150-168
Dimensions of the Mysticism Scale
In a mostly Christian American sample (N = 1,379), confirmatory factor analysis of Hood's (1975) Mysticism Scale verified the existence of Stace's (1960) introvertive and extrovertive dimensions of mystical phenomenology along with a separate interpretation factor. A second study confirmed the presence of these three factors in not only another group of Americans (N = 188), but also in a sample of Iranian Muslims (N = 185). Relationships of the i…
A Phenomenological Analysis of the Anointing among Religious Serpent Handlers
Holiness-Pentecostal sects that practice serpent handling do so out of compliance with a literal interpretation of Mark 16:17-18. To investigate the meaning of this practice from within its religious context, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 8 men and 3 women who focused on specific experiences of taking up serpents. Participants reported that serpents were taken up either by faith or by the anointing, but most often by the anointi…
Changing Views of Serpent Handling
Knowledge about serpent handling sects (SHS) even among social scientists and legislators has been largely influenced by biased media reports. Our own field research suggests that factual knowledge about SHS is effective in changing stereotypes about serpent handling and in altering views as to the rights of believers to handle serpents in church. In a quasi-experimental study, participants were pretested with respect to both prejudicial and reas…
Evaluation of the Legitimacy of Conversion Experience as a Function of the Five Signs of Mark 16
Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Ronald J. Morris, W. Paul Williamson, Evaluation of the Legitimacy of Conversion Experience as a Function of the Five Signs of Mark 16, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 96-109
The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent Handling
The ritual of religious serpent handling, among independent Holiness-Pentecostal groups of the southeastern United States, has been often construed by social scientific theories and popular media to be pathological and bizarre. Leaving aside such theoretical presuppositions regarding this practice, this study utilized phenomenological interpretation to analyze a collection of 18 extemporaneous sermons given by serpent handlers during the course o…
Response to a Research Challenge
Ralph W. Hood, Jr., rightly situates the practice of religious serpent handling within its interpretive context. In his article, key issues are raised that challenge the limitations of traditional theories and methodologies that either discount or neglect alto- gether the social discourse giving rise to values and truth claims held sacred by the sects. It is noted that self-understanding provided by serpent handlers offers a rich resource for pro…
Varieties of Prayer
Dimensions of the Mysticism Scale
In a mostly Christian American sample (N = 1,379), confirmatory factor analysis of Hood's (1975) Mysticism Scale verified the existence of Stace's (1960) introvertive and extrovertive dimensions of mystical phenomenology along with a separate interpretation factor. A second study confirmed the presence of these three factors in not only another group of Americans (N = 188), but also in a sample of Iranian Muslims (N = 185). Relationships of the i…
The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent Handling
The ritual of religious serpent handling, among independent Holiness-Pentecostal groups of the southeastern United States, has been often construed by social scientific theories and popular media to be pathological and bizarre. Leaving aside such theoretical presuppositions regarding this practice, this study utilized phenomenological interpretation to analyze a collection of 18 extemporaneous sermons given by serpent handlers during the course o…
A Phenomenological Analysis of the Anointing among Religious Serpent Handlers
Holiness-Pentecostal sects that practice serpent handling do so out of compliance with a literal interpretation of Mark 16:17-18. To investigate the meaning of this practice from within its religious context, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 8 men and 3 women who focused on specific experiences of taking up serpents. Participants reported that serpents were taken up either by faith or by the anointing, but most often by the anointi…
The Experience of Muslim Prayer
The God Mysticism Scale
Changing Views of Serpent Handling
Knowledge about serpent handling sects (SHS) even among social scientists and legislators has been largely influenced by biased media reports. Our own field research suggests that factual knowledge about SHS is effective in changing stereotypes about serpent handling and in altering views as to the rights of believers to handle serpents in church. In a quasi-experimental study, participants were pretested with respect to both prejudicial and reas…
Varieties of Prayer
Response to a Research Challenge
Ralph W. Hood, Jr., rightly situates the practice of religious serpent handling within its interpretive context. In his article, key issues are raised that challenge the limitations of traditional theories and methodologies that either discount or neglect alto- gether the social discourse giving rise to values and truth claims held sacred by the sects. It is noted that self-understanding provided by serpent handlers offers a rich resource for pro…
Evaluation of the Legitimacy of Conversion Experience as a Function of the Five Signs of Mark 16
Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Ronald J. Morris, W. Paul Williamson, Evaluation of the Legitimacy of Conversion Experience as a Function of the Five Signs of Mark 16, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 96-109
The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent Handling
The ritual of religious serpent handling, among independent Holiness-Pentecostal groups of the southeastern United States, has been often construed by social scientific theories and popular media to be pathological and bizarre. Leaving aside such theoretical presuppositions regarding this practice, this study utilized phenomenological interpretation to analyze a collection of 18 extemporaneous sermons given by serpent handlers during the course o…
A Phenomenological Analysis of the Anointing among Religious Serpent Handlers
Holiness-Pentecostal sects that practice serpent handling do so out of compliance with a literal interpretation of Mark 16:17-18. To investigate the meaning of this practice from within its religious context, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 8 men and 3 women who focused on specific experiences of taking up serpents. Participants reported that serpents were taken up either by faith or by the anointing, but most often by the anointi…
Changing Views of Serpent Handling
Knowledge about serpent handling sects (SHS) even among social scientists and legislators has been largely influenced by biased media reports. Our own field research suggests that factual knowledge about SHS is effective in changing stereotypes about serpent handling and in altering views as to the rights of believers to handle serpents in church. In a quasi-experimental study, participants were pretested with respect to both prejudicial and reas…
Dimensions of the Mysticism Scale
In a mostly Christian American sample (N = 1,379), confirmatory factor analysis of Hood's (1975) Mysticism Scale verified the existence of Stace's (1960) introvertive and extrovertive dimensions of mystical phenomenology along with a separate interpretation factor. A second study confirmed the presence of these three factors in not only another group of Americans (N = 188), but also in a sample of Iranian Muslims (N = 185). Relationships of the i…
Differential Maintenance and Growth of Religious Organizations Based upon High-Cost Behaviors
W. Paul Williamson, Ralph W. Hood, Jr., Differential Maintenance and Growth of Religious Organizations Based upon High-Cost Behaviors: Serpent Handling within the Church of God, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Dec., 2004), pp. 150-168
Religious Orientation, Incentive, Self-Esteem, and Gender as Predictors of Academic Dishonesty
It is widely assumed that religion is responsible for dictating and guiding moral behavior. This study investigated that claim and its relationship to monetary incentive, self-esteem, and gender within the context of academic dishonesty. A sample of 65 undergraduate students (32 men; 33 women) were assessed using a revision of Allport's Religious Orientation Scale (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) and then monitored for cheating on a computerized versi…
Survey Research and Islamic Fundamentalism
Psychology of religion research has historically borrowed heavily from the quantitative approach of mainstream psychology. This study illustrates difficulties that are sometimes related to this practice, even when using instruments that have proven to be psychometrically sound. We distributed an earlier reliable and valid version of the Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale (CitationWilliamson & Hood, 2005), developed with a U.S. Christian sample, in…
The Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale
This paper introduces a new five-item cross-cultural fundamentalism scale based on the principle of intratextuality. Free of belief content and concerns with militancy, each of the five items taps into a different facet of intratextuality that collectively assess the attitudes that fundamentalists maintain toward their sacred text—namely, a persuasion that it is divine in origin, inerrant, privileged above all other texts, authoritative, and unch…
Spirit baptism
Pentecostalism and glossolalia have received much attention from the social sciences in recent decades. Although much has been learned from research, little attention has been given to initial Spirit baptism (SB) from a descriptive point of view, and none has been given from a phenomenologically oriented approach – which was the concern of this study. To investigate the experience of SB, we conducted phenomenological interviews with eight partici…
The Lazarus Project
This is a longitudinal study of spiritual transformation at the Lazarus Project (LP), a 12-month Pentecostal-Charismatic residency program for substance abuse. In 2006, we began administering to residents an assessment protocol consisting of psychological (depression, self-esteem, psychopathology, Big 5 personality markers) and religiosity (fundamentalism, religious orientation, spiritual well-being, mysticism) measures. Assessments were at: (T1)…
Spiritual Transformation
The Role of Mentoring in Spiritual Transformation
Religious fundamentalism and perceived threat
This study investigated the experimental effect of threat on religious fundamentalism (RF) and the tendency towards reprisal. We presented 102 Christians with one of three scenarios, involving the hire of a Christian biologist, evolution biologist, or a (neutral) communications expert as professor at their university, and also the subsequent sanctioning of his speeding violation. Moderated multiple regression analyses of Christian/evolutionist da…
Religious fundamentalism and racial prejudice
We examined religious fundamentalism (RF) and racial prejudice (RP) using the implicit Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and explicit Feeling Thermometer (FT). Ninety undergraduates (38 Blacks and 52 Whites) from a small southern USA university participated. We experimentally manipulated aggression/love Bible texts to study any influence on RP, but found that it had no effect on reducing pretest–posttest AMP scores. Analysis of AMP posttest d…
Poison-drinking in obedience to the faith
In Appalachia, there are certain Christian sects who handle venomous serpents in their church services. Although their serpent handling has received some attention, another of their practices, poison-drinking, has all but escaped the concern of investigators. Addressing this issue, this study included phenomenological interviews with seven believers who ingested strychnine at church. A hermeneutic analysis of their transcribed interviews discover…
The Lazarus Project
The God Mysticism Scale
The Experience of Muslim Prayer
Conjectures and Controversy in the Study of Fundamentalism
In Conjectures and Controversy in the Study of Fundamentalism, W. Paul Williamson takes a critical look at the sociohistorical emergence of fundamentalism and examines how historians constructed popular, though questionable, conceptions of the movement that have dominated decades of empirical research in psychology. He further analyzes the notions of militancy and anti-modernity as valid characterizations of fundamentalism and examines whether fu…
Introduction to Special Issue in Honor of Ralph W. Hood, Jr
Williamson WP, Silver CF, Streib H. Introduction to Special Issue in Honor of Ralph W. Hood, Jr. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion . 2021;31(3):153-155
In the Face of Adversity
This study explored the lived experience of adversity as spiritual struggles among fundamentalists. Ten Christian fundamentalists participated in phenomenological interviews and provided descriptions of their experiences with adversity. A hermeneutic-thematic analysis of transcribed interviews derived a structured pattern of five interdependent themes that described meaning in the experience of adversity for all participants. In adversity, they w…
Christian Serpent Handling Sects of Appalachia and their fundamentals of faith
Psychology (21 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (18 works) · Philosophy (17 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Epistemology (16 works) · Theology (12 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works)