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

Basic information

Original name

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

Authors

LANG, Martin (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

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

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Presentations at conferences

Field of Study

60300 6.3 Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

Country of publisher

Canada

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/16:00090738

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

anxiety; ritual; prayer; uncertainty; predictability; control

Abstract

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.

Links

EE2.3.20.0048, research and development project

Name: Laboratoř pro experimentální výzkum náboženství

Cite

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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