Page 2: Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion

A research centre dedicated to experimental research on religion.

Laboratory research profile

LEVYNA is an interdisciplinary centre affiliated with the Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University. It is the only institution in the world exclusively dedicated to the experimental study of religion. Combining methods and expertise from the Humanities and the Sciences, LEVYNA brings together researchers with backgrounds as diverse as Religious Studies, Anthropology, History, Psychology, and Neuroscience, who work collaboratively to investigate religious belief and behaviour. It aims to train young scholars in employing scientific methods in the study of religion, and to produce high quality research on religion through cross-disciplinary collaboration, methodological integration and innovation.

25 Jun

Adverse effects of meditation – a new paper by LEVYNA & colleagues

In a single-group observational study published in the Journal of Religion and Health, S. Kotherová with J. Cigán and colleagues showed that one-fifth of their Samadhi meditation participants (first timers) got post-meditation nausea symptoms – this result indicates that meditation can cause adverse effects in some practitioners.

6 Mar

Uncertainty in a sensory deprived environment triggers the feeling of another person’s presence

In a paper published in Religion, Brain & Behavior, J. Nenadalová & D. Řezníček demonstrated that some study participants in a sensory-deprived laboratory environment sensed the presence of another person. This feeling was mostly associated with perceived uncertainty and only somewhat associated with psychological dispositions.

16 Feb

Descriptive norms about gender equality at home were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

In a cross-national investigation published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, F. M. Saxler with LEVYNA’s E. Kundtová Klocová and other colleagues show that the COVID-19 pandemic affected young people’s normative beliefs about unpaid domestic work; and that this effect is stronger in countries with greater gender inequality.

Research Lines

Anxiety and ritualized behavior

Why students rub their lucky charms before they sit for exams and athletes insist on wearing their lucky socks for months?

Religion and intragroup cooperation

Are people nicer in church compared to bar? Do we behave differently in the presence of religious statues?

Religion and signaling theory

Why religious rituals involve self-harming and dangerous behavior such as subincision, scarring, and other bodily mutilations?

Intuitions, beliefs, moral models, and human evolution

Do internal representations of morality predict moral behavior? Does cross-cultural variance beat every moral universality?

Evolutionary phylogeny of religions

What are the patterns and macro-evolutionary processes in the history of religious systems?

Work With Us

Are you interested in studying or working at the LEVYNA Research Centre?

Research

Speaker Series

LEVYNA organizes an in-person speaker series in Brno, Czech Republic. Our speakers usually come for two or three days to chat with us, give a public talk on the topic of their interest and lead a workshop on a specific skill they developed for their research. We like to host speakers from various disciplines and with various skills to broaden our horizons.

LEVYNA Speaker Series

Interviews

Radek Kundt in Hergot on Radio Wave. "Žmoulejte si svůj talisman, radí výzkumník z Brna".

Jana Nenadalová's interview in a podcast Antropodcast, "Jsme nejateističtější zemí v Evropě?"

Martin Lang in an interview (CZ) "Proč je pro společnost důležitá soudržnost? Snadněji čelí vnějším hrozbám" (Why is cohesion important for the society? It helps to confront external threats) on a recently published study.

More Interviews Podcasts

Latest Publications

Year of publication

2024

Adverse Effects of Meditation : Autonomic Nervous System Activation and Individual Nauseous Responses During Samadhi Meditation in the Czech Republic

KOTHEROVÁ Silvie CIGÁN Jakub ŠTĚPÁNKOVÁ Lenka VYSKOČILOVÁ Mária LITTNEROVÁ Simona EJOVA Anastasia SEPŠI Milan

Article in Periodical

Journal of Religion and Health, year: 2024, volume: neuveden, edition: neuveden, DOI
Contest and resource allocation: An experimental analysis of entitlement and self-selection effects

ČELLÁROVÁ Katarína STANĚK Rostislav

Article in Periodical

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, year: 2024, volume: 82, edition: March, DOI
Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation.

SAXLER F M DORROUGH A R FROEHLICH L BLOCK K CROFT A MEEUSSEN L OLSSON M SCHMADER T SCHUSTER C S Van Grootel C Van Laar ATKINSON C BENSON-GREENWALD T BIRNEANU A KURINCOVÁ ČAVOJOVÁ Vladimíra CHERYAN S A Lee Kai Chung DANYLIUK I DAR-NIMROD I MARTINY S E KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ Eva

Article in Periodical

PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN, year: 2024
Emotional contagion in a collective ritual

XYGALATAS Dimitrios LANG Martin MAŇO Peter KRÁTKÝ Jan FISCHER Ronald

Article in Periodical

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, year: 2024, volume: NA, edition: NA, DOI
Exploring the impact of intensified multiple session tDCS over the left DLPFC on brain function in MCI: a randomized control trial.

ŠIMKO Patrik PUPÍKOVÁ Monika GAJDOŠ Martin KLOBUŠIAKOVÁ Patrícia VÁVRA Václav ŠIMO Adam REKTOROVÁ Irena

Article in Periodical

Scientific Reports, year: 2024, volume: 14, edition: 1, DOI
Physiology-Inspired Bifocal Fronto-Parietal tACS for Working Memory Enhancement.

PUPÍKOVÁ Monika MACEIRA-ELVIRA Pablo HARQUEL Sylvain ŠIMKO Patrik POPA Traian GAJDOŠ Martin LAMOŠ Martin NENCHA Umberto MITTEROVÁ Kristína ŠIMO Adam HUMMEL Friedhelm REKTOROVÁ Irena

Article in Periodical

Heliyon, year: 2024, volume: 10, edition: 18, DOI
Ritual Explained? Some Issues and Challenges for the Cognitive and Evolutionary Study of Rituals

CIGÁN Jakub KRÁTKÝ Jan KUNDT Radek KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ Eva LANG Martin MAŇO Peter

Article in Periodical

Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, year: 2024, DOI
The role of costly commitment signals in assorting cooperators duringintergroup conflict

LANG Martin CHVAJA Radim PURZYCKI Benjamin G

Article in Periodical

Evolution and Human Behavior, year: 2024, volume: 45, edition: 2, DOI

LEVYNA Publications

A research centre dedicated to experimental research on religion.

A research centre dedicated to experimental research on religion.

A research centre dedicated to experimental research on religion.

Laboratory research profile

Adverse effects of meditation – a new paper by LEVYNA & colleagues

Uncertainty in a sensory deprived environment triggers the feeling of another person’s presence

Descriptive norms about gender equality at home were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Research Lines

Anxiety and ritualized behavior

Religion and intragroup cooperation

Religion and signaling theory

Intuitions, beliefs, moral models, and human evolution

Evolutionary phylogeny of religions

Work With Us

Speaker Series

Interviews

Radek Kundt in Hergot on Radio Wave. "Žmoulejte si svůj talisman, radí výzkumník z Brna".

Jana Nenadalová's interview in a podcast Antropodcast, "Jsme nejateističtější zemí v Evropě?"

Martin Lang in an interview (CZ) "Proč je pro společnost důležitá soudržnost? Snadněji čelí vnějším hrozbám​" (Why is cohesion important for the society? It helps to confront external threats) on a recently published study.

Latest Publications

2024

Martin Lang in an interview (CZ) "Proč je pro společnost důležitá soudržnost? Snadněji čelí vnějším hrozbám" (Why is cohesion important for the society? It helps to confront external threats) on a recently published study.