Chris Boyatzis

Psychology Department

Education  

B.A. "with distinction" in psychology, Boston University
M.A. psychology, Brandeis University
Ph.D. developmental psychology, Brandeis University

Classes Taught

Developmental Psychology
Applied Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
Culture and Child Development
Children’s Studies (university Capstone)
General Psychology
Advanced Developmental Psychology

Research Interests 

I am a developmental psychologist interested in human development.  I am also a psychologist of religion, so I’m interested in how individuals’ religious beliefs and behaviors are related to other kinds of variables, including body image and well-being.  My primary professional affiliations are with the Society for Research in Child Development and Division 36 (Psychology of Religion) of the American Psychological Association.  I am also interested in pedagogy and serve on the editorial board of the journal Teaching of Psychology.  At Bucknell, I am active in the Teaching and Learning Center and will be a Teaching Fellow in the TLC in spring 2008.  With a former colleague from Cal State University , Fullerton , I edit an anthology of readings, Annual Editions:  Child Growth & Development, now in its 15th edition.

Recently, my primary scholarly interest has been religious and spiritual development in childhood through the college years.  One specific interest is parent-child communication and religious socialization in the family.  I’m attempting to understand specific mechanisms through which parents influence children’s spiritual growth (and vice versa).  A second interest is the relationship between women's religiosity and their body image and eating behavior, what we refer to as "God in the Bod."  My students and I have studied this topic in adolescent girls, college women, young adult women, and in college men.  My students and I have recently published three articles and we are now completing a experimental-design study using an expressive writing paradigm reflecting on religious and spiritual affirmations.  This fall (2007) I am beginning a study with a psychologist at Grove City College on God in the Bod in the elderly. 

I am also interested in other domains of religious and spiritual development.  I have collaborated with scholars at Bowling Green State Univ. and Penn State-Harrisburg to examine the importance of “spiritual intimacy” in relationship satisfaction between college students and their parents, siblings, close friends, and romantic partners.  In addition, my students and I have studied families in Appalachia to learn how parents' religiosity is linked to their attitudes toward spanking and their children's attitudes toward aggression.  In a recent honors thesis, we studied prayer behavior in young teenagers and college students to examine links between types of prayer and well-being.  In another thesis, we used a computerized Implicit Attitude Test on college students' views of religion, family, and divorce.  Several years ago, my students and I worked at nearby Geisinger Medical Center to analyze the role of faith in cardiac patients' recovery from myocardial infarction and coronary bypass.  Another student studied Bucknell students’ use of religious and secular coping with anxiety about the Iraq war.

In addition to my research, I have organized and edited three special issues of journals, in Applied Developmental Science (2004, co-edited with Pamela King of Fuller Theological Seminary), The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (2006), and Review of Religious Research (2003).  Also, since 2001, I have organized a biennial preconference (which meets prior to the Soc. for Research in Child Development meeting) on religious and spiritual development that brings together major scholars and students.  I am also an active member on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence at the Search Institute in Minnesota .

Some Recent Publications 

Religious and Spiritual Development 

Boyatzis, O’Connell, & Backof (in press).  Experimental evidence that theistic/religious body affirmations improve women’s feelings about their appearance.  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 

Boyatzis, Trevino, Manning, & Quinlan (2006).  The role of religion and spirituality in women’s body image     and eating behavior: Qualitative and quantitative approaches and clinical implications.  Counseling and Spirituality, 25, 29-51.

Boyatzis (2006).  Advancing our understanding of religious dynamics in the family and parent-child   relationship.  The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 245-251. 

Boyatzis & McConnell (2006).  Quest orientation in young women:  Age trends during emerging adulthood and relations to body image and disordered eating.  The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 197-207. 

Boyatzis (2005).  Children’s religious and spiritual development.  In Paloutzian & Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. (pp. 123-143).  Guilford .

Boyatzis (2006).  Women’s body image and eating disorders.  In Dowling & Scarlett (Eds.), Encyclopedia of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 50-52). Sage. 

Boyatzis (2006).  Doubt.  In Dowling & Scarlett (Eds.), Encyclopedia of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 125-127).  Sage.

Boyatzis, Dollahite, & Marks (2006).  The family as a context for religious and spiritual development in children and youth.  In Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, & Benson (Eds.), Handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 297-309). Thousand Oaks , CA :  Sage.

Denham, Neal, Wilson, Pickering, & Boyatzis (2005).  Emotional development and forgiveness in children:  Emerging evidence.  In Worthington (Ed.), Handbook of forgiveness (pp. 127-142).  New York :  Routledge. 

Johnson & Boyatzis (2006).  Cognitive-cultural foundations of spiritual development.  In Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, & Benson (Eds.), Handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence (pp. 211-223).  Thousand Oaks , CA :  Sage.

King & Boyatzis (2004). Exploring adolescent spiritual and religious development:  Current and future theoretical and applied perspectives. Applied Developmental Science, 8, 2-6. 

Boyatzis (2004).  The co-construction of spiritual meaning in parent-child communication.  In Ratcliff (Ed.), Children's spirituality (pp. 182-200). Cascade Publishers.

Boyatzis & Newman (2004).  How shall we study children’s spirituality?  In Ratcliff (Ed.), Children's spirituality (pp. 166-181). Cascade Publishers.

Boyatzis & Janicki (2003). Parent-child communication about religion: Survey and diary data on unilateral transmission and bi-directional reciprocity styles. Review of Religious Research, 44, 252-270.

McConnell, Boyatzis, Baldwin, McConnell, & Laubach (2001). Spiritual and religious associations with quality of life and self-efficacy for the elderly patient in cardiac rehabilitation. American Journal of  Geriatric Cardiology, 10.

Symbolic Development, Social Development, Gender Issues 

Boyatzis & Watson (Eds.) (2000).  Symbolic and social constraints on the development of children's artistic style. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, no. 90. Jossey-Bass.

Boyatzis (2000). The artistic evolution of mommy: A longitudinal case study of symbolic and social processes.  New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, no. 90. Jossey-Bass.

Boyatzis & Albertini (2000). A naturalistic observation of children drawing: Peer collaboration processes and influences in children's art. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, no. 90. Jossey-Bass.

Boyatzis & Eades (1999). Gender differences in preschoolers and kindergartners' artistic production and preference. Sex Roles, 41, 627-638.

Boyatzis, Matillo, & Nesbitt. (1995). Effects of "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" on children's aggression with peers. Child Study Journal, 25, 45-55.

Boyatzis & Watson. (1993). Preschool children's symbolic representation of objects through gestures. Child Development, 64, 729-735.

Teaching Innovation 

Boyatzis. (1992). Let the caged bird sing: Using literature to teach developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 19, 221-222.

Boyatzis. (1998). A collaborative assignment on the role of culture in child development and education. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 195-198.