Music and inter-subjective coordination in ritualized behavior
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| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In 1912, Durkheim defined rituals as "ways of acting that are generated only within assembled groups and are meant to stimulate and sustain or recreate certain mental states in these groups." After 100 years, due to technological advancement, we can better understand what these mental states are and how they are evoked. Moreover, we can investigate how different ritual behaviors affect our evolved brains. Through ritualized behavior, among others, close ties are formed between participating members. This is demonstrated by studies in which collective rituals are shown to enhance cooperative behavior (e.g. Ruffle & Sosis, 2007; Sosis & Handwerker, 2011; Xygalatas et al., 2011). This study is aimed to identify one of the possible aspects of ritualized behavior which have these effect, i.e. a rhythmic beat. Rhythmic beat is known to promote synchronous and coordinated behavior (dancing, rowing etc.), and is a universal feature of many rituals (Fitch, 2006; Kirschner & Tomasello). However, very little is yet known about after effects of rhythm exposure, especially on human cooperation. We propose, that exposure to rhythm should support performance in joint tasks and possibly induce feelings of self-other overlap. Through investigations into the role of music in rituals, we hope to identify how rhythm facilitates these overlapping self-other representations. |
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