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ALABAMA® University Libraries THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA® University Libraries GLOSSOLALIA INFLUENCES ON STRESS RESPONSE AMONG APOSTOLIC PENTECOSTALS Christopher D. Lynn – University at Albany, State University of New York Deposited 3/8/2018 Citation of dissertation: Lynn, C.D. Glossolalia Influences on Stress Response Among Apostolic Pentecostals. Ph.D. Dissertation, the University at Albany, State University of New York, 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. GLOSSOLALIA INFLUENCES ON STRESS RESPONSE AMONG APOSTOLIC PENTECOSTALS by Christopher Dana Lynn A Dissertation Submitted to the University at Albany, State University of New York in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Arts & Sciences Department of Anthropology 2009 UMI Number: 3366121 Copyright 2009 by Lynn, Christopher Dana All rights reserved INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® ______________________________________________________________ UMI Microform 3366121 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. _______________________________________________________________ ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Glossolalia Influences on Stress Response among Apostolic Pentecostals by Christopher Dana Lynn COPYRIGHT 2009 Abstract This study tests the hypothesis that long-term experience of Apostolic Pentecostal glossolalia or “speaking in tongues” reduces the reactivity of biological stress response to normal or “daily” stressors. Glossolalia is a form of religious dissociation. Dissociation is a universal capacity often conflated with “trance.” It refers to the partitioning of awareness associated with a variety of cross-cultural forms, from daydreaming and denial to possession trance, shamanic spirit journeys, and dissociative identity disorder. Dissociation is believed to reduce or filter stress by mediating evaluation of potential stressors and reactivity of the mechanisms of biological stress response. Previous studies have examined these mechanisms in clinical settings and in relation to secularized dissociative phenomena, but few have attempted to evaluate the stress reducing and filtering capacities of culturally relative dissociation in situ. This is important, as forms of dissociation, such as meditation and hypnosis, are used in medical application for improving health by reducing stress. The current study sought to isolate a form of culturally relative dissociation in assessing its influence on biological stress response. This was accomplished through a two year investigation among Apostolics in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley. Pentecostalism is a form of evangelical Protestantism that rose to prominence over the 20th century to become a global phenomenon. Apostolics are a traditional denomination defined by belief in glossolalia as absolutely necessary to convey acceptance of Christ. Sixty participants were sampled with regard to glossolalia, biological stress, and other relevant factors. Biological stress was measured by collecting saliva samples to measure diurnal cycles of cortisol and α-Amylase production. iii The data suggest that glossolalia is suggestively associated with a reduction in stress in response to normal stressors and significantly associated with positive mood and calmness. This supports a growing body of work validating the health-improving affects of religiosity and the claims of Pentecostals themselves. The broad implication of this research is that dissociation plays a role in stress-related health outcomes in religious dissociative contexts. iv Acknowledgements I must thank the brethren of the Triumphant Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and Abundant Life Tabernacle for allowing me to spend the last two years among them collecting the data reported in this study. Without their hospitality and amenability, this study would never have been possible. The pastors of both churches, in particular, have been incredibly accommodating, interested, and supportive, which made the entire effort much easier than it might have been given the lack of precedent for a study of this type. I am indebted to funding from a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation’s Cultural Anthropology Program, a Student Research Grant from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, a research grant from the SUNY Benevolent Association, and a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from School of Graduate Studies and a Research Grant from the Graduate Student Organization of the University at Albany. I thank my dissertation committee for encouragement and support in research design and implementation. My advisor and dissertation chair Dr. Lawrence Schell supported me in pursuing a research topic that truly interested me and continually prodded me to evaluate the relevance of my expertise and skills set, as well as informally setting deadlines sooner than I would have set them for myself. Despite the anxiety this used to cause me, I would not have finished nearly as quickly or been as efficient had he not, and I ultimately learned I could set seemingly unreasonable expectations of myself and actually fulfill them. I am grateful to Dr. Walter Little for advising me to start attending Pentecostal churches well in advance of beginning quantitative data collection to establish a relationship, which was instrumental to the success of this study. v Additionally, he often helped reduce the anxiety that mounted when data collection slowed down by telling me that qualitative research usually takes unexpected turns and that no good cultural study is ever completed in the relatively short period of time entailed in dissertation research, that when I’m done with this, I will probably be far from done with the research. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Gordon Gallup, Jr. for welcoming me into his evolutionary psychology lab. It was in there that I was able to test some of the methods I employed in this study and to develop the interdisciplinary approach I will continue to utilize in future research and academic endeavors. I want to thank my undergraduate mentor, Dr. John Beatty of Brooklyn College, who started me on this path, even when I detoured through two other graduate programs and a stint as a museum educator. So much of what is in this dissertation began in one of his classes, a conversation after class, or in a paper for one of his classes. When I thought life had interceded and I would be unable to continue pursuing anthropology, he told me to look in other departments for expertise that would complement what an anthropology department could afford me. He taught me that anthropology should never be constrained by being a ‘discipline’ yet was careful to encourage the rigorous applications of its methods. He inspired me with the breadth of his experience and his cantankerousness—a true anthropological renaissance man! I thank Dr. Cheryl Frye for allowing me to conduct biochemical assays in her lab and to her student and lab director Jason Paris for training me in conducting them. I appreciate the assistance of my undergraduate research assistants from SUNY New Paltz in collecting data and should thank Angela Brennon specifically for coming through for me at the end when we were really under a time crunch. vi Lastly, but most importantly, I thank my family for their patience and support over the long haul, uncertainty, and stress (I should have measured us!) of completing graduate courses, the current study, and this dissertation. My wife Loretta has tended the home fires and taken care of our three sons while I collected data and wrote, wrote and collected more data, taught, presented, and collected even more data, ad infinitum. And I want to thank Lux, Bailey, and Jagger for their patience with their dad while he ran off to churches around town collecting spit and commuted daily over an hour away for five of the first six years of their lives and for their continual interest in what I do. I like talking to you, guys, almost as much about what I do as what you like to do, but now, I promise, more time for soccer in the backyard! vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page …………………………………………………………………...…………….i Copyright Page ...……………………………………………………………..…….....…ii Abstract.............................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................... xiv List of Tables.................................................................................................................. xvii List of Figures................................................................................................................. xix FORWARD.......................................................................................................................
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