The role of testimony in the evaluation of religious expertise
People learn about the efficacy and validity of cultural practices through the testimony and expertise of others. Although some religious practices are highly accessible and require no specialized expertise to engage in them, and others are part of highly controlled religious organizations that desi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2011
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| In: |
Religion, brain & behavior
Year: 2011, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 146-153 |
| Further subjects: | B
Testimony
B supernatural reasoning B religious cognition B traditional healing B Consensus B Expertise |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | People learn about the efficacy and validity of cultural practices through the testimony and expertise of others. Although some religious practices are highly accessible and require no specialized expertise to engage in them, and others are part of highly controlled religious organizations that designate and legitimate religious experts, many are associated with loosely organized religious traditions that involve a variety of supernatural healing practices and remedies. How is expertise evaluated in these contexts? One possibility is that consensus information may be important; higher levels of agreement about the efficacy of an expert may be more convincing than lower levels of agreement. Another possibility is that the expertise of the informant may influence efficacy judgments. In cases in which the skeptic or supporter is another religious expert, does the expertise of the informant override consensus information? In the current study, we investigated the effect of consensus information and the expertise of informants on perceived efficacy evaluation of religious healers in Brazil, a cultural context in which religious healers are consulted to solve a great variety of everyday problems. Results indicate that although both consensus information and expertise independently influence the perceived efficacy of a religious healer, the opinion of another expert overrides consensus information when the two are in conflict. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-5981 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2011.598320 |