Commun Integr Biol. 2016 Jun 1;9(3):e1174799. doi: 10.1080/19420889.2016.1174799.

Anxiety and ritualization: Can attention discriminate compulsion from routine?

Krátký J1, Lang M2, Shaver JH3, Jerotijević D4, Xygalatas D5.

Author information

• 1LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic.
• 2LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Anthropology and CT Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
• 3Religion Programme, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Otago , Dunedin, New Zealand.
• 4Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava , Bratislava, Slovakia.
• 5Department of Anthropology and CT Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

Abstract

Despite the wide occurrence of ritual behavior in humans and animals, much of its causal underpinnings, as well as evolutionary functions, remain unknown. A prominent line of research focuses on ritualization as a response to anxiogenic stimuli. By manipulating anxiety levels, and subsequently assessing their motor behavior dynamics, our recent study investigated this causal link in a controlled way. As an extension to our original argument, we here discuss 2 theoretical explanations of rituals-ritualized behavior and automated behavior-and their link to anxiety. We propose that investigating participant's locus of attention can discriminate between these 2 models.