Classes of studies Efficacy of prayer

1 classes of studies

1.1 first person studies
1.2 second person studies
1.3 third party studies
1.4 secondary, inter-personal effects

classes of studies
first person studies

a bolivian aymara woman praying

an example of study on meditative prayer bernardi study in british medical journal in 2001. reported praying rosary or reciting yoga mantras @ specific rates, baroreflex sensitivity increased in cardiovascular patients.

a study published in 2008 used eysenck s dimensional model of personality based on neuroticism , psychoticism assess mental health of high school students based on self-reported frequency of prayer. students both in catholic , protestant schools, higher levels of prayer associated better mental health measured lower psychoticism scores. however, among pupils attending catholic schools, higher levels of prayer associated higher neuroticism scores.

many accept prayer can aid in recovery due psychological , physical benefits. has been suggested if person knows or being prayed can uplifting , increase morale, aiding recovery. (see subject-expectancy effect.) many studies have suggested prayer can reduce physical stress, regardless of god or gods person prays to, , may true many reasons. according study centra state hospital, psychological benefits of prayer may reduce stress , anxiety, promote more positive outlook, , strengthen live. other practices such yoga, t ai chi, , meditation may have positive impact on physical , psychological health.

a 2001 study meisenhelder , chandler analyzed data obtained 1,421 presbyterian pastors surveyed mail , found self-reported frequency of prayer well-correlated self-perception of health , vitality. research methodology has inherent problems self-selection, selection bias, , residual confounding, , authors admitted direction of perceived prayer , health relationships remains inconclusive due limits of correlational research design .

a 2008 study bhutkar, et al. considered 78 subjects, concluded regular practice of surya namaskar had positive impact on cardio-respiratory health.

second person studies

one condition may affect efficacy of intercessory prayer whether person praying has connection person prayed for. 2005 study published journal of alternative , complementary medicine alleges evidence eleven healers in variety of distant intentionality (defined sending thoughts @ distance ) modalities able remotely influence mri-measurable brain activity in chosen partners physically , electrically isolated. authors explained, study not healing per se, whether there correlation in intention connect @ distance person. experiment has not yet been reproduced authors or others.

third party studies


a medical examination

the victorian scientist francis galton made first statistical analysis of third-party prayer. hypothesized, partly satire, if prayer effective, members of british royal family live longer average, given thousands prayed well-being every sunday, , prayed on randomized plots of land see if plants grow faster, , found no correlation in either case.

the amount of formal research performed on intercessory prayer quite small, $5 million spent worldwide on such research each year. parameters used within study designs have varied, instance, daily or weekly prayers, whether provide patient photographs, full or partial names, measuring levels of belief in prayer, , whether patients underwent surgery.

the third party studies reported either null results, correlated results, or contradictory results in beneficiaries of prayer had worsened health outcomes. instance, meta-analysis of several studies related distant intercessory healing published in annals of internal medicine in 2000 looked @ 2774 patients in 23 studies, , found 13 studies showed statistically significant positive results, 9 studies showed no effect, , 1 study showed negative result.

a 2003 levels of evidence review found evidence hypothesis being prayed improves physical recovery acute illness . concluded although number of studies have tested hypothesis, 3 have sufficient rigor review here (byrd 1988, harris et al. 1999, , sicher et al. 1998). in three, strongest findings variables evaluated subjectively, raising concerns possible inadvertent unmasking of outcomes assessors. other meta-studies of broader literature have been performed showing evidence no effect or potentially small effect. instance, 2006 meta analysis on 14 studies concluded there no discernable effect while 2007 systemic review of intercessory prayer reported inconclusive results, noting 7 of 17 studies had small, significant, effect sizes review noted 3 methodologically rigorous studies failed produce significant findings.

secondary, inter-personal effects

apart whether prayer affects other beneficiaries, research has suggested prayer has benefits on person performing prayer, e.g. in may 2011 study conducted suggested significant specific indirect effect between meditative prayer , hope, adult attachment, , forgiveness. research has suggested prayer has direct relation sense of overall gratitude in life. prayer may aid dealing alcoholism, e.g. 2010 study suggested there strong correlation between prayer , reduction of alcohol consumption. actively pray during week reported half many consumed alcoholic drinks.

an increasingly more researched area within psychology of religion has been relational implications of prayer, e.g. study in 2011 conducted lambert et al. stated when compared control group experienced positive interactions significant other in prayer condition reported higher feelings of unity , trust toward significant other. studies have shown there increased feelings of marital enrichment through prayer. study conducted in 2010 has shown correlation between prayer within relationships , reduction of infidelity. other areas of research prayer, debate whether these effects result of prayer or placebo effect. however, dr. herbert benson, professor of medicine @ harvard medical school, suggests may not mutually exclusive.