Although a great deal has been learned about the perceived attributes of God, systematic research on the cognitive structure of deity representations is lacking. Because extant research focuses almost exclusively on the Christian God, the present studies investigate the representation of deities in a polytheistic religion, Hinduism. Prototype theory informs 4 studies on how conceptualizations of Gods are structured. Using student and community samples, features of Gods are identified, feature centrality is documented, and centrality influence on cognition is evaluated. Studies 1 (feature identification task) and 2 (centrality rating task) produced considerable overlap in feature frequency documentation and feature centrality across the student and community samples, with “God is love” being the most frequently listed feature and most central feature in both samples. Study 3 showed that feature centrality influenced memory recall and recognition. Thus, cognitive representation of the divine in Hinduism is consistent with that of the prototype structure commonly found in the representation of natural objects. Study 4 identified boundary conditions for religious priming. Deity priming influenced ratings of central, but not peripheral, characteristics, only for respondents who rated themselves as closer to God(s). The implications of these results, especially for research on the impact of religious concepts on subsequent behavior, are discussed.

中文翻译：

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印度教对神圣原型的表征是否结构化？

尽管人们对神的感知属性有了大量的了解，但缺乏对神明表征的认知结构的系统研究。因为现存的研究几乎完全集中在基督教上帝上，目前的研究调查了多神教印度教中神灵的代表。原型理论为 4 项关于神的概念化结构的研究提供信息。使用学生和社区样本，识别神的特征，记录特征中心性，并评估中心性对认知的影响。研究 1（特征识别任务）和 2（中心性评级任务）在特征频率文档和学生和社区样本的特征中心性方面产生了相当大的重叠，“上帝就是爱”是两个样本中最常列出的特征和最核心的特征。研究 3 表明特征中心性影响记忆回忆和识别。因此，印度教中神性的认知表征与自然物体表征中常见的原型结构的认知表征是一致的。研究 4 确定了宗教启动的边界条件。神灵启动影响核心特征的评分，但不影响外围特征，仅适用于自认为更接近上帝的受访者。讨论了这些结果的影响，特别是对宗教概念对后续行为影响的研究。印度教中神性的认知表征与自然物体表征中常见的原型结构的认知表征是一致的。研究 4 确定了宗教启动的边界条件。神灵启动影响核心特征的评分，但不影响外围特征，仅适用于自认为更接近上帝的受访者。讨论了这些结果的影响，特别是对宗教概念对后续行为影响的研究。印度教中神性的认知表征与自然物体表征中常见的原型结构的认知表征是一致的。研究 4 确定了宗教启动的边界条件。神灵启动影响了核心特征的评分，但不影响外围特征的评分，仅适用于自认为更接近上帝的受访者。讨论了这些结果的影响，特别是对宗教概念对后续行为影响的研究。