What is the public relevance of religion? We (@jonathancoley.bsky.social @mayrl.bsky.social and non-blueskyers) have thoughts coming out in @amjsoc.bsky.social doi.org/10.1086/744185

Colleagues and I have argued that digital tech has facilitated religious unbundling. Evidence here points to relevant evidence: undermining religious authority, aligning with individuation, and serving as affordance for à la care religious goods. www.psypost.org/new-study-li...

New study links the spread of the internet to a global decline in religious identity

As internet access spreads across the globe, formal religious affiliation tends to fall. A new study of 81 countries links three decades of digital expansion to a steady decline in traditional religio...

psypost.org

Excited to see this out! We find spiritual states - like spiritual awareness and states during prayer are tied to less depressive symptoms than rel. traits across models onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Wonderful to work with @evanstewart.bsky.social @jacquifrost.bsky.social and Brad Wright.

Protecting Mental Health Through Spiritual Awareness and Prayer: Insights From Robustness Testing

Prior research finds that different kinds of religious engagement, including beliefs, practices, and affinities, are associated with lower rates of depressive symptoms. As rates of depression in the ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Excited to have this article out in the world. Hopefully our framework helps scholars name and study more of what’s happening in contemporary US religion.

Daniel Winchester@bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social · 3mo ago

IT'S ALIVE! Brainstorming, discussing, writing, and re-writing this piece on the "unbundling" of American religion with @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, and @bsteens.bsky.social was the most enjoyable part of the process, but it's gratifying to see it officially "out" in ASR.

IT'S ALIVE! Brainstorming, discussing, writing, and re-writing this piece on the "unbundling" of American religion with @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, and @bsteens.bsky.social was the most enjoyable part of the process, but it's gratifying to see it officially "out" in ASR.

Religion Unbundled: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Paradigm for the Sociology of American Religion - Ruth Braunstein, Jaime Kucinskas, Brian Steensland, Daniel Winchester, 2026

Much recent sociological work on religion in the United States is written outside the field’s two established paradigms: secularization theory and the 1990s “re...

journals.sagepub.com

Our take on how to characterize, and study, what’s happening in US religion right now. Feels almost wrong that writing a paper with these folks was so much fun.

Daniel Winchester@bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social · 7mo ago

RELIGION UNBUNDLED Excited that this paper proposing a new paradigm for the sociology of US religion @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, @bsteens.bsky.social and I have been working on has been accepted for publication in the American Sociological Review. osf.io/preprints/so...

This is a great program, one open to folks in both the social sciences and humanities. The cohorts really do come together as a scholarly and supportive community and the leaders are exceptional.

Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture@csraac.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Applications for the 2026-2028 YSAR Cohort are open until April 1! Make sure to apply soon in order to get all your materials in by April 1. Learn more and apply: raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/young-schola...

Interesting commonalities w/Western patterns: intergenerational fading, time squeeze, changing family structure, and negative associations w/ religion. Yet non-affiliates still mix and match traditional elements.

Buddhism's Recent Decline in East Asia

Buddhism is the only major religion whose global population shrank between 2010 and 2020. Learn why it declined in East Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea.

pewresearch.org

Happy to share my research on religious parenting and choice in this keynote panel at the annual Episcopal Parish Network meeting.