United on Sunday: The effects of secular rituals on social bonding and affect

Religious rituals are associated with health benefits, potentially produced via social bonding. It is unknown whether secular rituals similarly increase social bonding. We conducted a field study with individuals who celebrate secular rituals at Sunday Assemblies and compared them with participants attending Christian rituals. We assessed levels of social bonding and affect before and after the rituals. Results showed the increase in social bonding taking place in secular rituals is comparable to religious rituals. We also found that both sets of rituals increased positive affect and decreased negative affect, and that the change in positive affect predicted the change in social bonding observed. Together these results suggest that secular rituals might play a similar role to religious ones in fostering feelings of social connection and boosting positive affect.

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United on Sunday: The effects of secular rituals on social bonding and affect

10.31234/osf.io/phjyq ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Jane Charles ◽

Valerie van Mulukom ◽

Jennifer Brown ◽

Fraser Watts ◽

R. I. M. Dunbar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Field Study ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Social Bonding ◽

Social Connection ◽

Similar Role ◽

Religious Rituals ◽

Before And After ◽

Secular Rituals

Religious rituals are associated with health benefits, potentially produced via social bonding. It is unknown whether secular rituals similarly increase social bonding. We conducted a field study with individuals who celebrate secular rituals at Sunday Assemblies and compared them with participants attending Christian rituals. We assessed levels of social bonding and affect before and after the rituals. Results showed the increase in social bonding taking place in secular rituals is comparable to religious rituals. We also found that both sets of rituals increased positive affect and decreased negative affect and that the change in positive affect predicted the change in social bonding observed. Together these results suggest that secular rituals play a similar role to religious ones in fostering feelings of social connection and boosting positive affect.

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Religious Rituals Increase Social Bonding and Pain Threshold

10.31234/osf.io/my4hs ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Jane Charles ◽

Valerie van Mulukom ◽

Miguel Farias ◽

Jennifer Brown ◽

Romara Delmonte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Pain Threshold ◽

Field Studies ◽

Social Bonding ◽

Religious Ritual ◽

Religious Rituals ◽

Social Touch ◽

Large Numbers ◽

The Uk ◽

The Brain

The ‘brain-opioid theory of social attachment’ (BOTSA) has been proposed as providing the neurobiological underpinnings of social bonding. Endorphins are activated in the brain by a variety of social activities, including social touch, laughter, singing, dancing and feasting. Several of these seem to be involved in the processes of bonding whole communities by allowing large numbers of individuals to be bonded simultaneously. It has been suggested that religious rituals may also be part of this bonding toolkit. We tested this hypothesis in a series of field studies carried out during religious rituals in the UK and Brazil. We found that taking part in the service increased both pain threshold (a standard proxy for endorphin activation) and positive affect, and that between them these enhanced the sense of bonding to the religious group. The results suggest that one of the key functions of religious ritual may be to increase community bonding.

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Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals

10.31234/osf.io/sdrp4 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Jane Charles ◽

Miguel Farias ◽

Valerie van Mulukom ◽

Ambikananda Saraswati ◽

Simon Dein ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Bonding ◽

Social Scientists ◽

Double Blind ◽

Mu Opioid ◽

Religious Ritual ◽

Religious Rituals ◽

Before And After ◽

Human Practices ◽

Mu Opioids

Religious rituals are universal human practices, generally practiced in groups. Social scientists have highlighted for over 100 years its role in bonding individuals, but the mechanisms underlying this function have yet to be explored. Here we tested the role of mu-opioids in fostering social bonding in rituals across two double-blind studies. For both studies a mu-opioid blocker (Naltrexone) was taken before the ritual and we assessed strength of social bonding before and after the ritual. Participants were randomly allocated into a placebo or Naltrexone condition. For study 1 (N = 9), we conducted a pilot, yoga-based ritual session in our lab. In study 2 (N = 24), we conducted a naturalistic field study with participants who regularly attended an Afro-Brazilian religious ritual. We found the same effect across both studies, where Naltrexone lead to significantly lower social bonding compared to placebo. These studies show that mu-opioids play a significant role in experiences of social bonding within ritual contexts.

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Affective Changes During Cognitive Behavioural Therapy–As Measured by PANAS

Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health ◽

10.2174/1745017901713010115 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 115-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lars Saxon ◽

Sophie Henriksson ◽

Adam Kvarnström ◽

Arto J. Hiltunen

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ◽

Behavioural Therapy ◽

Problem Area ◽

Personality Types ◽

Cognitive Behavioural ◽

Before And After ◽

Self Actualization ◽

Therapy Clients

Background:Previous researches have indicated that self-reported positive affect and negative affect is changing in a healthy direction during Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).Objective:The aim of the present study was to examine how affective personality is related to psychopathology before and after CBT.Method:A group of clients (n = 73) was measured before and after CBT, differentiated by their problem areas at pre-therapy (i.e., depressive, anxious and mixed).Results:After therapy, clients experienced higher positive affect (p < .02, d=0.66), lower negative affect (p < .001, d=0.98) and there was a significant change in the distribution of affective personality regardless of problem area, χ2= 8.41, df = 3, two-tailed p = .04, 99% CI [0.03, 0.04]. The change in the distribution was largest for the two most relevant personality types, self-actualization and self-destructive affective personality.Conclusion:Results indicate that CBT can achieve changes in affect and affective personality.

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Examination-Related Feedback, Mood, and Helping: A Correlational Study

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1997.80.1.239 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 80 (1) ◽

pp. 239-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronald C. Feldt ◽

Michelle Jagodzinski ◽

Kristin McKinley

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Significant Relationship ◽

Correlational Study ◽

Class Session ◽

Letter Grade ◽

Before And After

The association of mood with helping was examined. College students ( N = 62) self-reported mood before and after receiving feedback (numerical score and letter grade) on an examination administered during the previous class session. Helping measures included the number of sessions in which they were willing to serve and the number of names in a list of 120 checked for spelling. Analysis indicated that examination scores were negatively correlated with negative affect ( r = –.69) and positively correlated with positive affect ( r = .51); however, there was no statistically significant relationship between mood and helping.

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The effects of music induction on mood and affect in an Asian context

Psychology of Music ◽

10.1177/0305735620928578 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 030573562092857

Author(s):

Elizabeth Ann Campbell ◽

Elizaveta Berezina ◽

C M Hew D Gill

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Mood Induction ◽

Energy Levels ◽

Circumplex Model ◽

Before And After ◽

Subject Factor ◽

Asian Context ◽

Mood Scale ◽

Sad Music

A sample of Asian participants was assessed using the Brunel Mood Scale and the Positive & Negative Affect Scale before and after music mood induction procedures to which each participant was randomly assigned. A series of mixed analyses of variance with the type of music (happy/positive vs. sad/negative) as the between-subject factor and pre–post music exposure as the within-subject factor revealed that the sad music induction attenuated the positive moods Vigor and Happiness, as well as the negative moods Anger, Tension, Fatigue, and Confusion but had no significant impact on Depression or Calmness, casting doubt on the robustness of Thayer’s circumplex model of mood formation. The happy music induction increased Vigor and decreased Fatigue and Confusion, suggesting that positive music has the potential to lift energy levels. The happy music induction led to increases in Positive Affect only, whereas the sad music condition attenuated both Positive Affect and Negative affect, casting doubt on Watson and Tellegen’s contention that the Affect systems are independent and suggesting that the bipolarity hypothesis may not provide a comprehensive explanation of mood formation. The mechanisms by which music may impact mood and potential differences in the expression of affect between Asian and Western participants are discussed.

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Civility and Civil Religion before and after the French Revolution: Religious and Secular Rituals in Hume and Tocqueville

Genealogy ◽

10.3390/genealogy4020048 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

Spyridon Tegos

Keyword(s):

French Revolution ◽

Civil Religion ◽

Existential Anxiety ◽

Religious Ritual ◽

Religious Rituals ◽

The Us ◽

Before And After ◽

Secular Rituals ◽

Democratic Faith

In his critique of religion, Hume envisages forms of religious ritual disconnected from the superstitious “neurotic” mindset; he considers simple rituals fostering moderation. In this paper, I claim that one can profitably interpret Hume’s obsession with secular rituals, such as French highly ceremonial manners, in the sense of anxiety-soothing institutions that bind citizenry without the appeal to a civil religion, properly speaking. Let us call this path the Old Regime’s civil ritualism”. Overall, Tocqueville conceives rituals in a Humean spirit, as existential anxiety-soothing institutions. Moving beyond the Humean line of thought, he focuses on the ambiguous role of religious rituals in the context of democratic faith and the Christian civil religion that he deems appropriate for the US. Yet, he also detects novel forms of superstition firmly embedded in secular, democratic faith.

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No Evidence that Social Desirability Response Set Explains the General Factor of Personality and Its Affective Correlates

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1375/twin.13.2.131 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 131-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

J. Philippe Rushton ◽

Stephen Erdle

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Self Esteem ◽

General Factor ◽

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire ◽

Personality Questionnaire ◽

General Factor Of Personality ◽

Response Set ◽

Before And After

AbstractIn two studies, the General Factor of Personality (GFP) remained intact after controlling for the Lie scale from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, despite the Lie Scale showing significant correlations with the GFP defining traits. In Study 1, a re-analysis of 29 self-ratings from 322 pairs of twins (644 individuals) yielded a GFP both before and after controlling for social desirability. In Study 2, four measures of affect in 133 university students loaded on a GFP both before and after controlling for social desirability such that those high on the GFP were high in self-esteem and positive affect and low in depression and negative affect. These results join those from other studies failing to find evidence that the GFP is merely an artifact of evaluative bias.

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Teachers’ Time Use and Affect Before and After COVID-19 School Closures

AERA Open ◽

10.1177/23328584211068068 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 233285842110680

Author(s):

Nathan D. Jones ◽

Eric M. Camburn ◽

Benjamin Kelcey ◽

Esther Quintero

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Time Use ◽

Large Scale ◽

Specific Work ◽

Work Experiences ◽

School Closures ◽

School Year ◽

Teachers Experiences ◽

Before And After

Several large-scale survey efforts have attempted to understand teachers’ experiences in the early months of the pandemic. Our study complements this literature by providing direct evidence of teachers’ work prior to and after the onset of COVID-19. We leverage unique longitudinal time use and affect data on 131 teachers from one district across the 2019–2020 school year. Specifically, we provide a full accounting of teachers’ instructional activities, their reports of their positive affect and negative affect while engaged in these activities, and the extent to which teachers’ work experiences changed post-COVID. Our results suggest a large reduction in teachers’ daily instructional minutes, which were replaced with increased planning, paperwork, and interactions with colleagues and parents. Teachers’ overall positive and negative affect did not change post-COVID. But teachers’ affective responses to specific work activities did. Post-COVID, we saw increases in teachers’ positive affect when with students.

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Expression Versus Distraction

Empirical Studies of the Arts ◽

10.1177/0276237417718423 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 162-179

Author(s):

Ciara James ◽

Jennifer E. Drake ◽

Ellen Winner

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Mood Induction ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Over Expression ◽

Before And After ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategy

While the benefit of distraction over expression as an emotion regulation strategy has been shown, it is not clear whether this benefit generalizes across a range of activities. To find out, we compared distraction versus expression in drawing, writing, talking, and thinking to oneself. We induced a negative mood in 160 participants by asking them to visualize an upsetting experience. Participants were randomly assigned to an emotion regulation strategy (express or distract) and an activity (draw, write, talk, or think). Positive and negative affect was measured before and after the mood induction and after the activity. Distraction boosted positive affect more than did expression for the draw and think activities, but distraction lowered negative affect more than did expression for all four activities. We conclude that distraction is a more effective emotion regulation strategy than expression in improving mood especially for activities that involve drawing and thinking.

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