Ritual well-being: toward a social signaling model of religion and mental health
Abstract
Religion is positively correlated with subjective well-being across a variety of contexts, but convincing causal models are lacking. Some researchers have suggested that religion may boost self-control, and thus well-being, by requiring effortful rituals. This article proposes that costly signaling theory provides a vital explanatory tool for understanding these relationships. Signaling theories posit that religious adherents signal their commitment to religious collectives through difficult or anhedonic activities and rituals, creating a cost barrier for entry which protects religious communities against free riders. Because costly signaling behaviors require the inhibition of prepotent responses and intentional exposure to aversive stimuli, committed adherents build self-control over time. Subjective well-being is thus modeled as a longitudinal product of subjective investment in a religious social collective and the self-regulation abilities that emerge from signaling that investment. This emphasis on a feedback cycle driven by social signaling represents a novel contribution to investigations of religion and well-being. New longitudinal research in social investment theory and self-control lends the model conceptual credibility.
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The regular practice of effortful religious rituals signals personal commitment and builds implicit self-control over time, promoting adaptive behaviors that enhance health and well-being.
“The regular practice of effortful religious rituals signals personal commitment and builds implicit selfcontrol over time, promoting adaptive behaviors that enhance health and well-being (Whitehouse, 2002;Wood, 2016).”
From The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework (2018) · cites this paper as Wood, 2016
Cites
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The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework
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Retracted
- Authors
- Wood, C.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wood, Connor
- ORCID
- Wood, Connor
- Venue
- Religion, Brain & Behavior
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-07-21
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 223-243
- ISSN
- 2153-5981 (ISSN-L)
- 2153-599X
- OpenAlex
- W2486189366
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 3.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Religion Brain & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Keywords
- religion and mental health, subjective well-being, costly signaling theory, religious rituals, self-control, religious commitment, free-riding, self-regulation
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