Ritualization increases the perceived efficacy of instrumental actions.

Autor: Xygalatas D; Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, USA; Center for the Ecological Study of Perception & Action, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, USA. Electronic address: xygalatas@uconn.edu., Maňo P; Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Masaryk University, Czech Republic., Pinto GB; Departamento de Corpo e Movimento, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Cognition [Cognition] 2021 Oct; Vol. 215, pp. 104823. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jun 28.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104823
Abstrakt: Across all cultures, people frequently engage in ritualized (non-instrumental) behaviors. How do those causally opaque actions affect perceptions of causal efficacy? Using real-life stimuli extracted from NCAA basketball games, we asked fans, players of the game, and subjects naive to the game to predict the outcome of free throw attempts. We found that the performance of personal pre-shot rituals increased the perception of shot efficacy irrespective of subjects' level of knowledge of and involvement in the game. Those effects became stronger when the score was less favorable for the shooter's team. Our findings suggest that even in non-religious contexts, people make intuitive judgements about ritual efficacy, and that those judgements are sensitive to ecological factors. The implications of those biases extend beyond sports, to various domains of public action, such as religion, courtrooms, college life, and political events.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: