REVIEW ARTICLE Conceptualizing ‘‘Prayer’’ for an East–West Dialogue and Beyond Kevin L. Ladd 1 • Meleah L. Ladd 2 • Nupur Sahai 3 Received: 29 September 2016 / Accepted: 6 November 2016 Ó National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India 2016 Abstract Early in the American psychology of religion, prayer was a central topic, emphasizing the ‘‘self’’ (James in Varieties of religious experience. Longmans, Green, New York, 1902) and social activity (Strong in The psy- chology of prayer. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1909). These writings, and contemporary efforts as well, typically conceptualize prayer as a theistically directed activity of communication, locating the work firmly in Western faith traditions. While this orientation captures a portion of the practice within those traditions, it is difficult to carry that definition over into comparative studies with Eastern practices. The present paper explores alternative ways to think about prayer and analogous activities that may facilitate an East–West dialogue. In addition, non- theistic formulations may help extend the conversation to encompass the spiritual practices of people not associated with any sort of traditionally bounded belief system. Keywords Religion Á Spirituality Á Prayer Á History Á Theory Á Review There are at least two long-standing challenges for scholars working in the sociology or psychology of religion. The first is to make clear the nature of our work. In the general population, there is often a misperception that our task as scholars is either to support or to dismiss religious faith. Correcting this commonplace thinking is not a small task. Efforts along these lines are complicated by our second perennial challenge, that of definitions. Sociologists with their emphasis on group processes and contexts are accused of using definitions that are too broad and vague; psy- chologists emphasizing individual-level behavior are chastised for the narrow precision of their constructs. Practitioners in both disciplines are critiqued for being either reductionists or apologists on the basis of their def- initions. Since the errors of which we are accused tend to fall at opposite ends of the intellectual spectrum, when we are together, our collective insights should locate us at a balanced midpoint, as any statistician can attest. We will attempt to stay in this middle ground as we articulate thoughts on the scientific study of prayer. As a central component of faith-based belief systems, prayer has both individual and communal features. These features, however, are not perfectly aligned across multiple tradi- tions; definitions and expressions of what constitutes prayer cannot be taken for granted. Over the course of this paper, we will explore some of the contexts in which prayer exists and include a quick overview of the relevant scientific research in the West. Then we will offer some observations on the highly cognitive nature of that research and suggest an embodied paradigm that may provide a basis for addi- tional conversations. Overall, what we hope to convince you of is that it is feasible and necessary to conduct our research simultaneously in the academy as well as in multiple, real-life cultural contexts. East and West: The Context of Prayer At the onset, it is useful to specify how we conceptualize traditions of East and West. The deeper one delves into this task, the more complex it becomes because the roots of & Kevin L. Ladd kladd@iusb.edu 1 Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, IN, USA 2 University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA 3 Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, USA 123 Psychol Stud DOI 10.1007/s12646-016-0380-8