Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in
religious ritual?

k 2019

Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual?

KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ, Eva

Základní údaje

Originální název

Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual?

Autoři

KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ, Eva

Vydání

14th Annual Conference European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, 2019

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Obor

50902 Social sciences, interdisciplinary

Stát vydavatele

Francie

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Organizační jednotka

Filozofická fakulta

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 13. 1. 2020 18:25, Mgr. et Mgr. Eva Kundtová Klocová, Ph.D.

Anotace

V originále

Objective: Some cultures consider kneeling posture the most salient bodily expression connected to religious ritual practice. Closed and lowered postures observed across animal kingdom are generally associated and perceived as expressing submission and subordinance. Some cultural and religious explanations of the use of kneeling in religious rituals however put an emphasis on moral aspect of such signal, seeing it rather as an expression of shame and atonement. Therefore, long exposure to such explicit explanations of the display may have shifted the understanding of the associated affective state from submission to shame and these postures might emphasize conformity with moral norms over power asymmetry (usually between superhuman agents and human participants). Methods: Using the free-list technique, I compared two distinct cultural and four religious models of understanding of the kneeling posture. The two studied cultures are Czech and Mauritian, providing a significant contrast: the inhabitants of historically Christian, now highly atheistic Czech Republic compared with Mauritians living in considerable ethnic, religious and cultural diversity in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The Mauritian population affiliates (among others) to Hindu, Christian or Muslim religious traditions. Results: Kneeling is seen mostly as conveying respect and submission cross-culturally. Although moral aspects are mentioned in several instances, neither cultural origin, nor religious affiliation predict their occurrence. The emphasis on submission is significantly lower for all religious affiliations (compared to atheists). Conclusions: The results do not support the predicted shift from submission to shame in understanding of kneeling displays in religious rituals. There is however an observable difference in emphasis on submission in explanations by religiously affiliated. This suggests that there might be other explanatory framework differing from the official theological explanations, which stresses other explanations for the use of kneeling, such as efficiency boost of a prayer or a plea.

Návaznosti

EE2.3.20.0048, projekt VaV

Název: Laboratoř pro experimentální výzkum náboženství

MUNI/G/0985/2017, interní kód MU

Název: Economic Decision-Making: Hormonal Determinants and Ritualized Behavior

Investor: Masarykova univerzita, Economic Decision-Making: Hormonal Determinants and Ritualized Behavior, INTERDISCIPLINARY - Mezioborové výzkumné projekty

Citovat

KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ, Eva. Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual? In 14th Annual Conference European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association. 2019.

@proceedings{1599098,
   author = {Kundtová Klocová, Eva},
   booktitle = {14th Annual Conference European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual?},
   year = {2019}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1599098
AU  - Kundtová Klocová, Eva
PY  - 2019
TI  - Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual?
N2  - Objective: Some cultures consider kneeling posture the most salient bodily expression connected to religious ritual practice. Closed and lowered postures observed across animal kingdom are generally associated and perceived as expressing submission and subordinance. Some cultural and religious explanations of the use of kneeling in religious rituals however put an emphasis on moral aspect of such signal, seeing it rather as an expression of shame and atonement. Therefore, long exposure to such explicit explanations of the display may have shifted the understanding of the associated affective state from submission to shame and these postures might emphasize conformity with moral norms over power asymmetry (usually between superhuman agents and human participants). Methods: Using the free-list technique, I compared two distinct cultural and four religious models of understanding of the kneeling posture. The two studied cultures are Czech and Mauritian, providing a significant contrast: the inhabitants of historically Christian, now highly atheistic Czech Republic compared with Mauritians living in considerable ethnic, religious and cultural diversity in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The Mauritian population affiliates (among others) to Hindu, Christian or Muslim religious traditions. Results: Kneeling is seen mostly as conveying respect and submission cross-culturally. Although moral aspects are mentioned in several instances, neither cultural origin, nor religious affiliation predict their occurrence. The emphasis on submission is significantly lower for all religious affiliations (compared to atheists). Conclusions: The results do not support the predicted shift from submission to shame in understanding of kneeling displays in religious rituals. There is however an observable difference in emphasis on submission in explanations by religiously affiliated. This suggests that there might be other explanatory framework differing from the official theological explanations, which stresses other explanations for the use of kneeling, such as efficiency boost of a prayer or a plea.
ER  -

KUNDTOVÁ KLOCOVÁ, Eva. Does culture change understanding of kneeling display in religious ritual? In \textit{14th Annual Conference European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association}. 2019.

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