The evolutionary paths to collective rituals: An interdisciplinary perspective on the origins and functions of the basic social act

Abstract

The present article is an elaborated and upgraded version of the Early Career Award talk that I delivered at the IAPR 2019 conference in Gdańsk, Poland. In line with the conference’s thematic focus on new trends and neglected themes in psychology of religion, I argue that psychology of religion should strive for firmer integration with evolutionary theory and its associated methodological toolkit. Employing evolutionary theory enables to systematize findings from individual psychological studies within a broader framework that could resolve lingering empirical contradictions by providing an ultimate rationale for which results should be expected. The benefits of evolutionary analysis are illustrated through the study of collective rituals and, specifically, their purported function in stabilizing risky collective action. By comparing the socio-ecological pressures faced by chimpanzees, contemporary hunter-gatherers, and early Homo, I outline the selective pressures that may have led to the evolution of collective rituals in the hominin lineage, and, based on these selective pressures, I make predictions regarding the different functions and their underlying mechanisms that collective rituals should possess. While examining these functions, I echo the Early Career Award and focus mostly on my past work and the work of my collaborators, showing that collective rituals may stabilize risky collective action by increasing social bonding, affording to assort cooperative individuals, and providing a platform for reliable communication of commitment to group norms. The article closes with a discussion of the role that belief in superhuman agents plays in stabilizing and enhancing the effects of collective rituals on trust-based cooperation.

Advertising cooperative phenotype through costly signals facilitates collective action

“…The intensity of the signal may range from extreme signals such as self-mutilation to subtle signals such as attending weekly ritual gatherings [ 26 , 27 ]. According to CSTR, these signals, alongside other evolved mechanisms such as supernatural punishment [ 28 – 30 ], help mitigate problems of cooperation, such as whom to trust, accountability and collective-action maintenance. Ritual practices serve as a communication platform that offers individuals committed to collective action to truthfully express their hidden cooperative phenotype (often through expressing commitment to a supernatural deity or similar group symbols representing the group's cooperative norms), effectively separating truly committed individuals from potential free-riders [ 20 ].…”

“…Ritual practices serve as a communication platform that offers individuals committed to collective action to truthfully express their hidden cooperative phenotype (often through expressing commitment to a supernatural deity or similar group symbols representing the group's cooperative norms), effectively separating truly committed individuals from potential free-riders [ 20 ]. Collective rituals and similar religious practices provide both a public arena and a shared code for communication of hidden cooperative phenotype [ 30 ]. By binding specific material and energetic costs to ritual performance, the hidden quality of commitment to cooperative norms materializes into physical signals that the receivers may rely upon [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Replicating and extending the effects of auditory religious cues on dishonest behavior

“…This in turn may result in a larger influence over participants’ behavior being exerted upon perception of the cue [ 79 , 80 ]. Importantly, collective rituals are also a public venue for communicating commitment to supernatural agents and the norms they impose on believers [ 80 – 82 ]. However, the commitment is not signaled only to other believers but also to oneself as a form of auto-signaling reassuring participants about their beliefs in supernatural agents [ 58 , 83 , 84 ].…”

The effects of model age and familiarity on children's reproduction of ritual behaviour

“…As emotional expression and a means of communicating feelings, rituals can strengthen group cohesion and bolster self‐esteem (Shipton & Nielsen, 2015; Whitehouse, 2012). Furthermore, the commitment to public values, goodwill and social support fostered by ritual activities means they can be considered as successful methods of tackling survival challenges (Coelho & McClure, 2016; Lang, 2019; Nielsen, 2018; Perc et al, 2017). In short, rituals can actualize and visually represent the significance of human social practices, thus conveying substantial symbolic power across many cultures (Bell & Kreinath, 2021).…”