Doctoral Dissertation Research: Glossolalia Influences on Stress Response Among Apostolic Pentecostals

纽约州立大学（奥尔巴尼）的研究生克里斯托弗·d·林恩（Christopher D. Lynn）将在劳伦斯·m·谢尔博士（Dr. Lawrence M. Schell）的指导下，检验五旬节派的方言文化现象（一种分离的形式）对身体和减轻压力有好处的假设。分离是一种心理构造，它将意识分割为集中或减少意识。它以各种各样的形式出现，比如做白日梦或全神贯注地看书或看电视。它在临床上出现在催眠或多重人格等病理中，也是一种文化现象，如萨满教的精神旅行或伏都教的占有恍惚。解离通常在功能上被解释为一种减轻压力的手段。研究表明，其他文化介导的解离练习（例如，集中冥想）通过增加激活阈值来影响应激反应的生理学。这意味着这些人感受到的压力更小，尽管他们生活中的潜在压力源保持不变。没有研究测试类似的阈值调解在宗教背景下的分离。五旬节派是这类研究的极好候选人。它是福音派新教的一种形式，认为glossolalia是一种礼物和神圣的标志。为了检验舌音与应激反应之间的关系，本研究利用前期研究数据编制了舌音体验问卷。将Glossolalia体验与皮质醇和α -淀粉酶水平（应激反应的两种生物标志物）进行比较，并与解离和自我感知压力的额外问卷测量进行比较。除了词汇外，研究人员还将测试文化共识对压力的影响。文化共识是指个人对文化行为模式的遵从程度。这将使用与宗教虔诚度和信仰成熟度相关的问卷来衡量。这项研究很重要，因为它将进一步科学地理解文化与人类生物学之间的关系。它还可能对公众健康有益，因为减压可以降低许多与压力有关的健康问题的风险。此外，这项研究将有助于研究生的教育。

State University of New York (Albany) graduate student Christopher D. Lynn, supervised by Dr. Lawrence M. Schell, will test the hypothesis that the cultural phenomenon of Pentecostal glossolalia (speaking in tongues), a form of dissociation, has physical, stress-reducing benefits. Dissociation is a psychological construct for processes that partition consciousness to focus or reduce awareness. It appears in myriad forms, such as daydreaming or absorption in a book or television program. It occurs clinically in hypnosis or in pathologies such as multiple personality and is also a cultural phenomenon, as in shamanic spirit journeys or the possession trance of voodoo. Dissociation is often functionally interpreted as a means of reducing stress. Research suggests that other culturally-mediated dissociative practices (e.g., focused meditation) affect the physiology of stress response by increasing the threshold at which it is activated. This means such people experience less stress although the potential stressors in their lives remain the same. There are no studies testing a similar threshold mediation for dissociation in religious contexts. Pentecostalism is an excellent candidate for such research. It is a form of evangelical Protestantism that regards glossolalia as a gift and sign of the divine. To test the relationship between glossolalia and stress response, pilot study data were used to develop a questionnaire to measure glossolalia experience. Glossolalia experience will be compared to cortisol and alpha-Amylase levels, two biomarkers of stress reactivity, and to additional questionnaire measures of dissociation and self-perceived stress. In addition to glossolalia, the researcher will test the effect of cultural consensus on stress. Cultural consensus is the degree to which individuals live up to cultural models of behavior. This will be measured using questionnaires related to religiosity and faith maturity.This research is important because it will further scientific understanding of the relationship between culture and human biology. It also may have public health benefits because stress reduction reduces risk for many stress-related health problems. In addition, the research will contribute to the education of a graduate student.