Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between
Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns

k 2016

Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns

LANG, Martin

Základní údaje

Originální název

Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns

Autoři

LANG, Martin (203 Česká republika, garant, domácí)

Vydání

6th biennale of the International Association for the Cognitive Study of Religion, Vancouver, 22-24 August 2016, 2016

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Obor

60300 6.3 Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

Stát vydavatele

Kanada

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14210/16:00090738

Organizační jednotka

Filozofická fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

anxiety; ritual; prayer; uncertainty; predictability; control

Štítky

rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam

Změněno: 27. 3. 2017 10:39, Mgr. Vendula Hromádková

Anotace

V originále

Ethnographers have long noted that rituals often occur during times of stress and anxiety such as wars, gambling, or sports. Since Malinowski’s seminal work in Trobriand Islands, it has been also argued that rituals may help reduce anxiety. Furthermore, in a parallel line of research, several scholars noted that these rituals have ‘obvious features’ that can be observed across various cultures. Such characteristics include redundancy, repetitiveness, and rigidity on various behavioral levels. Assuming that ritual is a natural response to anxiogenic situations, it could be hypothesized that induced anxiety should trigger ritual-like behavior. However, to date, this hypothesis lacks substantial empirical support. Together with a team of co-authors, we designed a study that manipulated anxiety and used motion-capture technology to quantify various characteristics of hand movements. We found that induced anxiety led to an increase in repetitiveness and rigidity, but not redundancy. Nevertheless, examining both psychological and physiological pathways revealed that repetitiveness and rigidity were predicted by an increase in heart rate, while self-perceived anxiety was a marginally significant predictor of redundancy. In the current paper, I will interpret these findings in the light of an entropy model of uncertainty, in which anxiety motivates organisms to return to familiar low-entropy states in order to regain a sense of control. I will further discuss our team’s next steps that include: 1) replicating this research with patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 2) investigating the effects of predictable behavioral patterns on anxiety alleviation in a laboratory and during naturally occurring rituals.

Návaznosti

EE2.3.20.0048, projekt VaV

Název: Laboratoř pro experimentální výzkum náboženství

Citovat

LANG, Martin. Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns. In 6th biennale of the International Association for the Cognitive Study of Religion, Vancouver, 22-24 August 2016. 2016.

@proceedings{1353423,
   author = {Lang, Martin},
   booktitle = {6th biennale of the International Association for the Cognitive Study of Religion, Vancouver, 22-24 August 2016},
   keywords = {anxiety; ritual; prayer; uncertainty; predictability; control},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns},
   year = {2016}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1353423
AU  - Lang, Martin
PY  - 2016
TI  - Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns
KW  - anxiety
KW  - ritual
KW  - prayer
KW  - uncertainty
KW  - predictability
KW  - control
N2  - Ethnographers have long noted that rituals often occur during times of stress and anxiety such as wars, gambling, or sports. Since Malinowski’s seminal work in Trobriand Islands, it has been also argued that rituals may help reduce anxiety. Furthermore, in a parallel line of research, several scholars noted that these rituals have ‘obvious features’ that can be observed across various cultures. Such characteristics include redundancy, repetitiveness, and rigidity on various behavioral levels. Assuming that ritual is a natural response to anxiogenic situations, it could be hypothesized that induced anxiety should trigger ritual-like behavior. However, to date, this hypothesis lacks substantial empirical support. Together with a team of co-authors, we designed a study that manipulated anxiety and used motion-capture technology to quantify various characteristics of hand movements. We found that induced anxiety led to an increase in repetitiveness and rigidity, but not redundancy. Nevertheless, examining both psychological and physiological pathways revealed that repetitiveness and rigidity were predicted by an increase in heart rate, while self-perceived anxiety was a marginally significant predictor of redundancy. In the current paper, I will interpret these findings in the light of an entropy model of uncertainty, in which anxiety motivates organisms to return to familiar low-entropy states in order to regain a sense of control. I will further discuss our team’s next steps that include: 1) replicating this research with patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 2) investigating the effects of predictable behavioral patterns on anxiety alleviation in a laboratory and during naturally occurring rituals.
ER  -

LANG, Martin. Anxiety and Ritual Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Anxiety and Predictable Behavioral Patterns. In \textit{6th biennale of the International Association for the Cognitive Study of Religion, Vancouver, 22-24 August 2016}. 2016.

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