Page 4: Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion

A research centre dedicated to experimental research on religion.

Laboratory research profile

LEVYNA is an interdisciplinary centre affiliated with the Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University. It is the only institution in the world exclusively dedicated to the experimental study of religion. Combining methods and expertise from the Humanities and the Sciences, LEVYNA brings together researchers with backgrounds as diverse as Religious Studies, Anthropology, History, Psychology, and Neuroscience, who work collaboratively to investigate religious belief and behaviour. It aims to train young scholars in employing scientific methods in the study of religion, and to produce high quality research on religion through cross-disciplinary collaboration, methodological integration and innovation.

7 Dec 2022

Rituals and moral norm objectivization

Radim Chvaja, Jan Horský, Martin Lang, and Radek Kundt published a study on ritual and objectivity of moral norms in The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.

20 Oct 2022

What do nonbelievers believe in?

In a paper published in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Eva Kundtová Klocová and Dan Řezníček collaborated with an international research team lead by Valerie van Mulukom to study worldviews of nonbelievers.

18 Oct 2022

What motivates ritual participation?

In the journal Slovak Ethnology, Peter Maňo and Dimitris Xygalatas published an article focused on the motivations to partake in rituals.

Anxiety and ritualized behavior

Why students rub their lucky charms before they sit for exams and athletes insist on wearing their lucky socks for months?

Religion and intragroup cooperation

Are people nicer in church compared to bar? Do we behave differently in the presence of religious statues?

Religion and signaling theory

Why religious rituals involve self-harming and dangerous behavior such as subincision, scarring, and other bodily mutilations?

Intuitions, beliefs, moral models, and human evolution

Do internal representations of morality predict moral behavior? Does cross-cultural variance beat every moral universality?

Evolutionary phylogeny of religions

What are the patterns and macro-evolutionary processes in the history of religious systems?

Work With Us

Are you interested in studying or working at the LEVYNA Research Centre?

Research

Speaker Series

LEVYNA organizes an in-person speaker series in Brno, Czech Republic. Our speakers usually come for two or three days to chat with us, give a public talk on the topic of their interest and lead a workshop on a specific skill they developed for their research. We like to host speakers from various disciplines and with various skills to broaden our horizons.

LEVYNA Speaker Series

Interviews

Radek Kundt in Hergot on Radio Wave. "Žmoulejte si svůj talisman, radí výzkumník z Brna".

TIP

Radek Kundt in Hergot on Radio Wave. "Žmoulejte si svůj talisman, radí výzkumník z Brna".

More Interviews Podcasts

Latest Publications

Year of publication

2023

Effects of Seating Arrangement on Students' Interaction in Group Reflective Practice

NEHYBA Jan JUHAŇÁK Libor CIGÁN Jakub

Article in Periodical

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION, year: 2023, volume: 91, edition: 2, DOI
Gods are watching and so what? Moralistic supernatural punishment across 15 cultures

BENDIXEN Theiss LIGHTNER Aaron D APICELLA Coren ATKINSON Quentin BOLYANATZ Alexander COHEN Emma Elizabeth Ann HANDLEY Carla HENRICH Joseph KLOCOVÁ Eva LESOROGOL Carolyn MATHEW Sarah MCNAMARA Rita A MOYA Cristina NORENZAYAN Ara PLACEK Caitlyn SOLER Montserrat VARDY Tom WEIGEL Jonathan WILLARD Aiyana K XYGALATAS Dimitris LANG Martin PURZYCKI Benjamin Grant

Article in Periodical

Evolutionary Human Sciences, year: 2023, volume: 5, edition: e18, DOI
Ovulatory shift, hormonal changes, and no effects on incentivized decision-making

FIŠAR Miloš CINGL Lubomír REGGIANI Tommaso KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ Eva KUNDT Radek KRÁTKÝ Jan KOSTOLANSKÁ Katarína BENCÚROVÁ Petra KUDLIČKOVÁ PEŠKOVÁ Marie MAREČKOVÁ Klára

Article in Periodical

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PSYCHOLOGY, year: 2023, DOI
Religious costly signal induces more trustworthiness than secular costly signal: A study of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

CHVAJA Radim CHINCHILLA Juana GOMEZ Angel LANG Martin

Article in Periodical

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, year: 2023, volume: 2023, edition: e-print before press, DOI
The evolution of human ritual behavior as a cooperative signaling platform

LANG Martin KUNDT Radek

Article in Periodical

Religion, Brain & Behavior, year: 2023, volume: 2023, edition: e-print before press, DOI

LEVYNA Publications