The power of charisma—perceived charisma inhibits the frontal executive network of believers in intercessory prayer
- Uffe Schjoedt1,2,3,
- Hans Stødkilde-Jørgensen2,
- Armin W. Geertz1,
- Torben E. Lund3 and
- Andreas Roepstorff3,4
- 1Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, 2MR-Research Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, 3Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, and 4Department of Social Anthropology, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Correspondence should be addressed to Uffe Schjoedt. Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Taasingegade 3, 8000 Århus C, Denmark, E-mail: us{at}teo.au.dk
- Received April 7, 2009.
- Accepted February 16, 2010.
Abstract
This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how assumptions about speakers’ abilities changed the evoked BOLD response in secular and Christian participants who received intercessory prayer. We find that recipients’ assumptions about senders’ charismatic abilities have important effects on their executive network. Most notably, the Christian participants deactivated the frontal network consisting of the medial and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally in response to speakers who they believed had healing abilities. An independent analysis across subjects revealed that this deactivation predicted the Christian participants’ subsequent ratings of the speakers’ charisma and experience of God’s presence during prayer. These observations point to an important mechanism of authority that may facilitate charismatic influence, a mechanism which is likely to be present in other interpersonal interactions as well.
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- © The Author (2010). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
