About The Author

I am a UK-based psychologist, specializing in the psychology of religion. After completing a Masters degree in "Cognition and Culture" at Queen's University in Belfast, I went to New Zealand, where I was awarded a PhD in Psychology by the University of Otago in 2019. In my thesis work, I conducted several experimental studies with human participants to test elements of a novel theory about the formation and maintenance of religious beliefs.

Much of my thesis has been published in research journals such as "Cognitive Science" and "The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion." After my PhD, I worked with Professor Jesse Bering and Professor Jamin Halberstadt on studies to do with intuitive afterlife reasoning and burial objects (grave goods).

About This Website

This website was originally a profile page (hence the web address). I would like it to become an educational resource for anyone interested in the scientific study of religion.

“Are there gods?” is a less interesting question than “why do people believe in gods?” The first question is inscrutable and contentious. The second deals with the human brain, the beliefs and behaviors it generates, and their study in the fields of psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology.

To understand religion is to understand a core part of what makes us human. Some form of belief or intuition about the supernatural has evolved in every culture. It has inspired ancient literature, epic poetry, monumental art, and mystifying rituals, and it has shaped our history for millennia. 

The scientific study of religion will help people to understand the psychological motivations and cognitive biases that give rise to these beliefs and behaviours. Depending on your philosophical outlook, such an understanding could free humanity from the grip of religious ideas or provide a stronger foundation for them.

"We do not know why we are born into the world, but we can try to find out what sort of a world it is." 一 Edwin Hubble