Collective transcendence beliefs shape the sacredness of objects: The case of art.

Abstract

Many objects are viewed as sacred even though few people have a strong personal connection to them. To explain this phenomenon, we used art as a case study to develop and test a theory wherein collective transcendence beliefs-beliefs that an object links the collective to something larger and more important than the self, spanning space and time-are a key determinant of the sacredness of objects. Initial inductive studies pointed to perceptions of collective spirituality, collective meaning, and historical significance to humanity as the primary collective transcendence beliefs underlying the sacredness of art (Study 1), and subsequent exploration indicated that collective meaning was a mechanism by which collective spirituality and historical significance to humanity influenced sacredness judgments (Study 2). In support of this, six experimental studies demonstrated that heightening the collective spirituality and historical significance of an artwork resulted in participants viewing the artwork as more collectively meaningful, and subsequently more sacred (Studies 3-6), worthy of protection from the profane (Studies 3c and 6), and eliciting moral outrage in the face of desecration (Study 5). In all, across these studies (N = 5,304), we found converging evidence that collective transcendence beliefs elevate various forms of art (sculpture, music, and painting) to be held as sacred, even an amateur sketch done by the first author. Our findings uncover a novel mechanism underlying sacredness judgments, theoretically advancing our understanding of the sacred while pointing to a number of important real-world implications.