According to a new study from German researchers at Saarland University and the University of Mannheim, praying actually does help people control their emotions and can give them an “increased strength and ability to resist temptation.” For the study, the researchers gathered volunteers from varying faiths, as well as, agnostics and atheists, who were asked to either pray or think intensely for a period of five minutes. Next, the volunteers were asked to watch movie clips that were meant to illicit an emotional response—and were told to either act normally or try to repress their emotions as researchers observed their reactions. The volunteers then took a Stroops test, which is used by psychologists to measure mental self-control. Those who prayed had an easier time with the tasks than those who didn’t. A researcher told The Daily Mail, ‘These results are consistent with and contribute to a growing body of work attesting to the beneficial effects of praying on self-control.” Had they just listened to Hammer in the first place, the researchers could have saved themselves a lot of work …
