The DOI matches its Crossref record; 224 of the 226 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The essential role of ritual in the transmission and reinforcement of social norms.
Abstract
Social norms are communally agreed upon, morally significant behavioral standards that are, at least in part, responsible for uniquely human forms of cooperation and social organization. This article summarizes evidence demonstrating that ritual and ritualized behaviors are essential to the transmission and reinforcement of social norms. Ritualized behaviors reliably signal an intentional mental state giving credibility to verbal expressions while emotionally binding people to each other and group-based values. Early ritualized infant-caregiver interactions and the family routines and rituals that emerge from them are primary mechanisms for transmitting social norms vertically from parent to offspring, while adult community rituals are a primary mechanism by which norms are reinforced horizontally within the community.
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“First, rituals are distinguished by a specific set of physical features pertaining to the characteristic aspects of the individual actions that compose them, which tend to be structured in rigid, formal, and repetitive ways (Foster, Weigand, & Baines, 2006;Rossano, 2012;Tambiah, 1979).”
From The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework (2018) · cites this paper as Rossano, 2012
In the citing paper
“Indeed, unlike instrumental or functional behaviors, often the goal of ritual is merely the correct execution of the actions themselves (Rossano, 2012).”
From The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework (2018) · cites this paper as Rossano, 2012
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Metadata
- Authors
- Rossano, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Southeastern Louisiana University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rossano, Matt J.
- ORCID
- Rossano, Matt J.
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2012
- Volume
- 138
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 529-549
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2015877084
- Cited by
- 315
- References
- 226
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 33.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- ritual, social norms, norm transmission, ritualized behavior, caregiver-infant interaction, family rituals, intergenerational transmission, collective ritual, social bonding, cooperation, group values
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Ceremonial Behavior, Pan troglodytes, Communication, Cooperative Behavior, Emotions, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Parent-Child Relations, Reinforcement, Psychology, Social Conformity, Psychological Distance, Infant Behavior, Intention, Trust
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