Daryl Van Tongeren
Hope College
Daryl Van Tongeren, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Frost Center for Social Science Research at Hope College. He completed his M.A. in experimental psychology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and his Ph.D. in experimental social psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), Midwestern Psychological Association, and the International Society for Science and Religion.
He is motivated by big questions in psychological science and adopts an existential approach to his work. His research program is centered on three intersecting lines of inquiry: meaning in life, religion, and virtues (such as humility and forgiveness). His work examines the social motivation for meaning in life, the social cognitive and existential function of religion, and the nature and functions of virtues. He is particularly interested in the psychological ramifications of people leaving religion (i.e., religious dones) and the lingering effects of this religious change—a phenomenon he termed religious residue. He has more than 200 academic publications and four books in these areas, and his work has been supported by numerous external grants, including several from The John Templeton Foundation.
Daryl has won national and international awards for his research. He was named a 2016 Rising Star from the Association for Psychological Science, the Margaret Gorman Early Career Award for APA’s Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) in 2022, and the Early Career Contributions Award from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology (ISSEP). Currently, he is an Associate Editor for The Journal of Positive Psychology, and a Consulting Editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and the Journal of Social Psychology. His research has been covered by numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, NPR affiliated radio stations, Scientific American, and Men’s Health.