Social inequality and signaling in a costly ritual

Xygalatas, Dimitris; Maňo, Peter; Bahna, Vladimír; Klocová, Eva Kundtová; Kundt, Radek; Lang, Martin; Shaver, John H.

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.006

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Chickens of this type are used as they represent the four basic colors of Hindu belief-white, black, red, and yellow; these chickens are used in almost every religious ceremony [10]. One would insist on purchasing a product, in this case the chicken, even though the selling price is high [19] because it is irreplaceable in ritual ceremonies. This explains why specification and type preceded over other considerations such as location, price, and services provided in decisions on choosing religious ceremony materials [20].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of the KUB Chicken Market in Fulfilling the Needs of Traditional and Religious Ceremonies in Bali Province

Putri¹,

Hellyward²,

Sitiari³

et al. 2023

Proceedings of the 2nd Multidisciplinary International Conference, MIC 2022, 12 November 2022, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesi

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The Kampung Unggul Balitbangtan (KUB) chicken is a superior native chicken, and its rearing aims to meet the protein needs and demands of materials for various religious activities, especially in Bali Province. The high demand for KUB chickens with some feather color specification has implications for scarcity and selling prices. The purpose of this research was to map the characteristics of KUB chicken demand in terms of color for traditional and religious ceremonies in Bali Province. This research was conducted in July-October 2021 in eight districts and one municipality in Bali Province. The respondents in this study were 179 people, consisting of 89 household consumers and 90 traders. These respondents were determined using the multi-stage sampling method. Data collection was conducted through questionnaire survey and observation. The data collected were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive method. The results show that the KUB chicken colors most demanded by household consumers were brumbun (76.40%), white (10.11%), black (8.99%), and red (1.12), followed by other colors (1.12%). Purchase decisions by the majority of consumers were based on considerations of color specification (65.17%) and type of chickens (33.71%). Meanwhile, location, price, and services were not the main considerations for consumers in making purchase decisions. The high demand for brumbuncolored KUB chickens had an impact on chicken scarcity and the difficulty traders had to face to meet the demand (valued more than 45%). In conclusion, the demand for KUB chickens is still high, but KUB chickens are only available in a limited number. Therefore, efforts to increase their population in Bali Province are necessary.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of the KUB Chicken Market in Fulfilling the Needs of Traditional and Religious Ceremonies in Bali Province

Putri¹,

Hellyward²,

Sitiari³

et al. 2023

Proceedings of the 2nd Multidisciplinary International Conference, MIC 2022, 12 November 2022, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesi

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“…The scale of the tali-rite ceremony served as an index of wealth as well; wealthier families arranged separate tali ceremonies for each of their women, poorer ones could afford only a group ceremony where many girls underwent the ritual at the same time with a single tali-tier (e.g., Pillai, 1987;RMMC, 1891). Engaging in rituals was crucial to reputation, where the family prestige was based not only on the scale of the ceremony but also on the kinds of rituals followed (e.g., Xygalatas et al, 2021). Prestigious models elicit copying behaviors in followers (e.g., Henrich & Gil-White, 2001).…”

Section: Tali-rite and Status Displaymentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of a historical matrilineal community from an evolutionary perspective.

Karthikeyan¹,

Fisher²

2023

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences

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The historical mating practices of a South Indian community, the Nayars, have often been cited as an example of matriliny and polyandry. Little attention has been given to puritanical aspects of their conjugal unions involving endogamy and hypergamy. We adopt an evolutionary psychology perspective to reexamine these practices. We outline key historical events to situate the Nayar case in the broader Indian context and compare different evolutionary psychology models of sexual strategies to determine the most befitting one. The unique mating arrangements provide a novel opportunity to appraise the focal points of the different models involving fitness-indicators, resource provisioning, parenting, and the temporality of the mating context. This exercise helps in revealing the primacy of assortative mating and perceived mate quality based on prestige-markers, despite the incertitude about resource provisioning or other direct benefits.

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“…However, unlike successful religious systems, totalist systems fail to generate sustained cooperation and coordination at the stage of collective power. For example, extant research suggests that collective rituals provide strong signals of ingroup commitment for communities (see Xygalatas et al, 2021), but communication rituals imposed by totalist regimes fail to generate such commitments. At this stage, communities under totalist regimes routinely suffer from lack of trust and likewise economic hardships, poor health outcomes, and undesirable reproductive rates and survival (e.g., Frantz, 2018: 46-48, 130-131;Sen, 1997).…”

Section: Totalism As a Quasi-religious Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rituals, Propaganda, and Social Regulation: Totalism as a Quasi-Religious System

Kiper¹,

Sosis²

2022

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Recent scholarship on mass mobilization and totalism has approached propaganda as a solution to political cooperation, whereby inflammatory speeches, mis-or dis-information, and rumors function not to persuade audiences but rather to coordinate coalitions. Propaganda, it has been argued, aligns the attention of individuals already disposed to conflict. However, propaganda does not operate in a vacuum. Here we argue that movements and regimes that contend for total political power do so by employing a combination of propaganda and ritual. Rituals function to sanctify, connect individuals, and signal commitments. Further, rituals bind individuals into emerging social orders that enable the very communication of propaganda as a means of coordinating coalitions and instantiating methods for coercing behaviors. By examining historical case studies of totalism, we provide an exploration of ritual in totalist regimes and thereby argue that totalism is a quasi-religious system that employs elements of religion in an attempt to regulate social behavior. In describing totalism as a quasi-religious system, we outline five phases in the life course of totalist movements: preformation, cadre formation, coalitional building, collective power, and breakdown. Totalism ultimately results in considerable negative effects on the population, such as loss of health, material resources, and social trust, and closes important channels for socioecological feedback, which are essential for the proper functioning of any system. Accordingly, unlike most religious systems, totalism over-sanctifies power, overregulates meanings, and fails to achieve cooperation and coordination beyond cadres or coalitions of enthusiasts. Consequently, totalist movements are relatively short-lived compared to successful religions.

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Social inequality and signaling in a costly ritual

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

Characteristics of the KUB Chicken Market in Fulfilling the Needs of Traditional and Religious Ceremonies in Bali Province

Characteristics of the KUB Chicken Market in Fulfilling the Needs of Traditional and Religious Ceremonies in Bali Province

A case study of a historical matrilineal community from an evolutionary perspective.

Rituals, Propaganda, and Social Regulation: Totalism as a Quasi-Religious System

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