Most of this is verbatim, but some may be paraphrased. None of it is my own personal comments or opinion. I may have a scan of the handout or a copy of the slides later, if requested.
Please do not redistribute.
-, --, -> = bullet points
-- alone = section division
SS = script-S (i.e. section)
... = stuff I missed
::, <-- = verbal comments
[] = notes / addenda
Doug Oman (UC Berkeley)
So help me God: A social cognitive approach to God-mediated control
w/ Carl E. Thoresen (Stanford), [colleague of Al Bandura(sp?)]
Joseph D. Driskill (GTU)
cultural idea now of god acting within lives
- eg politics : god 'calling' me to be president
- interventionistic vs sustaining impact on individuals
- how does this (belief?) influence them
bandura's social cognitive theory (sct) can:
- nonreductively clarify how help may come from turning to a divinity or other spiritual being
- clarify how to apply sct to spirituality in ways relevant to helath professionals, clergy, etc
Many people think prayer "works" and helps them get things that they need or want. Can this ever be true?
How God can help:
quote from MLK(1958) - "When my courage had all but gone, I prayed; at that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before; the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: 'Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever'; i was ready to face anything"
- when he was getting threatening calls/letters/etc; helped alleviate fear
- had 'sustaining presence' the rest of his life
- next week, his house was bombed & there was an angry crowd; 'because of this calming, sustaining presence' he was able to ???calm them down
Grace and Effort: "The breeze of divine grace is blowing upon all. But one needs to set the sail to feel this breeze of grace." Sri Ramakrishna
- we need to reach out to receive grace
--
Organization of paper:
- Intro
- SS1-9 Analytic sections
-> articulate each feature of SCT for
a. human proxy agents
& then compare for
b. Divine / spiritual proxy agents --> derive many recommendations for future research / application for clergy transmitting spirituality / etc
Discussion
--
Some things of SCT work for a but not b or vice versa; clarify how asking for divine help can be understood within SCT, usable for interdisciplinary conversation (eg psych/theological/etc)
SS Introduction-a: Emphases
Theology & religion <-> Values
Science & technology <-> efficacy & power
Our concern: T&R <-> E&P
Efficacy = effective action
acting well as a servant of god gives concern for efficacy
Relevant to individuals, organizations, groups, etc
Relevant to many roles - work, family, etc
:: e.g. 'effective parenting'
Empirical evidence:
- Weberr's Protestant Ethic
- worth ethic present in various forms in all major traditions (Stone-Romero & Stone, 1998)
- religion linked to better outcomes:
- health
- education
- martial/family well-being
- virtues <-> effective leadership <-- pointed to by constituents
What role is played by appeals to divine assistance?
--
SS Introduction-b: Religious pathways to efficacy
- norms for efficacious behavior (eg no substance abuse)
- collaborative assistance
-- social support (human)
-- divine assistance (analogous)
:: e.g. MLK - something special happened here, not just a norm
--> internal pathways: <-- focus of paper
- expecations
- coherence
:: in face of other things that might tear down that coherence
- meaningfulness
- focus/persistance
these lead to confident, effective action
Bracketed: (i.e. neither hcallenge nor endorse)
- external - mechanical ::: Justin Barret(Sp?) - eg belief that 'faith can move mountains' literally; maybe these happen?
- external-psychological ::: pray to god to change someone's mind ot make them 'see the light'; maybe not just your behavior (eg patience confidence) does it
--
SS Introduction-c: relevance to interventions
- psychotherapy (Begin & Payne, 1991)
- professional training
- assessment and intervention design
- cultural tailoring in public health (Tuggle, 2000)
--
SS introduction d: SCT: A non-reductive context
-SCT = great startingpoint to theorize divine assistance
- widespread practical application
-agentic view of human nature
- efficacy perceptions = a core concept
- domain-specific confidence in skills
- judgements of "one's ability to organize and execute given types of performances" (e.g. self-efficacy) <--- Oman's talk at Rel&Cogsci conference
Self-efficacy influence:
- physical health,
mental health
education
atheletics
etc
Measurement
self-efficacy = domain-specific self-confidence
"Rate how confident you are that you can do <activity> as of now" (0 Canot do at all ... 50 moderately certain can do ... 100 highly certain can do)
E.g.:
#1 physical strength : Confidence 0-100 for each
- lift a 10lb object
- " 20lb
- " 50lb
- " 80lb
total rating = sum
#2: Driving
Drive a few blocks in the neighborhood
Drive around in residential areas
Drive on a freeway
Drive on narrow mountain roads
- might need to do different kinds to be fully confident
#3: exercise routine : Rate your confidence that you can get yourself to perform <routine> three or more times per week
When I am feeling tired
During bad weather
Without support of family or friends
:: Bandura calls these "barriers"; one kind that might arise is a lack of help that one is used to
SCT:
- Shapers of efficacy perceptions
-- performance attainments
-- vicarious observation of others
-- social persusasion
-- physiological / affective states
- Effects from efficacy perceptions
-- persistence in face of difficulties
-- optimism
-- management of aversive emotions
-- appraisals of potential stressors
Persusasive evidence of a causal role for efficacy perceptions
:: more likely to be calm w/ obstacles
Types of agents & efficacy perceptions
- self (eg personal agency exercised individually)
- colelctive :: how confident are you that your group can ... do something? (E.g. Barrack Obama "we can")
- proxy :: developed within Bandrua's theory from paradigm of the human case; a little research on this eg confidence that a proxy can do things for someone
-- human help :: eg child via parent to get something from a high shelf; hiring people to do things for us e.g. caterer for an event
-- divine help :: eg MLK
"Those devoted to religious faith often appeal to proxy agency, especially in times of crisis or physical and emotional distress, through prayer to divine agency to alter thecourse of detrimental events" - Bandura (2003, p 172)
Divine proxy agency:
An issue of interest is whether reliance on divine proxy agency enhances or detracts for a sense of personal effiacy.
- The direction of the self-efficacy effect may depend, in large part, on people's conception of divine agency, the aprt htey play in it, and their faith in the efficacy of prayer in the proxy relationship.
-- can foster dependency
-- bu if divine agency is viewed as a guiding supportive partnership... (Bandura, 2003, pp172-172)
SITE perspective: Spiritually integrative theory of efficacy - clarification/elaboration of SCT
- Affirms human cultural importance of divine/spiritual assistance
-asserts divine help-seeking may often be causally efficacious (but external pathways "bracketed") :: at least somtimes
- extends proxy agency component of Banduras's SCT -> "Integral Efficacy"
Evolution of the SITE perspective
- Berkeley conference paper (April 2006)
-- applied SCT to spiritual skills :: Al was enthusiastic about this; got email - "Carl & Doug, we should get together to discuss this paper"
-- flagged divine assitance ("not I but Christ acts in me") as problematic issue :: eg Paul; sounds like he has zero self-confidence, but 100% w/ God's help
- Conversations with [Al] Bandura :: mother very devout; father would get drunk w/ priest; had *some* insider's sense of spirituality & religion
-- how far can we push analogies between human & divine proxies
-- role of efficacy for _enlisting_ divine help (eg divine social skills?)
- process for ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration
:: from a modern prayer manual: "We should not think of god as a divine bellhop"
:: "[people eventually reach a] time and place when their actions become irresistable, and ... they become zero" Ghandi
--
:: viz paper - recommendations for future research
:: apply to older adults; tend to turn more to religious & spiritual involvement
SS Nine analytic sections - see paper table 1
each examining a) human, b) divine/spiritual
:: emphasizing monotheistic here but not just relevant for that
:: eg when presented this at APA last summer; Joan Koschiuno??? @ Puerto Rico shamanistic healers & "possession" stories (e.g. 'healing spirits' etc)
:: will work this in later; "divine" may mean any of the above
SS1 Definition
"Proxy agency"
- occurs when people seeks desired outcomes "by influencing others to act on their behalf" (Bandura, 2002)
-- solicited intentionally
-- second (proxy) agent acts with intention :: something?? approximating agency; not entirely proxy agency
:: ethically neutral; proxy agency can be for good or ill (eg sibling helping other sibling get into trouble)
:: acting _on their behalf_; eg if I tell you "I'm really tired of carrying these heavy bags; can you carry this bag onto the plane for me" [and it has some white powder...]; maybe you're carrying the bg on my behalf, but you're not (intentionally) smuggling something for me.
:: part of human proxy agency is awareness of outcome
- term unique to Bandrua's SCT
- "proxy agent' acts on behalf of "principal agent"
Examples of proxy agents:
SS 1a: human proxy agents
agent / skill domain
- anyone: post a letter
- instructors: understand classwork
- parents: varied help (for children)
- spiritual director : improve spiritual self-regulation
....
Proxy agency is NOT:
- unsolicited intentional assistance
- unsolicited fortuitous events
-actions using inanimate tools
- supportive acts
- support events
SS 1b: divine/spiritual proxy agents
gos: spiritual growth
god: health
god: material benefits (for faithful)
saints: needs patronized by each saint
ealing spirits: health :: eg shamanist from puerto rico
Divine vs social proxies
- not all features cleanly generalize from social to divine
- ways to enlist
-ways help might arise
-ways to recognize when help is given
SS 2: perceiving & assessing proxy efficacy
SS 2a: human proxies
judging how efficaciously one can act "through" a proxy
- one's situation & skills for enlisting proxy
-- judgments formed from knowledge of
--- observed process indicators (previous helping behaviors) :: unambiguous info on divine proxies less available
--- relationship to proxy
- proxy's own skills for acting :: unlimited for divine proxies; god can but it's question of what zie is wiling to do
[doing what we need]
SS 3: childhood development of proxy agency
:: if just screaming & crying, maybe they don't even realize there's someone out there to be solicited (though it works)
SS 3a: human proxies
- emos : recognize actions as goal-directed
- 1 year: adults sources of problem-solving guidance (but fallibility unrecognize)
SS 3b: divine proxies
- 4 years "false beliefs" can delude humans/animals, but not God
SS 4: Implicit agentic boundaries of skill domains
Perceived efficacy scales build on much implicit knowledge that includes
- who is allowed to help with which job?
-- no help allowed: calculus test
-- help OK: maintain positive mood :: in the face of adverse events on election day; is that something you do by yourself in the woods or where you can talk with your family, usual people, etc?; something implicit w/ self-efficacy where help varies
--> "agentic boundaries"; what jobs?? are "solo"?
SS4a: human proxies
culturally allowable help
- flexible = corners tone of SCT's wide applicability
SS4b: divine proxies
- realtime divine help seeking OK in essentially every legit skill domain
:: Aquinas - legit to desire <-> legit to pray
:: ironic exception: concentrative meditation, e.g. "cloud of unknowing"; what theological function? facility better recognition of unsolicited help by preempting incessant feverish bids for help??
SS5: integral efficacy: blending agentic modes
Definitions
- autonomous agency - doable by self alone
- proxy agency - doable through proxy alone
- integral efficacy -> what's doable by blending self-effort _and/or_ others' help
Example: cooking church dinner
head cook may receive help, but has primary responsibility, for preparing a church dinner for 30 ppl
Autonomous - confidence to arrive early, prepare meal entirely alone
proxy - get others to arrange everything
integral - prepare meal by blending together effort from self and/or others
Inetgral vs autonomous distinction
- can apply to both social & spiritual axes of collaboration
e.g. spiritually autonomous
- abstain from alcohol by human effort alone :: typical AA issue; they teach you can't
spiritually integral
- abstain w/ help form higher power
[table...]: autonomous/integral spiritual help availability vs integral/autonomous social help availability
collaborative vs self-directed (spiritual) (Pargament)
collectivist vs individualistic (social) (Markus)
-> Potential ways to act, dispositional orientations
Primary research interest: integral on spiritual
Blending agentic modes
- can apply to both social & spiritual axes
- .....
SS6: assessing integral efficacy
.... [out of time; zoomed through slides]
:: on self-efficacy scales, there may be a number of different items; some may involve barriers (eg hoe confident are you that you can do ___ in face of adverse circumstance) because in practice adverse circumstances do aries
:: we think that the spiritually autonomous (w/out God's help) might be most relevant to certain barriers
:: we argue: you need to be more careful in setting things up to make sure that you're targeting the right kind of efficacy; when you're dealing w/ spiritual skills, there may be some religious people
[quote Candler, 1951 - renounce self viz alcoholism]
:: if we proceed with the usual kinds of intro text for self-efficacy scales; religious people might interpret things in the wrong way (religiously autonomous vs integral)
:: may need to be more explicit about this to target the kind wnated
[transition to David Gortner]
- teaches in rel & psych @ GTU; background in developmental psych; director of center for anglican learning & leadership @ episcopal center @ GTU
Some theological & statistical reflections on the concept of self-efficacy by proxy
:: Thoresen gave plenary address on religiousity in epidemological fashion; e.g. health outcomes (smoking, substance abuse)
Deity/universe as proxy agent
- quality of proxy agency?
-- accomplice :: aiding & abetting
-- sidekick :: high ho silver, away!
-- butler :: please get me that parking space
-- parent :: providing safety net, guidance re decision you can't quite make
-- lifeguard :: help when get into trouble
-- believing teacher (Pygmalion effect) :: I believe in you, invest in you a certain trust; accentuate the positives, invest in your ultimate good outcome as an image w/ hope that you'll rise to the occasion and perform as I mirror to you
- 2 stories
:: 1. MLK's grandson present at an event, gathering of african=-american chuch leadership in chicago; one person stood up, talked about work in an office job; oppressive environment, abused by situation, questioning herself; went & talked to fellow (older) layperson; zie said you need to give up self-deprecating attitude - it's not about you, it's about principalities & powers
:: helped her reframe the entire narrative as me vs other powers --> cosmic narrative of good vs evil
:: how does her action locate itself in a new way in terms of this new narrative?
:: not just an incapable agent on the ground; now participating as an agent in a different way
:: in essence, how does she become a proxy agent for the divine?
:: 2. chaplancy work - a woman who had been gang-raped; when she was recovering in emergency room, came back a week later to connect; talked about "I just thanked God that God was there with me"
:: in a way horrifying example of a grasp for the relationship w/ god in a moment of what could be regarded of complete abandonment (unavailability of proxy agency)
:: but she considered it not - I survived, therefore God was with me
:: referenced proxy agency (e.g. lifeguard model) - how is this functioning as a self-eenhancement?
:: e.g. I know I have cancer, but poor woman down the hall had surgery where she lost her voice; I'm so much better off than other people
:: Dan McAdams; psych @ Northwestern U. - narrative functions & how we construct identity
:: raises questions @ mid-life constructing part of their identities as redemptive narrative; e.g. I have become this inspite of ___; or ___ happened but something good came out of it
:: to what degree is this objectively true? to what degree is this constructed?
:: -> how does proxy agency interact w/ personal theology & spiritual development?
::Doug:: relationship w/ divine is one of the factors believed to shape the divine responsiveness; theological understandings received through tradition shape person's perception of the rellationship;; personal narratives feed into that
:: personal theology is where ther'es an interface between that tradition (religious or cutlural) and one's own story
:: "I am embarking on my project of reconstructing life, not just self-image but world-image"
:: how does efficacy emerge? what practices foster efficacy?
:: how do we learn that we are agents?
:: adolescent experience of thinking about god & universe?
:: psychologically disruptive for adolescents to think about the divine (in the main); though adolescence is also period where conversion is most frequent & salient
:: not necessarily something they feel efficacious about
Social devlopmentall perspectives
- efficacy, practice, learning
- "if I pray, will my dad stop beating us"
-- relationship of deprivation / benefit to worldview & theodicy
Comparison of events by "what were you thinking about?" :: people wore beeper watches, had to log what doing, what thinking about, how challenging, self-efficacy, self-esteem, mood, etc. For adolescents.
Sampling datatable; ]
- future dating spiritual matters hobby F (ANOVA)
challenge of activity: -0.1 -0.18 -0.01 0.19 5.92***
skill of activity: -0.06 0.09 0.08 0.14 1.32
self-esteem 6.61 6.20 6.13 6.58 3.15 *
self-efficacy 4.52 4.66 4.23 4.61 2.64 *
positive emotion 4.65 5.03 4.49 4.84 4.67**
Qualities & factyors associated w/ each theodical orientation
thoedicy = justification of god (eg why is there evil, is there ar eason, etc
Determinism :: = everything happens for a reason; there's an order to the unvierse
Humanism :: things happen because humans make it so
Randomism :: **** happens
[missed 2 slides....]
Det. lower self-efficacy, higher chance LOC (locus of control); more optimistic future outlook
Hum. higher self-efficacy, lower chance LOC
Rand. more playful outlook; less optimistic future outlook
:: eg principalities & powers = deterministic theodicy; for her, that empowered her because it transferred.... to higher plane
:: for others, human agency will result in higher self-efficacy
[missed three slides...]
Beliefs about God's hand in parish ministry
- predesitnational: god has a plan for our parish & is actively directing us into that future ::: sortof integral, but personal agency diminshed
-deistic : god has left the future of our parish open to what we choose to make of it ::: there is some sort of uber-structure god has provided
-augustinian: the future of this parish depends on gods' grace & presence moving our hearts and minds to act :: as creativity / new direction emerges, it's because of creativity but creativity is a gift of god
-semi-pelagian: as we come up with a vision & sincerely try our best, god will gives us the grace to succeed :: god beomes accomplice / sidekick
:: interesting differences among clergy even; but they drift more towards the augustinian as the central approach; predestinational is next most frequent
[table of ranking choices...]
:: how are people making reference to divine action