Estimated Costs and Benefits of Extreme Rituals in Mauritius
Why do people willingly engage in painful or exhausting rituals with no obvious material reward?
Socioeconomic variation in motivations for ritual practice – a new study by LEVYNA & UConn
In an ethnographic survey-based study published in the journal Religions, D. Xygalatas and P. Maňo looked at variation in motivations for ritual practice and how it relates to the socioeconomic status of respondents. The findings indicate that whereas people of lower socioeconomic standing address more immediate concerns related to material security and safety in their ritual practices, people at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum tend to focus on the fulfillment of spiritual, social, or cultural needs.
How do socioeconomic differences relate to intra-cultural variation in motivations for ritual participation among Mauritian Hindus? The authors interviewed 354 people of various socioeconomic backgrounds and asked them why people perform certain high- and low-cost religious rituals, and what do they gain from it. They found that lower-status individuals are primarily motivated by existential concerns like material security and safety, while higher-status individuals highlighted self-actualization, spiritual connection, and social affirmation, reflecting a more abstract engagement with religious practices that transcends immediate material concerns. The study highlights the adaptability of ritual practices to meet diverse human psychological, social, and spiritual needs and underscores the dynamic nature of culture as a distributed system.
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/12/1562
