RT Review
T1 Seemingly Senseless Acts: Who and When
JF Journal for the cognitive science of religion
VO 10
IS 1/2
SP 145
OP 159
A1 Stagnaro, Michael Nicholas
A2 Xygalatas, Dēmētrēs 1977-
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1929316674
AB In the book Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living, Dimitris Xygalatas walks the reader through what the social/cognitive sciences can teach us about the underlying function of ritual, and why it has persisted as an enduring feature of the human species. This thoughtful book covers a wide range of topics but mostly stays quiet on providing the reader with some understanding of what predicts ritual practice within communities. In this paper, we take the insights provided by Xygalatas throughout the book and attempt to construct several categories based on the core functions that ritual provides. Then, using a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. participants, we attempt to test several of the predictions that come out of the book, finding support for some claims, while finding little to none for others.
K1 Anthropology
K1 Cognitive Science
K1 Culture
K1 History
K1 Ideology
K1 Psychology
K1 Religion
K1 Ritual
K1 cognitive science history
K1 Culture and religion
K1 Rezension
DO 10.1558/jcsr.25323