(Spi)ritual interaction in musical activity for infants in the church space – a qualitative analysis

Abstract

Early mother–infant interaction has been seen as very important for the development of religiosity and spirituality. This case study examines one specific musical activity for infants and mothers from the perspective of human interaction. The studied activity is ‘Babysalmesang’, or baby hymn singing (BHS), within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark. Meetings are held in church buildings and include singing hymns and other songs, playing in and exploring the church space. The qualitative empirical data on BHS activities were collected through video recording, observing and interviewing. The initial analysis on the data showed that four types of interaction can be found: mother–infant interaction, interaction between the participants, interaction between the participants and instructors and ritual interaction. BHS can be seen as a space for (spi)ritual interaction. In this context, nurturing spirituality combines with religious elements. Together with mother–infant interaction, also other types of interaction might nurture spirituality in early childhood.     

Enacted Others: Specifying Goffman's Phenomenological Omissions and Sociological Accomplishments

Erving Goffman's distinctive contribution to an understanding of others was grounded in his information control and ritual models of the interaction process. This contribution centered on the forms of the interaction order rather than self-other relations as traditionally conceived in phenomenology. Goffman came to phenomenology as a sympathetic but critical outsider who sought resources for the sociological mining of the interaction order. His engagement with phenomenological thinkers (principally Gustav Ichheiser, Jean-Paul Sartre and Alfred Schutz) has to be understood in these terms. The article traces basic differences in analytical focus through a range of phenomenological critiques of Goffman and a comparison of salient aspects of Schutz's and Goffman's writings. While the contrasts have perhaps been overplayed, I conclude that Goffman's thinking about others probably owed more to his pragmatist roots than to his later encounters with phenomenology.Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and the Human Sciences in 1992 and 2003. I am grateful to discussions with participants at both meetings, which helped to clarify my ideas on a number of the paper's themes.     

SPIRIT HEALING,MENTAL HEALTH,AND EMOTION REGULATION

Abstract. Spirit healing is widespread across societies in diverse world regions. Its ritual forms appear in local, popular religions as well as a variety of organized churches. Although aspects of ritual, suchas the identification of spirits and use of symbols and paraphernalia, vary with culture and type of religion, there appear to be basic components of ritual healing process shared by its diverse forms. Using data on Spiritist healing in Puerto Rico as a case example, I first examine aspects of the interface between mental illness as defined by psychiatry and spirit healing. I then raise the question: If spirit healing is effective with some emotional disorders (as I have discussed in previous reports), how does it work? Emotional transactions could be considered foundational to most or all spirit healing rituals as they are to some psychotherapeutic and alternative‐medicine modalities. One model of emotion regulation is proposed as a lens through which to view specific processes of change in feelings and emotions in the context of culturally specified ritual structures.     

Further observational data on the behavioral and social world of institutions for the aged

This study is an extension of previous observational work on the social ecology of dependence and independence in the institutionalized elderly. Observations of everyday, naturally occurring interactions between elderly residents of two different long-term institutions and their social partners were extended such that, aside from the identification of type of behavior, the dyadic form and continuity of each behavior was specified. The following were among the major results: (a) Previously found interaction patterns between elderly residents and their social partners, replicated in both a nursing home and a home for the chronically ill, supported the notion of discrepant social ecologies for dependent versus independent behaviors of residents: (b) specification of each behavioral act as to its dyadic form underscored the fact that the interactions were controlled largely by social partners and not by the elderly residents; (c) coding continuity or discontinuity of behavior suggested that independent behaviors were maintained by chaining; and (d) elderly residents in the home for the chronically ill evinced, as expected, more dependence-related behaviors.     

Ritualistic Behavior in Young Children

The aim of this study was to examine ritualistic behavior at its developmental peak. Children 20–59 months of age were sampled through a national system of daycare centers in Israel (N = 228). The order of onset of the ritual behaviors measured was virtually identical to that reported for an American sample (D. W. Evans et al., 1997). Gender and age effects were found for fearfulness but not for ritualistic behavior. Maternal reports of ritualistic behavior were highly correlated with reported fears, and with shy and emotional temperament. Mothers of the children who were in the top 10% in their use of rituals according to maternal report, worried about their child's ritualistic behavior, even though maternal worry was not correlated with ritualistic behavior for the whole distribution.     

仪式动作、象征意义和积极情绪增强控制感：双路径机制

以中国普米族人的传统文化仪式“敬锅庄”为例, 采用回忆任务、创设新颖仪式等方法考察仪式动作、象征意义和积极情绪对普米族青少年及成人的控制感的影响。结果表明, 熟悉敬锅庄仪式的动作、象征意义或者具有更多情感体验的青少年的控制感更强。仪式动作与象征意义对控制感的影响存在双路径机制：仪式动作直接增强个体的控制感, 象征意义通过积极情绪间接增强个体的控制感。象征意义与控制感的关系还因仪式主体不同有所区别：祈求庇佑通过积极情绪间接增强青少年的控制感, 表达感恩通过积极情绪间接增强成年人的控制感。研究结果对探究仪式动作、象征意义和积极情绪对个体控制感的影响有重要启示。     

Social identity complexity and immigrants' attitude toward the host nation: the intersection of ethnic and religious group identification

Social identity complexity refers to individual differences in the interrelationships among multiple ingroup identities. The present research conducted in the Netherlands examines social identity complexity in relation to Muslim immigrants' national identification and the attitude toward the host majority. Three studies are reported that focused on the interrelationship between ethnicity and religion and examined social identity complexity in different ways. Study 1 showed that lower social identity complexity is associated with lower national identification. Studies 2 and 3 examined the interaction between ethnic and religious group identification. For Muslim identifiers, higher ethnic identification was related to lower national identification and higher ingroup bias (Studies 2) and lower endorsement of national liberal practices (Study 3). In contrast, for those who did not strongly identify with Muslims, higher ethnic identification was associated with higher national identification, stronger endorsement of Dutch liberal practices, and more positive stereotypes about the Dutch outgroup (Study 3).     

EVALUATION OF THE MULTIPLE-STIMULUS WITHOUT REPLACEMENT PREFERENCE ASSESSMENT METHOD USING ACTIVITIES AS STIMULI

The current study examined the accuracy of the multiple-stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment for identifying preferred common classroom activities as reinforcers with children with behavioral disorders. The accuracy of predictions from the MSWO regarding high, medium, and low stimulus preference was tested by providing contingent access to activities for completing math problems within an independent seatwork format. Overall, there was an interaction effect between preference ranking (high, medium, or low) and number of problems completed. The results confirm and extend previous findings regarding the accuracy of predictions with the MSWO. The findings also reveal, however, some individual differences that may account for instances in which student behavior did not conform to predictions of stimulus preference assessments.     

Out of the Analytic Shadow: On the Dynamics of Commemorative Ritual

This paper explores the dynamics of commemorative ritual as it is embodied and enacted outside the consulting room. While the function of lifelong acts of memorial in marking traumatic loss has been well documented, psychoanalysis has given short shrift to the value of these ongoing commemorative rituals in instances of “ordinary” (i.e., less traumatic) loss. Historical and sociological writers have explored their functions, but commemorative rituals have tended to evoke resistance within psychoanalysis, perhaps because of their collision with the termination ideal and the value of relinquishment. Here, I build on previous essays concerning Jewish mourning ritual (shiva) by addressing the function of several acts of commemoration including that of Yizkor (Jewish memorial ritual). Enacted across the lifespan, commemorative rituals serve multiple functions. They allow us to mark absence and create “presence” as we access and sometimes reshape personal memory. Such rituals can create a sense of linkage to “like mourners.” At their best, these acts—in their multiple incarnations—mimic aspects of psychoanalytic work by helping us deepen emotional connectedness and facilitating integrated remembering in a way that enriches and frees rather than binds us.     

From Battlefield to Atomic Bomb to the Pure Land of Paradise: Employing the Bodhisattva of Compassion to Calm Japan's Spirits of the Dead

56 years after the end of World War II, the spiritual condition of Japan's military and civilian casualties remains very much a present-day concern. This is relevant not only for bereaved families, but also for city governments, religious institutions, and the state. In 1995, a new 'hall of mourning for the spirits of the unknown dead (killed) in the atomic bombing' was constructed with public and private funds at the edge of the Peace Park in Nagasaki. Enshrined within is the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, Kannon, along with the Amida Buddha of the Pure Land, and an attendant bodhisattva , Seishi. Despite the momentum of religious history, regular ritual practices conducted in front of these deities, and prayers for the deceased led by Buddhist priests, this is not a religious site according to city and prefectural officials. To understand the logic at work in Nagasaki requires an appreciation of legal precedents from the 1960s and 1970s involving war memorial stones as well as yearly rituals held for the military dead at Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo. At issue is a state-sanctioned process of appropriating religious figures, traditions, and ritual sites so they become 'national folkways'. Despite constitutional restrictions, public funds have been used regularly to sanction both rituals and ritual sites that perpetuate and glorify the memory of the war dead. Neither civil religion nor established religious practice, the situation in Japan provides a new paradigm regarding the dynamics of state-sponsored ritual activity.     

Parochial Altruism and Political Ideology

Parochial altruism refers to the propensity to direct prosocial behavior toward members of one's own ingroup to a greater extent than toward those outside one's group. Both theory and empirical research suggest that parochialism may be linked to political ideology, with conservatives more likely than liberals to exhibit ingroup bias in altruistic behavior. The present study, conducted in the United States and Italy, tested this relationship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, assessing willingness to contribute money to charities at different levels of inclusiveness—local versus national versus international. Results indicated that conservatives contributed less money overall and were more likely to limit their contribution to the local charity while liberals were significantly more likely to contribute to national and international charities, exhibiting less parochialism. Conservatives and liberals also differed in social identification and trust, with conservatives higher in social identity and trust at the local and national levels and liberals higher in global social identity and trust in global others. Differences in global social identity partially accounted for the effects of political ideology on donations.     

Predicting engaging in cosmetic surgery: A test of the role of doing and not doing cognitions

The decision-making process underlying cosmetic surgery for esthetic purposes has been rarely investigated. To fill in this gap, we examined the determinants of undergoing plastic surgery among women within a framework that considers that the intentions to undergo and to not undergo surgery are related to different motivational systems that could both contribute to behavior. To do so, we assessed the goals underlying both options and theory of planned behavior constructs (Attitude, Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective norms) related to undergoing and not undergoing plastic surgery as well as risk perception among a convenience sample of women (N = 265). Results confirmed that undergoing and not undergoing plastic surgery are related to different but not opposite goals. More importantly, both intentions predicted actual behavior but with the intention of not undergoing weighing more than the intention of undergoing plastic surgery. Finally, results supported previous research showing that risk perception does not add to predicting behavior. This contribution, therefore, supports the adoption of a decision-making framework to provide additional information to individual and social factors that can explain why women are undergoing plastic surgery for esthetic purposes or not.     

Pain and Sacrifice: Experience and Modulation of Pain in a Religious Piercing Ritual

Fascinating pain-related rituals have been observed throughout the world, but so far no systematic evidence exists to support previous ethnographic reports of analgesic states and dissociative symptoms during these events. To address this issue, we combined quantitative and qualitative measures with the aim of investigating pain experience and modulation of pain during the Thaipusam Kavadi ritual in Mauritius. In Study 1, results indicated low levels of pain intensity during the ritual, and regression analyses showed that expectations of pain were significantly predictive of actual pain intensity ratings. In Study 2, the meanings surrounding the ritual were found to generate expectations of low pain and a positive outcome, and intense prayer was reported as the main coping strategy. In addition, most participants expressed symptoms of dissociation (including amnesia, absorption, and depersonalisation) during Thaipusam, and a high prevalence of these symptoms was associated with low levels of pain.     

Toward a cultural neuropsychology: An alternative view and a preliminary model

Any integrated theory of mind and behavior must address the dynamic interaction between neurobiological and sociocultural systems as possible causes for human action. Newer findings within the behavioral neurosciences have pointed to the brain's exceptional plasticity and flexibility and suggest that one's surroundings, including one's cultural environment, may directly influence the way the human nervous system becomes organized. In this paper, a preliminary connectionist model of culture-brain interaction is proposed in an effort to illustrate the possible contribution of cultural factors to the development of the individual human brain.     

A Perspective on Ritual

Abstract

Ritual has played an integral role in human development and socialization throughout history. This paper seeks to highlight that role so that the importance of perpetuating ritual becomes obvious and necessary. The purpose of this paper is to re-iterate the significance of ritual in human development, education, and social improvement; discuss the origin and evolution of the term ritual; suggest the elements of an effective ritual and provide a hypothetical pyramid of evolving ritualistic behavior as often experienced in learning environments.     

Family theory and the scientific method

The evolution of family interactional research reveals a transformation from the theoretical concerns of a novel cybernetic paradigm to methodological problems of a prior mechanistic one. This change can be understood, within a cybernetic perspective, as an example of the characteristic functioning of adaptive systems attempting to maintain themselves unchanged under changed circumstances. A turn to a focus on method results in theoretical self-correction and the implicit retention of a mechanistic paradigm. This eliminates those most novel aspects of family interactional research that suggested the beginning of a cybernetic paradigm. A mechanistic methodology for family interaction research can be understood as an analogue to ritual in social systems. A primary attribute of ritual, sanctity, self-reflexively defines certain basic premises as unquestionable. By this, it regulates the beliefs of those who act it out, and eliminates the most radical novelty that confronts these beliefs. The evolution of family interactional research and its changing relationship to its methodology is an example of this process, the introduction and rejection of novelty by self-regulating systems. In this case, a challenge to the basic premises of a mechanistic paradigm is subverted, using its method as the arbitrator of validity in family interactional research.     

Searching for Control: Priming Randomness Increases the Evaluation of Ritual Efficacy

Reestablishing feelings of control after experiencing uncertainty has long been considered a fundamental motive for human behavior. We propose that rituals (i.e., socially stipulated, causally opaque practices) provide a means for coping with the aversive feelings associated with randomness due to the perception of a connection between ritual action and a desired outcome. Two experiments were conducted (one in Brazil [n = 40] and another in the United States [n = 94]) to evaluate how the perceived efficacy of rituals is affected by feelings of randomness. In a between‐subjects design, the Scramble Sentence Task was used as a priming procedure in three conditions (i.e., randomness, negativity, and neutral) and participants were then asked to rate the efficacy of rituals used for problem‐solving purposes. The results demonstrate that priming randomness increased participants' perception of ritual efficacy relative to negativity and neutral conditions. Implications for increasing our understanding of the relationship between perceived control and ritualistic behavior are discussed.     

Dynamics of Interpersonal Political Environment and Party Identification: Longitudinal Studies of Voting in Japan and New Zealand

The dynamical systems theory of groups claims that interpersonal political environment and party identification are dynamically interrelated to provide heuristics under uncertainty. Panel data over the course of a year examined the longitudinal dynamics between social networks, social identifications, and voting behavior among a national sample of registered voters in Japan and a regional sample in Wellington, New Zealand. Respondents with more stable party identification had greater stability in the political preferences of their interpersonal network in both countries; moreover, stability in party identification was predicted by interpersonal political environment and older age in both countries. Stability of party identification predicted voting consistency in both countries, whereas stability of interpersonal political environment made an independent contribution to voting consistency in Japan only. There were cultural differences in levels of interpersonal political environment stability, but the amount of political discussion and ideological stability did not make independent contributions to any of the three main variables. Results provided support for the dynamical systems theory of groups.