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Commentary
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations During the Pandemic
Maintaining social and spiritual connections in the midst of COVID-19 are not the only challenges facing communities of faith. Congregations play critical roles in providing social services within communities. How can their services, such as food assistance, be delivered safely?
Apr 16, 2020
Report
Forecasting Religious Affiliation in the United States Army
Changes in the religious composition of the United States could affect the religious composition of recruits into the U.S. Army. This, in turn, could significantly alter the religious needs of the Army population. How has the religious composition of enlisted soldiers and of officers changed over time?
Nov 29, 2021

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Journal Article
Magic, Religion, and Science: Secularization Trends and Continued Coexistence
We conducted two studies, an American nationally representative survey and a comparative phylogenetic analysis of religious traditions, to test three hypothesized cultural evolutionary drivers for beliefs in magic.
Mar 8, 2023
Commentary
How Russia's War in Ukraine Has Impacted Its Christian Image
Over the past decade, the Russian government has taken pains to present itself as a bastion of Christianity and traditional values. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, however, there have been noticeable cracks in the receptivity to this messaging strategy.
Nov 16, 2022
Journal Article
Shared Cultural Ancestry Predicts the Global Diffusion of Democracy
Countries with shared linguistic and religious ancestry have similar democracy outcomes.
Nov 4, 2022
Journal Article
Thinking Outside the Altruistic Box: Why We Need Other Evolutionary Theories to Explain Why Religion Is Religious
This article reviews and critiques prior explanations for the evolution of religious beliefs and suggests new hypotheses that might be more productive for understanding why religion involves beliefs in the gods and the supernatural.
Jan 11, 2022
Report
Study on foreign funding of religious institutions in the Netherlands
Study on foreign funding of religious institutions in the Netherlands and the extent to which funding is associated with undesirable influence from unfree countries.
Nov 20, 2020
Journal Article
Oil Spill Disruption and Problem Drinking: Assessing the Impact of Religious Context Among Gulf Coast Residents
This study employs multilevel analysis to examine the impact of religious context on alcohol misuse among individuals impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Sep 16, 2020
Journal Article
Women-centered Rituals and Levels of Domestic Violence: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ritual as a Signaling and Solidarity-Building Strategy
Prior research suggests domestic violence against women to be more common in societies with patrilocality. Women-centered rituals build social solidarity to mitigate domestic violence. We find domestic violence is not particularly associated with patrilocality, but that women-centered rituals appear protective against domestic violence irrespective of post-marital residence pattern.
Aug 11, 2020
Journal Article
Eat, Pray, Move: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multilevel Church-Based Intervention to Address Obesity Among African Americans and Latinos
Implementing a multilevel intervention across diverse congregations resulted in small improvements in obesity outcomes. A longer time line is needed to fully implement and assess effects of community and congregation environmental strategies and to allow for potential larger impacts of the intervention.
Apr 28, 2020
Journal Article
A Systematic Review of Church-Based Health Interventions Among Latinos
This article reviews interventions that have been tested in congregations with majority Latino populations in the U.S.
Mar 10, 2020
Journal Article
Congregational Involvement in HIV: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Factors Influencing HIV Activity Among Diverse Urban Congregations
This paper utilizes comparative case methods and qualitative case data from a sample of urban congregations, and examines a range of factors to identify case scenarios associated with congregations involved in different levels of HIV activity.
Dec 13, 2019
Journal Article
Urban Religious Congregations' Responses to Community Substance Use: An Exploratory Study of Four Cases
This paper explores the characteristics of congregation-based substance abuse disorder treatment programs in a diverse sample of urban religious congregations.
Oct 22, 2019
Commentary
Counterproductive Counterinsurgency: Is Mozambique Creating the Next Boko Haram?
Despite recent claims of ties to the Islamic State, the threat in Mozambique from the Islamist insurgent group al-Sunnah wa Jamaah appears to be domestic, with scarce evidence of direct ties to international extremist groups. But if the Mozambique government continues to respond in a heavy-handed manner, the threat is likely to grow, with potentially devastating effects for the country and region.
Sep 3, 2019
Blog
Border Wall, Student Suspension, Syria: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on what a border wall can accomplish, reducing student suspensions, confusion over the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, and more.
Jan 11, 2019
Essay
Faith-Based Organizations Promote Well-Being in Underserved Communities
Kathryn Derose, a senior policy researcher at RAND and an Episcopal deacon, works with Latino and African-American churches to address health issues in their communities. Her research has shown the power of the pulpit to fight health disparities, counter stigma, and encourage healthy living.
Jan 4, 2019
Report
Blaming Sunni-Shi'a Split for Middle East Unrest Is Too Simplistic
Policy decisions are being made based on the assumption that the Middle East is riven by a purely dualistic sectarian war between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. While sectarianism is relevant, geopolitical competition, local disputes, and political rivalries are the core drivers of conflict in countries like Iraq and Syria.
Aug 30, 2018
Commentary
Politics in India—Not Business as Usual
India's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has suffered recent, self-inflicted electoral setbacks. But it is still the best-organized and richest political party in the country. Can opposing alliances defeat the BJP?
Jun 19, 2018
Report
Religion, Conflict, and Stability in the Former Soviet Union
Religion is a visible force in the sociopolitical life of post-Soviet countries. Understanding how religion has contributed to peace or tensions in the region could inform policymakers and others working to bring stability to the former Soviet republics.
Jan 15, 2018
Journal Article
Promoting Health from the Pulpit: A Process Evaluation of HIV Sermons to Reduce HIV Stigma and Promote Testing in African American and Latino Churches
Clergy who embedded HIV messaging into sermons showed wide variation in their fidelity to communicating key messages.
Dec 7, 2017

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Researcher Spotlight

Luke J. Matthews

Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist

Luke Matthews is a behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at Pardee RAND Graduate School. Much of his work focuses on using formal models for cultural diffusion on social networks to better understand how people influence each other. He has applied social network…
Katya Migacheva

Social Scientist

Katya Migacheva (she/her) is a social scientist at the RAND Corporation. She has a passion for connecting social science and application and bringing research to inform the urgent challenges of today. Migacheva has conducted work both within the United States and internationally and applied her…

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