Dr Aiyana Willard
Reader in Psychology
Quad North 126
- Email: aiyana.willard@brunel.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1895 265151
White, CJM. and Willard, AK. (2024) 'Victim blaming and belief in karma'. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 0 (ahead of print). pp. 1 - 14. ISSN: 1367-2223 Open Access Link
Willard, AK., Rosun, N. and de Barra, M. (2024) 'God, witchcraft, and beliefs about illness in Mauritius'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 0 (ahead of print). pp. 1 - 21. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Turpin, H., Willard, AK. and Whitehouse, H. (2024) 'American mental models of scientific versus theological prestige: a freelist analysis'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 0 (ahead of print). pp. 1 - 12. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Bendixen, T., Lightner, AD., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E., et al. (2024) 'Gods are watching and so what? Moralistic supernatural punishment across 15 cultures'. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 5. pp. 1 - 15. ISSN: 2513-843X Open Access Link
Willard, AK. (2023) 'On breaking the cognitive science of religion and putting it back together again'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 0 (ahead of print). pp. 1 - 5. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Badiani, F., Willard, A. and McNamara, R. (2023) 'Bleeding cultures a cross-cultural exploration into the behavioral outcomes of tight and loose cultural contact zones'. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 4. pp. 1 - 13. ISSN: 2666-6227 Open Access Link
Bendixen, T., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Cohen, E., Henrich, J., McNamara, RA., et al. (2023) 'Appealing to the minds of gods: religious beliefs and appeals correspond to features of local social ecologies'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 14 (2). pp. 183 - 205. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Willard, A., Baimel, A., Turpin, H., Jong, J. and Whitehouse, H. (2022) 'Rewarding the good and punishing the bad: The role of karma and afterlife beliefs in shaping moral norms'. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41 (5). pp. 385 - 396. ISSN: 1090-5138 Open Access Link
Turpin, HD. and Willard, AK. (2022) 'Credibility Enhancing Displays, religious scandal and the decline of Irish Catholic orthodoxy'. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4. pp. 1 - 19. ISSN: 2513-843X Open Access Link
Baimel, A., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E., Handley, C., et al. (2022) 'Material insecurity predicts greater commitment to moralistic and less commitment to local deities: a cross-cultural investigation'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 12 (1-2). pp. 4 - 17. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Purzycki, BG., Willard, AK., Klocová, EK., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Bolyanatz, A., et al. (2022) 'The moralization bias of gods’ minds: a cross-cultural test'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 12 (1-2). pp. 38 - 60. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Vardy, T., Moya, C., Placek, CD., Apicella, CL., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E., et al. (2022) 'The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 12 (1-2). pp. 18 - 37. ISSN: 2153-599X Open Access Link
Beheim, B., Atkinson, Q., Bulbulia, J., Gervais, W., Gray, RD., Henrich, J., et al. (2021) 'Treatment of missing data determined conclusions regarding moralizing gods'. Nature, 595 (7866). pp. E29 - E34. ISSN: 0028-0836 Open Access Link
McDonald, H., Babunashvili, M., Finn, A., Willard, A., Valmaggia, L., Chadwick, P. and et al. (2021) 'Positive schizotypy and the experience of creativity: The distinctive roles of suspiciousness and dispositional mindfulness'. Schizophrenia Research, 228 (February 2021). pp. 151 - 158. ISSN: 0920-9964 Open Access Link
McNamara, RA., Senanayake, R., Willard, AK. and Henrich, J. (2021) 'God's mind on morality'. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 3. pp. 1 - 19. ISSN: 2513-843X Open Access Link
White, CJM., Willard, AK., Baimel, A. and Norenzayan, A. (2021) 'Cognitive Pathways to Belief in Karma and Belief in God'. Cognitive Science, 45 (1). pp. 1 - 42. ISSN: 0364-0213 Open Access Link
Wen, NJ., Willard, AK., Caughy, M. and Legare, CH. (2020) 'Watch me, watch you: ritual participation increases in-group displays and out-group monitoring in children'. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 375 (1805). pp. 1 - 7. ISSN: 0962-8436 Open Access Link
Callanan, MA., Legare, CH., Sobel, DM., Jaeger, GJ., Letourneau, S., McHugh, SR., et al. (2020) 'Exploration, Explanation, and Parent–Child Interaction in Museums'. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 85 (1). pp. 7 - 137. ISSN: 0037-976X Open Access Link
Willard, A., Cingl, L. and Norenzayan, A. (2019) 'Cognitive Biases and Religious Belief: A path model replication in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with a focus on anthropomorphism'. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11 (1). pp. 97 - 106. ISSN: 1948-5506 Open Access Link
Willard, A., Busch, JTA., Cullum, KA., Letourneau, SM., Sobel, DM., Callanan, M. and et al. (2019) 'Explain this, explore that: A study of parent-child interaction in a children’s museum'. Child Development, 90 (5). pp. e598 - e617. ISSN: 0009-3920 Open Access Link
Lang, M., Purzycki, BG., Apicella, CL., Atkinson, QD., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E., et al. (2019) 'Moralizing gods, impartiality and religious parochialism across 15 societies'. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1898). pp. 1 - 10. ISSN: 0962-8452 Open Access Link
Willard, AK. and McNamara, RA. (2019) 'The Minds of God(s) and Humans: Differences in Mind Perception in Fiji and North America'. Cognitive Science, 43 (1). ISSN: 0364-0213 Open Access Link
Willard, AK. (2019) 'Agency detection is unnecessary in the explanation of religious belief'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 9 (1). pp. 96 - 98. ISSN: 2153-599X
McNamara, RA., Willard, AK., Norenzayan, A. and Henrich, J. (2018) 'Weighing Outcome vs. Intent Across Societies: How cultural models of mind shape moral reasoning'. Cognition, 182. pp. 95 - 108. ISSN: 0010-0277 Open Access Link
Purzycki, BG., Pisor, AC., Apicella, C., Atkinson, Q., Cohen, E., Henrich, J., et al. (2018) 'The cognitive and cultural foundations of moral behavior'. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39 (5). pp. 490 - 501. ISSN: 1090-5138 Open Access Link
Busch, JTA., Willard, AK. and Legare, CH. (2018) 'Explanation scaffolds causal learning and problem solving in childhood', in Saylor, MM. and Ganea, PA. (eds.) Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood: Social Motivation, Cognition, and Linguistic Mechanisms. Cham, Switzerland : Springer, Cham. pp. 113 - 127. ISBN 10: 3-319-77182-5. ISBN 13: 978-3-319-77181-6. Open Access Link
Purzycki, BG., Ross, CT., Apicella, C., Atkinson, QD., Cohen, E., McNamara, RA., et al. (2018) 'Material security, life history, and moralistic religions: A cross-cultural examination'. PLoS ONE, 13 (3). pp. e0193856 - e0193856. ISSN: 1932-6203 Open Access Link
Willard, AK. and Norenzayan, A. (2017) '“Spiritual but not religious”: Cognition, schizotypy, and conversion in alternative beliefs'. Cognition, 165. pp. 137 - 146. ISSN: 0010-0277 Open Access Link
Purzycki, BG., Henrich, J., Apicella, C., Atkinson, QD., Baimel, A., Cohen, E., et al. (2017) 'The evolution of religion and morality: a synthesis of ethnographic and experimental evidence from eight societies'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 8 (2). pp. 101 - 132. ISSN: 2153-599X
Willard, AK. (2017) 'Religion and prosocial behavior among the Indo-Fijians'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 8 (2). pp. 227 - 242. ISSN: 2153-599X
Willard, AK. and Cingl, L. (2017) 'Testing theories of secularization and religious belief in the Czech Republic and Slovakia'. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38 (5). pp. 604 - 615. ISSN: 1090-5138 Open Access Link
Purzycki, BG., Apicella, C., Atkinson, QD., Cohen, E., McNamara, RA., Willard, AK., et al. (2016) 'Cross-cultural dataset for the evolution of religion and morality project'. Scientific Data, 3 (1). pp. 160099. ISSN: 2052-4463 Open Access Link
Willard, AK., Henrich, J. and Norenzayan, A. (2016) 'Memory and Belief in the Transmission of Counterintuitive Content'. Human Nature, 27 (3). pp. 221 - 243. ISSN: 1045-6767 Open Access Link
Shariff, AF., Willard, AK., Muthukrishna, M., Kramer, SR. and Henrich, J. (2016) 'What is the association between religious affiliation and children's altruism?'. Current Biology, 26 (15). pp. R699 - R700. ISSN: 0960-9822
Purzycki, BG. and Willard, AK. (2016) 'MCI theory: a critical discussion'. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 6 (3). pp. 207 - 248. ISSN: 2153-599X
Willard, AK., Shariff, AF. and Norenzayan, A. (2016) 'Religious priming as a research tool for studying religion: Evidentiary value, current issues, and future directions'. Current Opinion in Psychology, 12. pp. 71 - 75. ISSN: 2352-250X
Norenzayan, A., Shariff, AF., Gervais, WM., Willard, AK., McNamara, RA., Slingerland, E. and et al. (2016) 'The cultural evolution of prosocial religions'. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39. pp. 1 - 19. ISSN: 0140-525X
Purzycki, BG., Apicella, C., Atkinson, QD., Cohen, E., McNamara, RA., Willard, AK., et al. (2016) 'Moralistic gods, supernatural punishment and the expansion of human sociality'. Nature, 530 (7590). pp. 327 - 330. ISSN: 0028-0836
Shariff, AF., Willard, AK., Andersen, T. and Norenzayan, A. (2015) 'Religious priming: A meta-analysis with a focus on prosociality'. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20 (1). pp. 27 - 48. ISSN: 1088-8683
Willard, AK. and Norenzayan, A. (2013) 'Cognitive biases explain religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in life's purpose'. Cognition, 129 (2). pp. 379 - 391. ISSN: 0010-0277
Gervais, WM., Willard, AK., Norenzayan, A. and Henrich, J. (2011) 'The Cultural Transmission Of Faith: Why innate intuitions are necessary, but insufficient, to explain religious belief'. Religion, 41 (3). pp. 389 - 410. ISSN: 0048-721X Open Access Link