Despite moral norms’ cross-cultural and temporal variation, we often perceive them as independent of time, culture, and subjects. Radim, Jan, Martin, and Radek examined what role religious rituals play in this process of norm objectivization.
The authors elaborate on anthropologist Roy Rappaport, who argued that the performative element of rituals “materializes” these norms. The paper argues that this materiality manifests as norm objectivity in our psychology. The results reported in the new paper provide initial correlational evidence that the more frequently people attend rituals, the more objectively they perceive moral norms, and this effect is associated with rituals' performative aspects. You can find the paper here:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/IY8QRSMK8GP2MFMNFAV7/full?target=10.1080/10508619.2022.2121454
Martin Lang received the Czech National Foundation’s Junior Star grant with his project titled Computing Religious Devotion: How Reinforcing Supernatural Beliefs Affects Normative Models in the Mind.
The vice-rector for Research and Doctoral Studies at Masaryk University has awarded two LEVYNA graduates - Dan Řezníček and Radim Chvaja with a price for excellent results during their Ph.D. studies.
