Kris A Johnson
Biographic Data
| ID | 86198 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kris A Johnson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kris A |
| FAMILY NAME | Johnson |
| SIGNATURE | JOHNSON K A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Arizona State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9482-9041 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 46 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 105 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Development and validation of a measure of beliefs about conditions for divine forgiveness.
Conceptualising God in Nature: Empirically Testing Conceptions of God-Nature Overlap in Dialogue with Christian Ecotheology
Christian theology has been critiqued from an ecological perspective for desacralising the natural world. This desacralisation, it is proposed, leads to a conceptual separation between God and nature, which ultimately devalues the natural world, leading to exploitative environmental attitudes. In response, some Christian ecotheologians have advocated for the notion that God permeates the natural world. In keeping with the ‘Greening of Religion’ h…
Development and validation of the Where-Being of God Scale
Morality of Mentality and Culture: A Registered Replication and Cross-Cultural Extension
Previous work has established that religious groups vary in the perceived moral status of “thought” versus behavior, with Protestants negatively evaluating people who entertain immoral thoughts more harshly than Jews. This work provided early evidence that religion is important in evaluating moral status. However, in the decades since this work, methodological and theoretical advances have suggested that a second glance might be necessary. In thi…
Assessing religion and spirituality in a cross-cultural sample: Development of religion and spirituality items for the Global Flourishing Study
The Global Flourishing Survey (GFS) was initiated to provide an open-access, longitudinal study of health and well-being using a participant panel from 22 countries around the world. At the core of the GFS are questions on religion and spirituality—notoriously difficult to assess in a cross-cultural context. Additionally, the longitudinal aspect will allow for tests of within-person change over time. In developing the religion and spirituality it…
Varieties of gratitude: Identifying patterns of emotional responses to positive experiences attributed to God, karma, and human benefactors
Good fortune can be attributed to many sources, including other people, personal efforts, and various theistic and nontheistic supernatural forces (e.g., God, karma). Four studies (total N = 4,579) of religiously diverse samples from the United States and the United Kingdom investigated the distinct emotional reactions to recalled positive experiences attributed to natural and supernatural benefactors. We found that the hallmarks of interpersonal…
Differentiating personified, supernatural, and abstract views of God across three cognitive domains
Recycling, relatedness, and reincarnation: Religious beliefs about nature and the afterlife as predictors of sustainability practices
A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being
The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-…
Disappointment with and Uncertainty about God Predict Heightened Covid-19 Anxiety among Persian Muslims
Religiosity is often associated with positive mental health outcomes. Religiosity may also mitigate COVID-19 concerns. In a sample of 553 Persian-speaking Muslims, we investigated the extent to which specific beliefs about God (Allah) were associated with four negative mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, stress, and COVID-19 anxiety. Consistent with the results of English-speaking samples, we found that religiosity, belief in God's benev…
Fundamentalism as dogmatic belief, moral rigorism, and strong groupness across cultures: Dimensionality, underlying components, and related interreligious prejudice
Is fundamentalism universal across religious cultures? We investigated this issue by focusing on three questions: (1) the dimensionality of fundamentalism, as measured by the Religious Fundamentalism Scale (Altemeyer & Hunsberger, 2004); (2) the very nature of fundamentalism as denoting dogmatic belief, moral rigorism, or strong groupness; and (3) interreligious prejudice as predicted uniquely, additively, or interactively by religiousness and so…
Orienting to Otherness: Intellectual Humility, Moral Foundations, and Mature Alterity Outcomes
Scholars and practitioners have increasingly called for the development of social justice commitment, intercultural competence, and appreciation of diversity among ministers and helping professionals. In religious contexts, individual factors may contribute to differences in the degree to which spiritual leaders emphasize intercultural and social justice initiatives. Personality factors, such as virtues and specific moral commitments, predict the…
The varieties of pleasure and positive emotions in religious experience
Ariel Glucklich has authored a beautiful work in defense of the Joy of Religion. He is to be commended for his extensive, interdisciplinary, and in-depth knowledge of philosophy, sociology, evoluti
Faith and science mindsets as predictors of Covid-19 concern: A three-wave longitudinal study
The urgency of transforming the Midwestern U.S. landscape into more than corn and soybean
Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, and Social Dimensions of Religiousness across Cultures
Based on theorization on the four basic dimensions of religiousness, Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging, and corresponding cognitive, emotional, moral, and social motives and functions of religion, we developed a measure and investigated cross-cultural consistency of the four dimensions as well interindividual and cross-cultural variability. Data were collected from 14 countries varying in religious heritage: Catholicism, Protestantism, …
Development and validation of the five-factor Lambi measure of God representations
God representations are complex and there is no standard, relatively short, and easy to administer measure reflecting both anthropomorphic and abstract representations of God. We developed a new measure with five dimensions: Limitless, Authoritarian, Mystical, Benevolent, and Ineffable (the LAMBI scale). In Study 1, we used exploratory factor analysis to examine the factor structure of a preliminary list of 41 common adjectives that people might …
The Road Not Taken: Fostering Research on the Psychology of Religiosity and Spirituality via Underused Representative, Open-Access Datasets (Roads)
Psychologists studying religiosity and spirituality (R/S) often face several challenges when conducting their research, such as collecting data from nationally representative samples, cross-cultural generalizability, statistical power, and integrated multilevel approaches. We examined one potential solution—the use of Representative, Open-Access Datasets (ROADs), which are currently underutilized. In this article, we define ROADs; discuss afforda…
Assessing Spirituality on Two Dimensions: Closeness to God and Focal Orientation
Assessing the nature of people’s relationships with God or the Divine is a central concern in the psychology of religion. We developed an intuitive, single-item diagrammatic scale which measures spirituality along two dimensions: (1) closeness to God or the Divine, and (2) the focus of that relationship as aimed at understanding either God (theo-focused) or the Self (ego-focused). In predominantly Christian and SBNR US samples, we found that the …
Science, God, and the cosmos: Science both erodes (via logic) and promotes (via awe) belief in God
Estimates of present and future flood risk in the conterminous United States
Past attempts to estimate rainfall-driven flood risk across the US either have incomplete coverage, coarse resolution or use overly simplified models of the flooding process. In this paper, we use a new 30 m resolution model of the entire conterminous US with a 2D representation of flood physics to produce estimates of flood hazard, which match to within 90% accuracy the skill of local models built with detailed data. These flood depths are combi…
SBNR Identity: The Role of Impersonal God Representations, Individualistic Spirituality, and Dissimilarity With Religious Groups
We conducted two studies investigating the extent to which self-identification as Spiritual but not Religious (SBNR) was associated with (H1) the development of idiosyncratic religious beliefs and exposure to religious diversity and/or (H2) negative attitudes toward organized religion and being hurt by members of a religious group. In Study 1, SBNRs scored higher than religious and nonreligious participants on belief in God as an impersonal cosmi…
Selecting field sites for the cultural ecosystems approach
"Selecting field sites for the cultural ecosystems approach." Religion, Brain & Behavior, 7(2), pp. 158–159
Security versus growth: Existential tradeoffs of various religious perspectives
God is watching you…but also watching over you: The influence of benevolent God representations on secular volunteerism among Christians
Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging: The Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, and Social Dimensions of Religiousness across Cultures
Based on theorization on the four basic dimensions of religiousness, Believing, Bonding, Behaving, and Belonging, and corresponding cognitive, emotional, moral, and social motives and functions of religion, we developed a measure and investigated cross-cultural consistency of the four dimensions as well interindividual and cross-cultural variability. Data were collected from 14 countries varying in religious heritage: Catholicism, Protestantism, …
SBNR Identity: The Role of Impersonal God Representations, Individualistic Spirituality, and Dissimilarity With Religious Groups
We conducted two studies investigating the extent to which self-identification as Spiritual but not Religious (SBNR) was associated with (H1) the development of idiosyncratic religious beliefs and exposure to religious diversity and/or (H2) negative attitudes toward organized religion and being hurt by members of a religious group. In Study 1, SBNRs scored higher than religious and nonreligious participants on belief in God as an impersonal cosmi…
Religion and Public Goods Provision: Experimental and Interview Evidence from Catholicism and Islam in Europe
Using Participatory Scenarios to Stimulate Social Learning for Collaborative Sustainable Development
Johnson, K. A., G. Dana, N. R. Jordan, K. J. Draeger, A. Kapuscinski, L. K. Schmitt Olabisi and P. B. Reich 2012. Using participatory scenarios to stimulate social learning for collaborative sustainable development. Ecology and Society 17(2): 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04780-170209
Fundamental(ist) attribution error: Protestants are dispositionally focused
Attribution theory has long enjoyed a prominent role in social psychological research, yet religious influences on attribution have not been well studied. We theorized and tested the hypothesis that Protestants would endorse internal attributions to a greater extent than would Catholics, because Protestantism focuses on the inward condition of the soul. In Study 1, Protestants made more internal, but not external, attributions than did Catholics.…
Faith and science mindsets as predictors of Covid-19 concern: A three-wave longitudinal study
The urgency of transforming the Midwestern U.S. landscape into more than corn and soybean
Value-Expressive Volunteer Motivation and Volunteering by Older Adults: Relationships With Religiosity and Spirituality
Religiosity may provide the way, and value-expressive volunteer motivation the will, to volunteer. The implications of our findings for the forecasted shortage of older volunteers are discussed
Science, God, and the cosmos: Science both erodes (via logic) and promotes (via awe) belief in God
Toward an Understanding of Religious Tolerance: Quest Religiousness and Positive Attitudes Toward Religiously Dissimilar Others
We interact frequently with individuals with religious beliefs that vary from our own. Although we may naturally prefer interacting with religiously similar others, individuals vary in their attitudes toward religiously dissimilar others. In the present set of studies, we examined how variability in quest religiousness affects religious tolerance. In Study 1 (N = 159), we found that quest religiousness in Christian undergraduates was associated w…
Intrinsic Religiosity and Volunteering During Emerging Adulthood: A Comparison of Mormons with Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians
Emerging adulthood is a period when religious beliefs are likely to be shaped. Studying the influence of religious culture on prosocial behavior among emerging adults aids our understanding of the process and effects of religious socialization. Mormon religious culture places a particularly strong emphasis on caring for family and fellow Mormons. Because intrinsically religious individuals internalize their religious community's values, we hypoth…
Matzah, Meat, Milk, and Mana: Psychological Influences on Religio-Cultural Food Practices
Religio-cultural groups endorse an astounding diversity of beliefs and rituals regarding food. The authors theorize that such practices in part originate and persist because they (a) mark in-group membership through the consumption of unique foods and the establishment of common food rituals, (b) signal status through fasting or ingesting certain foods or large quantities of food, and (c) help individuals avoid disease by promoting or prohibiting…
Common Property and Conservation: The Potential for Effective Communal Forest Management Within a National Park in Mexico
Assessing Spirituality on Two Dimensions: Closeness to God and Focal Orientation
Assessing the nature of people’s relationships with God or the Divine is a central concern in the psychology of religion. We developed an intuitive, single-item diagrammatic scale which measures spirituality along two dimensions: (1) closeness to God or the Divine, and (2) the focus of that relationship as aimed at understanding either God (theo-focused) or the Self (ego-focused). In predominantly Christian and SBNR US samples, we found that the …
Who Helps the Samaritan? The Influence of Religious vs. Secular Primes on Spontaneous Helping of Members of Religious Outgroups
There is a debate as to whether religion increases prosociality. Darley and Batson’s (1973) classic Good Samaritan study provided evidence against religious prosociality because priming religion among Christian seminary students did not increase the likelihood of helping an ailing confederate. Conceptually replicating this study, we primed undergraduate Christians with benevolent verses attributed to the Bible, benevolent verses attributed to u.s…
Common Property and Conservation: The Potential for Effective Communal Forest Management Within a National Park in Mexico
The Social Construction of Emotions in the Bhagavad Gītā: Locating Ethics in a Redacted Text
Religious texts and historical narratives are instrumental in defining appropriate emotions and moral reasoning in a culture. In the Bhagavad Gıtā, the warrior Arjuna is faced with a twofold dilemma: are his emotions appropriate and should emotions influence his actions? The Gıtā is thought to be a redacted text with three primary layers: the original verses, the Sāmkhya/Yoga layer, and the devotional bhakti layer. Cross-cultural psychological th…
American Indian students’ difficulties in Introduction to Psychology
The Impact of Land-Use Change on Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Returns to Landowners: A Case Study in the State of Minnesota
Motivational and neural systems of religion
Inzlicht, Tullett, and Good (IT&G) have provided a new and valuable insight into the neuroscience of religion, demonstrating that religious people show less activity in the anterior cingulate corte
Matzah, Meat, Milk, and Mana: Psychological Influences on Religio-Cultural Food Practices
Religio-cultural groups endorse an astounding diversity of beliefs and rituals regarding food. The authors theorize that such practices in part originate and persist because they (a) mark in-group membership through the consumption of unique foods and the establishment of common food rituals, (b) signal status through fasting or ingesting certain foods or large quantities of food, and (c) help individuals avoid disease by promoting or prohibiting…
Uncertainty in ecosystem services valuation and implications for assessing land use tradeoffs: An agricultural case study in the Minnesota River Basin
Fundamental(ist) attribution error: Protestants are dispositionally focused
Attribution theory has long enjoyed a prominent role in social psychological research, yet religious influences on attribution have not been well studied. We theorized and tested the hypothesis that Protestants would endorse internal attributions to a greater extent than would Catholics, because Protestantism focuses on the inward condition of the soul. In Study 1, Protestants made more internal, but not external, attributions than did Catholics.…
Using Participatory Scenarios to Stimulate Social Learning for Collaborative Sustainable Development
Johnson, K. A., G. Dana, N. R. Jordan, K. J. Draeger, A. Kapuscinski, L. K. Schmitt Olabisi and P. B. Reich 2012. Using participatory scenarios to stimulate social learning for collaborative sustainable development. Ecology and Society 17(2): 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04780-170209
Friends in high places: The influence of authoritarian and benevolent god-concepts on social attitudes and behaviors
Intrinsic Religiosity and Volunteering During Emerging Adulthood: A Comparison of Mormons with Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians
Emerging adulthood is a period when religious beliefs are likely to be shaped. Studying the influence of religious culture on prosocial behavior among emerging adults aids our understanding of the process and effects of religious socialization. Mormon religious culture places a particularly strong emphasis on caring for family and fellow Mormons. Because intrinsically religious individuals internalize their religious community's values, we hypoth…
Value-Expressive Volunteer Motivation and Volunteering by Older Adults: Relationships With Religiosity and Spirituality
Religiosity may provide the way, and value-expressive volunteer motivation the will, to volunteer. The implications of our findings for the forecasted shortage of older volunteers are discussed
Fuzzy people: The roles of kinship, essence, and sociability in the attribution of personhood to nonliving, nonhuman agents
The mind of the Lord: Measuring authoritarian and benevolent God representations
Intellectual Humility and Forgiveness of Religious Conflict
Intellectual humility (IH) involves an accurate view of one's intellectual strengths and weaknesses as well as the ability to negotiate different ideas in an interpersonally respectful manner. The current study examined how IH and perceptions of IH affect responses to a religious conflict. Participants (N = 200) were undergraduate students who filled out online questionnaires about their experience of a religious conflict. Participants rated (a) …
Response to commentaries: A variety of questions about fundamental motives and religious experience
In our target article, we proposed that evolved, fundamental motives (self-protection, disease avoidance, coalition formation, status seeking, mating and mate retention, and kin care) could affect
Fundamental social motives and the varieties of religious experience
Evolutionary theorists have explained universals in religion, but no integrative theory exists to explain why multiple aspects of religion vary within and between individuals and groups. We propose how four dimensions of religions – beliefs about nonhuman agents, religious rituals, community structures, and moral concerns and values – may change in response to the fundamental social goals of self-protection, disease avoidance, coalition formation…
Who Helps the Samaritan? The Influence of Religious vs. Secular Primes on Spontaneous Helping of Members of Religious Outgroups
There is a debate as to whether religion increases prosociality. Darley and Batson’s (1973) classic Good Samaritan study provided evidence against religious prosociality because priming religion among Christian seminary students did not increase the likelihood of helping an ailing confederate. Conceptually replicating this study, we primed undergraduate Christians with benevolent verses attributed to the Bible, benevolent verses attributed to u.s…
Toward an Understanding of Religious Tolerance: Quest Religiousness and Positive Attitudes Toward Religiously Dissimilar Others
We interact frequently with individuals with religious beliefs that vary from our own. Although we may naturally prefer interacting with religiously similar others, individuals vary in their attitudes toward religiously dissimilar others. In the present set of studies, we examined how variability in quest religiousness affects religious tolerance. In Study 1 (N = 159), we found that quest religiousness in Christian undergraduates was associated w…
Religion and Public Goods Provision: Experimental and Interview Evidence from Catholicism and Islam in Europe
Security versus growth: Existential tradeoffs of various religious perspectives
God is watching you…but also watching over you: The influence of benevolent God representations on secular volunteerism among Christians
To believe or not to believe, that is not the question: The complexity of Jewish beliefs about God
Selecting field sites for the cultural ecosystems approach
"Selecting field sites for the cultural ecosystems approach." Religion, Brain & Behavior, 7(2), pp. 158–159
Estimates of present and future flood risk in the conterminous United States
Past attempts to estimate rainfall-driven flood risk across the US either have incomplete coverage, coarse resolution or use overly simplified models of the flooding process. In this paper, we use a new 30 m resolution model of the entire conterminous US with a 2D representation of flood physics to produce estimates of flood hazard, which match to within 90% accuracy the skill of local models built with detailed data. These flood depths are combi…
Psychology (34 works) · Social Psychology (31 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (29 works) · Philosophy (21 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (12 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Theology (10 works)