UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

Imagine yourself getting ready to embark on a skydiving session. As you strap on your parachute and open the airplane door, a grin breaks across your face as you realize that in just mere seconds, you’ll experience the adrenaline rush and sense of freedom that comes with falling through the sky at terminal velocity. However, as the pilot tells you the plane has reached 14,000 feet above ground level, doubts slowly begin to trickle into your mind. Is the risk you’re taking truly worth it? The ground is so far below you, and if your parachute fails, there will be nothing to stop your inevitable gruesome death. You also have a wife and two beautiful children at home who love you. What would happen to them if you were to die today? With these thoughts running through your mind, you reluctantly tell the pilot to turn back, and decide that the risk just isn’t worth it. Now imagine yourself on the plane again, but this time, things are different. Rightbefore getting onto the airplane, you had just attended church, where you spent hours praying to God. After confessing your sins and thanking God for what he has given you, you asked him to protect you while you embark on your skydiving journey. Would you be more likely to jump out of the plane now? According to research conducted in the field of religious cognition, reminders of God can lead to increased risky behavior. The associations between God and psychologicalcontrol and between control and risk taking are one possible explanation for this phenomena. However, as the next few articles will show, the link between supernatural reminders and risk taking is a highly complex effect which needs further studying.