Ritual as a technology enhancing norm objectivity
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Perceiving moral norms as absolute and independent of time and space is a widespread feature of human cognition. Such perceived norm objectivity strengthens internal motivation to adhere to norms thus stabilizing risky cooperation within the group. Although various elements of religious systems were suggested to enhance the objectivity of moral norms (e.g., belief in moralizing gods), the crucial role of ritual in the process has been neglected. We tested the association between attending collective religious rituals and perception of moral norms as objective. Furthermore, identifying three characteristic features of ritual form - materialization, invariance, and digitalization, we examined their role in promoting norm objectivity. We used two cross-sectional datasets, conducted five correlational studies with three culturally distinct populations, and report on the initial support for theories suggesting that ritual behavior helps ground moral norms by affecting perceptual mechanisms related to norm processing. |
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