Religion at Play

Minimax Play at Wimbledon

We use data from classic professional tennis matches to provide an empirical test of the theory of mixed strategy equilibrium. We Þnd that the serve-andreturn play of John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and others is consistent with equilibrium play. The same statistical tests soundly reject the assumption of equilibrium play in experimental data, including the data from Barry ...

Psychologists at Play

Play has been an interesting but elusive topic in comparative psychology and related fields for more than a century. Gordon M. Burghardt has been grappling with its problems for nearly a quarter as long. In this volume, Burghardt explores the problems of defining and conceptualizing play along with the evolution and adaptive significance of behavioral patterns that might be labeled as play. The...

Regional suicide rates in the Netherlands: does religion still play a role?

BACKGROUND This study examined the nature of ecological associations between 'religiousness' and suicide rates (1985-1994) in the 11 provinces in the Netherlands. METHODS Indices of religiousness, obtained from a nationwide survey, were used as aggregate predictors of provincial suicide rates in weighted linear regressions, and as individual-level predictors of suicide acceptance in logistic ...

A Symposium on Religion : Religion and Society

theoretical expectations. The assumption is that along with modernization and economic development, adherence to religious world views (seen to be a relic of the past) gradually dissipate, as they have in other advanced societies. But they haven’t in the United States. In fact, the importance of religious commitments and religious organizations to American society increased over the last severa...

Religion: Ally, Threat, or Just Religion?