Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience | Baylor University
Waco, TX, UNITED STATES
Sarah A. Schnitker is an expert in the study of patience, self-control, gratitude, generosity, and thrift.
Spotlight
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Dr. Sarah Schnitker joined the Psychology and Neuroscience Department at Baylor University in fall 2018 as an Associate Professor. She holds a Ph.D and an M.A. in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in Psychology from Grove City College. Prior to joining the faculty at Baylor University, Schnitker was an Associate Professor in the Thrive Center for Human Development at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Schnitker studies virtue and character development in adolescents and emerging adults, with a focus on the role of spirituality and religion in virtue formation. She specializes in the study of patience, self-control, gratitude, generosity, and thrift. Schnitker has procured more than $3.5 million in funding as a principle investigator on multiple research grants, and she has published in a variety of scientific journals and edited volumes. Schnitker is a Member-at-Large for APA Division 36 – Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, is a Consulting Editor for the organization’s flagship journal, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, and is the recipient of the Virginia Sexton American Psychological Association’s Division 36 Mentoring Award.
Areas of Expertise (11)
Personal Goals
Adolescent Interventions
Spirituality
Thrift
Gratitude
Patience
Self-Control
Generosity
Religious Motivation
Positive Psychology
Personality Development
Accomplishments (1)
Mentoring Award
Virginia Sexton American Psychological Association’s Division 36
Education (3)
University of California, Davis: Ph.D., Personality and Social Psychology
University of California, Davis: M.A., Personality and Social Psychology
Grove City College: B.A., Psychology
Links (2)
Media Appearances (19)
In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women
The New York Times online
2024-09-29
This article about a recent survey by the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute finding that Gen Z men are now more religious than their female peers includes interviews with Baylor faculty Beth Allison Barr, Ph.D., The James Vardaman Endowed Professor of History and author of “The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth,” and Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D., professor of psychology who co-directs the longitudinal Developing Character in College Communities study.
Sacred meaning in motion: How spiritual body movements affect our emotions, according to recent study
PsyPost online
2023-12-07
The way people move their bodies and the sacred meanings they attach to these movements can significantly affect their emotions, according to new research pubished in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. The study was conducted at Baylor’s Science of Virtues Lab, which was established at the University by leading virtues researcher Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D.
How Patient Is Too Patient? Are You Wisely Waiting Or Languishing?
Forbes online
2023-12-01
Baylor psychology and neuroscience professor Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D., is quoted in this article about the value of patience, which rests on three things: what kind of patience you’re talking about, the opportunities around you, and the details of your personal situation.
Giving thanks isn't just a holiday tradition. It's part of how humans evolved
Associated Press online
2023-11-21
Researchers delving into the science of gratitude have found that gratitude likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive. “This is something that is part of our human DNA,” said Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor. Also quoted is Jenae Nelson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher who studies gratitude at Baylor and Harvard. The AP article was picked up by well over 100 national media outlets.
7 Tips for Getting Better at Practicing Patience
Everyday Health online
2023-03-09
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, is quoted in this article on the benefits of developing patience and ideas on how to cultivate patience.
Baylor researchers get $2.5 million grant to help theologians and psychologists work together on human flourishing
Baptist News Global online
2022-11-03
A team of Baylor researchers has landed a $2.5 million John Temple Foundation grant to train theologians how to use insights gleaned from the psychological sciences to study how human beings can live their most fulfilling lives. The team is led by Devan Stahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of religion and a theological bioethicist, and Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology.
Around the State
Baptist Standard online
2022-10-19
Baylor researchers led by Devan Stahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of religion and a theological bioethicist and Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, have received a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for an interdisciplinary project, “Illuminating Theological Inquiry and Christian Ethics Through Training in Psychological Science.”
7 Ways to Be a More Patient Parent, According to a Patience Expert
Fatherly online
2022-03-11
Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Baylor who studies patience, found in her research that in addition to increasing overall life satisfaction, relational health, hope, and self-esteem, patience can help people achieve their goals.
Around the State
Baptist Standard online
2022-02-16
The John Templeton Foundation awarded Baylor University researchers a $2.7 million grant to examine virtue formation in higher education moral communities, both secular and faith-based. Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, and Perry Glanzer, Ph.D., professor of educational foundations and resident scholar with Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, are leading the project.
Baylor gets $2.7 million grant to study character development in students
Baptist News Global online
2022-02-11
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and Perry Glanzer, Ph.D., professor of educational foundations and resident scholar with Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, were awarded a $2.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a project called “The Role of Meta-identity in Developing Moral Communities Within Higher Education.”
Baylor researchers receive $2.7 million grant from John Templeton Foundation
Fox 44 News online
2022-02-09
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, and Perry Glanzer, Ph.D., professor of educational foundations and resident scholar with Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, have received a $2.7 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to research virtue formation in higher education.
Impatience can hurt your prospects and your health, but a psychologist says there's a way to stop it
Business Insider online
2021-12-03
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, explains the negative impacts of impatience on health and how intentional practices can cultivate patience, improving wellbeing.
How to become more patient with everyday annoyances
CNN online
2021-10-19
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, explains how everyday annoyances cause dysregulation and how people can become more patient.
Management Experts Share Tips for Supporting Virtual Workforce Teams
The Rheumatologist online
2021-09-16
Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, is quoted in this article detailing ways to support employees during the changing times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Measuring measurable:’ Baylor Researchers Earn Grant to Test Spiritual Impact of Art
The National Tribune online
2020-09-18
Baylor psychology and neuroscience researchers Sarah Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor, and Wade Rowatt, Ph.D., professor, received a grant of over $230,000 from the Templeton Religious Trust through their “Art Seeking Understanding” focus to support interdisciplinary research.
Your patience is wearing thin—but so is your kid's
National Geographic online
2020-07-14
Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D., associate professor of experimental psychology and neuroscience and noted researcher on virtue formation, is quoted in this article about how to help the entire family practice pandemic patience. Schnitker's own studies reveal that patience is correlated with increased hope, less depression and loneliness, and higher self-esteem - all things that could benefit kids during this stressful time.
Losing Your Patience? Here's How to Get it Back
Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Podcast: #246 online
2020-05-11
AUDIO: Baylor psychology and neuroscience professor Sarah A. Schnitker, Ph.D., who studies virtue and character development, is a guest expert on patience and shares that patience is a quality we can train and develop through meditation and other strategies.
When it comes to health, ‘patience is a virtue’
The Jerusalem Post online
2020-02-27
Baylor psychology and neuroscience professor Sara Schnitker, Ph.D., an expert in virtue development including patience, is quoted in this column about patience when it comes to health.
How to Be a More Patient Person
New York Times online
2018-11-05
Sarah A. Schnitker, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University and a leading researcher on the topic of patience, suggests using a powerful technique called cognitive reappraisal, which means thinking about a situation differently. [...]
Research Grants (1)
Character Strength Interventions in Adolescents: Engaging Scholars and Practitioners to Promote Virtue Development
John Templeton Foundation $2,616,085
2018 The purpose of this project is to galvanize widespread scientific development of virtue interventions for adolescents across a diversity of contexts (e.g., athletic teams, religious organizations, youth community centers, online) that attend to spirituality and transcendent purpose.
Articles (3)
High Goal Conflict and Low Goal Meaning are Associated with an Increased Likelihood of Subsequent Religious Transformation in Adolescents
Journal of Research in PersonalitySarah A. Schnitker et al.
2019 Adolescence is one of the most common periods during which people report religious transformations (Regnerus & Uecker, 2006), but few studies have examined what variables might precipitate a transformation during adolescence. Based on early writings of James, 1902, Starbuck, 1911, we tested the hypotheses that adolescents are more likely to experience a religious transformation when they have (a) lower global meaning, (b) lower goal meaning, and (c) higher goal conflict. Participants (N = 137) were adolescents living in Western Europe involved in a service trip with Young Life, a non-denominational Christian organization. Participants with lower strivings meaning and higher strivings conflict before the trip were more likely to experience a religious transformation during the trip.
Spiritual struggles and mental health outcomes in a spiritually integrated inpatient program
Journal of Affective DisordersSarah A. Schnitker et al.
2019 Focusing on 217 adults who completed a spiritually integrated inpatient program, this study examined (1) which struggles in Exline et al.’s (2014) framework (Divine, Morality, Ultimate Meaning, Interpersonal, Demonic, and Doubting) represented the most salient indicators of major depressive disorder (MDD) symptomatology and positive mental health (PMH) and (2) whether alleviation of these struggles predicted improvements in patients’ mental health status over the treatment period.
Mind the gap: evolutionary psychological perspectives on human thriving
Journal of Positive PsychologySarah A. Schnitker et al.
2017 The amount of psychological literature focusing on human thriving and flourishing has grown in recent years, but this topic is currently subject to much conceptual ambiguity. Evolutionary psychology, though often not included in discussions on optimal human development, provides a framework that benefits considerations of human thriving. Humans exhibit a high degree of niche construction by which they alter their environment, in turn affecting their offspring. Such niche construction is enabled by unique human capacities, but these same capacities are then required to ‘mind the gap’ between human nature and the altered environmental niche. As such, thriving may in part be understood as the ability of the individual to navigate difficulties resulting from a mismatch between their nature and niche. Three unique features of the human species that are used to both create and navigate this gap are considered as they relate to the existing literature on human thriving.
