Thinking about God can make you less upset about making mistakes, but only if you’re a believer. Researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough say they’ve proven that when people have God on their brain, they can better take setbacks in stride, effectively allowing stress to slide off their backs.
Study co-authors Michael Inzlicht and Alexa Tullett came to the conclusion after conducting a study of the effect of religious beliefs on reaction to anxiety-provoking mistakes.
Test subjects’ brains were first primed to think about religion: consciously by writing about God; and subconsciously by completing a religiously-themed word scramble. Then, the participants were given a simple, but tricky computerized test.
When the test subjects made a mistake, researchers measured minute, but significant reactions in the anterior cingulate cortex — an area of the brain that typically alerts us when things go wrong.
“Believers showed brain activity that was indicative of being less emotional, showing less distress to their own errors,” Dr. Inzlicht told CTV.ca
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article courtesy of Eurweb.com
