International Association for the Psychology of Religion Podcast

In episode 7 of the IAPR Podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews guest Dr Katarzyna Skrzypińska about her research on Spirituality, how it can be viewed as a dimension of personality, and the construct of Spiritual Intelligence. 

0:00 Intro
2:05 Katarzyna's academic background
5:00 Katarzyna's discovery of Psych of Religion and existential psychology
9:10 Spirituality vs Religion
11:10 Spirituality as a dimension of personality  
14:00 Definitional problems of "Spirituality" 
16:05 Beliefs, Spirituality, and Religiousness
19:00 Spirituality, meaning in life, and "spiritual intelligence" 
25:40 Psych of Religion within specific demographics
29:45 Katarzyna's current work 
36:00 Using both an emic and etic approach to research
39:30 24-26 Sept 2026 Conference 

https://krakow2026.ptprid.org.pl/

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In episode 7 of the IAPR Podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews guest Prof Paul Priester. 

0:00 Introduction
1:10 Paul's unorthodox path into academia
5:00 Paul's work in addiction counselling 
7:30 OCD with religious features
12:20 Discovering Psychology of Religion 
15:45 Failing to obtain tenure and job changes
18:15 Recovery Support Specialists and self-disclosure
23:00 Culturally-reflective research
25:30 The importance of acknowledging bias
30:55 Paul's current work 
36:10 Feeding the soul 
39:40 IAPR 2027 in Brazil and Outro

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In episode 6 of the IAPR Podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews Dr Christopher Silver. 

0:00 Introduction
1:35 Chris's academic background
6:40 Pedagogy and enabling students' growth
13:50 Enjoying IAPR Conferences
17:00 Religious self-identity
23:40 Non-belief
24:20 WEIRD-centric research and exciting alternatives
27:30 Learning from other researchers
34:00 Religiosity across the lifespan
40:40 Open Science/Open Research
48:10 Psych of Religion and IAPR and the benefit of side conversations
51:25 Hoping for non-WEIRD researchers in the IAPR
58:12 The future of research funding
01:00:00 Dream research project.
01:05:05 Outro

Manual for the Assessment of Religious Styles in Faith Development Interviews (Fourth, revised edition of the Manual for Faith Development Research): https://www.academia.edu/38193550/Manual_for_the_Assessment_of_Religious_Styles_in_Faith_Development_Interviews_Fourth_revised_edition_of_the_Manual_for_Faith_Development_Research_

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In Episode 5 of the IAPR Podcast, host Sarah Charles interviews Dr Robert Arrowood, the winner of the IAPR 2025 Early Career Award and discuss his work in the area of existential psychology, with a focus on his work on the role of quest religiosity on existential coping. 

Chapters:
0:00 Intro 
1:10 Robert's academic Background
3:40 Robert's research lab 
5:20 Robert's current work on Existential Psychology 
9:05 Types of religiosity     
12:17 Cultural differences in death anxiety 
19:30 Robert's current research and Terror Management Theory
25:10 Doing good research in the Psychology of Religion
32:35 Robert's future research 
39:25 Online research and AI bots
44:10 Closing remarks and outro 
 

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In this special episode of the IAPR Podcast, host, Dr Sarah Charles, talks with Dr Carissa Sharp from the University of Birmingham about the upcoming 2025 IAPR Conference that will be held in Birmingham, UK in August of 2025. 

0:00 Introduction 

0:45 About Carissa Sharp 

3:45 How Carissa found the IAPR 

4:30 2025 IAPR Conference 

9:10 Keynote Speakers 

11:25 Pre-Conference information 

14:00 Associated event (Psychology-engaged theology) 

16:50 Networking as friends-making not a chore 

18:35 Recap and conference dates 

IAPR Conference Dates: Tuesday 19th August - Friday 22nd August 

Find IAPR on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/iapsychreligion.bsky.social 

IAPR Website: https://www.iaprweb.org/  

Conference Website: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/iapr2025/ 

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In the Third episode of the IAPR podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews Dr Suvi-Maria Saarelainen, who is an associate professor at the University of Eastern Finland, about her work on the religious coping and  existential loneliness 


Chapters:
0:00 Intro 
1:22 Suvi's academic Background
3:35 IAPR as an academic home 
4:41 Suvi's work on religious coping 
7:05 Generational differences and similarities    
10:35 Existential Loneliness
14:20 Relationship to wider loneliness research 
16:45 Cultural differences between Finland and Sweden
19:50 Theoretical frameworks & Suvi-Maria's Future
25:00 Palliative care and Bereavement
27:40 Visual Methods
32:05 Outro

Suvi's Email Address: [email protected]

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In the second episode of the IAPR podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews Dr Everton de Oliveira Maraldi about his work on the psychology of mediumship, possession, and dissociation  

Chapters

0:00 Intro
1:27 About Everton
5:21 Psychology's WEIRD approach to mediumship and spiritism
11:40 Everton's cross-cultural work and potential for new ideas
14:00 The role of embodied cognition in possession and mediumship
19:10 Cross-cultural consistency of diagnosis of dissociation
20:30 Trauma, dissociation, and depersonalisation 
25:05 Meta-psychological discussion, measurement, bias in interpretation, and demand characteristics
31:20 How to avoid methodological issues, and deception
37:50 The assumed link between spirituality and dissociation
44:45 Future work in the era, and the role of including both qualitative and quantitative work
57:00 The importance of dialogue with the humanities
1:03:20 Conclusion and closing remarks


Everton's email: everton.nom(a)gmail.com 

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In the first episode of the International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) podcast, host Dr Sarah Charles interviews Dr Julia Gyimesi about her recent article published in Issue 1 of Volume 45 of the Archive for the Psychology of Religion entitled "Epilepsy and religiosity: A historical overview" (DOI: 10.1177/00846724221135678) 

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