Publication details

Cognitive resource depletion in religious interactions

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Authors

SCHJOEDT Uffe SORENSEN Jesper NIELBO Kristoffer Laigaard XYGALATAS Dimitrios MITKIDIS Panagiotis BULBULIA Joseph

Year of publication 2013
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Religion, Brain & Behavior
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/2153599X.2012.736714
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2012.736714
Field Philosophy and religion
Keywords resource depletion; predictive coding; ritualized behavior; emotion regulation; authority
Description We explore the cognitive effects of three common features of religious interactions: (1) demand for the expressive suppression of emotion; (2) exposure to goal-demoted and causally opaque actions; and (3) the presence of a charismatic authority. Using a cognitive resource model of executive function, we argue that these three features affect the executive system in ways that limit the capacity for individual processing of religious events. We frame our analysis in the context of a general assumption that collective rituals facilitate the transmission of cultural ideas. Building on recent experiments, we suggest that these three features increase participants' susceptibility to authoritative narratives and interpretations by preventing individuals from constructing their own accounts of the ritual event.
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