The role of ritual behaviour in anxiety reduction : an investigation of Marathi religious practices in Mauritius

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F20%3A00115868" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/20:00115868 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431" target="_blank" >https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431" target="_blank" >10.1098/rstb.2019.0431</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The role of ritual behaviour in anxiety reduction : an investigation of Marathi religious practices in Mauritius

Original language description

While the occurrence of rituals in anxiogenic contexts has been long noted and supported by ethnographic, quantitative and experimental studies, the purported effects of ritual behaviour on anxiety reduction have rarely been examined. In the present study, we investigate the anxiolytic effects of religious practices among the Marathi Hindu community in Mauritius and test whether these effects are facilitated by the degree of ritualization present in these practices. Seventy-five participants first experienced anxiety induction through the public speaking paradigm and were subsequently asked to either perform their habitual ritual in a local temple (ritual condition) or sit and relax (control condition). The results revealed that participants in the ritual condition reported lower perceived anxiety after the ritual treatment and displayed lower physiological anxiety, which was assessed as heart-rate variability. The degree of ritualization in the ritual condition showed suggestive albeit variable effects, and thus further investigation is needed. We conclude the paper with a discussion of various mechanisms that may facilitate the observed anxiolytic effects of ritual behaviour and should be investigated in the future.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60304 - Religious studies

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

ISSN

0962-8436

e-ISSN

1471-2970

Volume of the periodical

375

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1805

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

8

Pages from-to

1-8

UT code for WoS article

000545951500006

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85087253470