ITEMS OF INTEREST February 15, 2010 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

with contributions from Misty Harris, Kim Schneider

THE POWER OF PRAYER has long been controversial, but a new study in a leading psychological journal finds some of the first scientific evidence that it truly works—at least on the person doing the praying.

While previous studies have looked largely at the people being prayed for, investigators flipped the research model to examine those who personally engage in the religious practice. What they found was that even a single prayer for a loved one led to increased self-reported willingness to be forgiving of that person.

Though the research leaves open the possibility of divine intervention, investigators don't claim any "miraculous event." They instead focus on scientifically quantifiable factors, such as prayer's ability to prime a more selfless state of mind.

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