Psychology Professor Elizabeth Krumrei Mancuso Awarded $1,205,426 Grant to Advance Understanding of Religious Pluralism

Elizabeth Krumrei Mancuso, a professor of psychology at Seaver College, has received a $1,205,426 grant from Templeton Religion Trust to conduct three years worth of research to deepen understanding of religious covenantal pluralism. These funds are part of a larger $2,262,393 award distributed to the University of Kansas to fund an interdisciplinary team of four scholars within the domains of philosophy, religious studies, and psychology. Mancuso serves as the larger project’s co-director. 

Pluralism at its core refers to the coexistence of people with various beliefs. Yet, without the will to also respect and understand our neighbors’ differences, pluralism can be experienced as mere tolerance or even apathy. With a framework developed by Templeton scholars Chris Stewart, Chris Seiple, and Dennis Hoover, covenantal pluralism takes peaceful coexistence a step further, characterized by the protection of the freedom of others, not out of obligation or indifference, but as a principled choice. It can be seen as a covenant of respect. 

“Many societies are composed of different religious groups,” says Mancuso. “When pluralism is founded in relationship commitment, it upholds the integrity of individuals, including their differences. Covenantal pluralism allows individuals to sharpen and enrich each other.” 

Mancuso’s research will seek to understand what qualities may encourage and sustain religious covenantal pluralism, in particular. Narrowing her study to focus on interactions between individuals across religious boundaries—as opposed to an aerial view of social groups—Mancuso will investigate how personal qualities of religious literacy, courage, and intellectual humility strengthen covenantal pluralism. 

Religious literacy, says Mancuso, allows one to overcome misunderstandings that might exist because of religious difference. Regarding courage, she adds, “Courage doesn't mean acting rashly. It's about acting wisely in a way that defies fear and other barriers that might prevent people from taking actions that uphold their values." And intellectual humility, she explains, is awareness of one’s intellectual fallibility, which often takes courage to recognize. 

Mancuso will employ her scholarly expertise in the psychology of religion, virtue, and human flourishing to develop ways of practically measuring religious covenantal pluralism. Within this three-year timeframe, she will also examine the extent to which people value this philosophy and how it influences day-to-day life. 

Focusing her study within the United States, the psychology professor will be gleaning data from pools of adults of various religious backgrounds nationwide. Mancuso’s Seaver College colleague, associate professor of psychology Randy Corpuz, will be contributing his expertise in social neuroscience and developmental psychology to help support the gathering and analysis of data on the Pepperdine front.

The study’s interdisciplinary collaborators include Nancy Snow, a professor of philosophy from the University of Kansas and the larger project’s director; Adam Green, professor of philosophy at the University of Oklahoma; and David Vishanoff, professor of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma. The project also has two graduate research assistants, Ryan Lemasters and Mohammad Salehi, philosophy graduate students at the University of Kansas with interests in religious studies. Mancuso will also be hiring a post doctoral scholar in psychology to participate in the work.

Each team member will investigate questions relating to their area of expertise, such as how religious literacy enables covenantal pluralism, the challenge of dogmatism and other barriers to covenantal pluralism, and the extent to which virtues such as intellectual humility and courage can help to overcome these obstacles.

Throughout her career in the academy and as a licensed clinician, Mancuso has established herself as a dedicated expert in the psychology of religion and spirituality, including through the study of religious coping and spiritual struggles and in positive psychology, studying virtues such as intellectual humility. Mancuso’s current project with Templeton Religion Trust follows previous work including development of the online resource, Grounded to Grow, designed to support people experiencing religious conflict in a relationship.

“Our big-picture motivation is that when covenantal pluralism is put into serious and sustained practice, it has the capacity to create richer notions of interreligious peace, harmony, and productivity,” says Mancuso. “We can tangibly contribute to people’s ability to live peaceably and cooperatively.”