Rituals, rigidity and cognitive load: A competitive test of ritual benefits for stress

<p>A central hypothesis to account for the ubiquity of rituals across cultures is their supposed anxiolytic effects: rituals being maintained because they reduce existential anxiety and uncertainty. We aimed to test the anxiolytic effects of rituals by investigating two possible underlying mechanisms for it: cognitive load and repetitive movement. In our pre-registered experiment (osf.io/rsu9x), 180 undergraduates took part in either a stress or a control condition and were subsequently assigned to either control, cognitive load, undirected movement, a combination of undirected movement and cognitive load, or a ritualistic intervention. Using both repeated self-report measures and continuous physiological indicators of anxiety, we failed to find direct support for a cognitive suppression effect of anxiety trough ritualistic behavior. Nevertheless, we found that induced stress increased participants’ subsequent repetitive behavior, which in turn reduced physiological arousal. This study provides novel evidence for plausible underlying effects of the proposed anxiolytic effect of rituals: repetitive behavior but not cognitive load may decrease physiological stress responses during ritual.</p>

Rituals, rigidity and cognitive load: A competitive test of ritual benefits for stress

<p>A central hypothesis to account for the ubiquity of rituals across cultures is their supposed anxiolytic effects: rituals being maintained because they reduce existential anxiety and uncertainty. We aimed to test the anxiolytic effects of rituals by investigating two possible underlying mechanisms for it: cognitive load and repetitive movement. In our pre-registered experiment (osf.io/rsu9x), 180 undergraduates took part in either a stress or a control condition and were subsequently assigned to either control, cognitive load, undirected movement, a combination of undirected movement and cognitive load, or a ritualistic intervention. Using both repeated self-report measures and continuous physiological indicators of anxiety, we failed to find direct support for a cognitive suppression effect of anxiety trough ritualistic behavior. Nevertheless, we found that induced stress increased participants’ subsequent repetitive behavior, which in turn reduced physiological arousal. This study provides novel evidence for plausible underlying effects of the proposed anxiolytic effect of rituals: repetitive behavior but not cognitive load may decrease physiological stress responses during ritual.</p>

Ritualistic Consumption Decreases Loneliness by Increasing Meaning

Despite the prevalence of both chronic and transient loneliness and the detrimental consequences associated with them, as a negatively valenced response to social exclusion, loneliness has received surprisingly little attention in the marketing literature. Drawing on research showing that lonely people often lack meaning in their life, the authors propose that ritualistic behavior that involves consumer products may reduce loneliness by increasing meaning in life. Specifically, a series of studies finds that engaging in even minimal, unfamiliar rituals reduces loneliness among lonely consumers. The results support the important role of meaningfulness. The authors find that the effect of rituals on loneliness is mediated by meaning in life via perceived product meaningfulness. They also find that ritualistic behavior no longer affects loneliness when the experience of meaningfulness can be derived incidentally.

A-086 When to Consider Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (PANDAS) in Ambiguous Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Presentation

Objective Recent literature has illustrated a need for a neuropsychological “endophenotype” in children with OCD. Further, the diagnostic issue of PANDAS appears to be one of the most controversial in the OCD literature. The following case illustrates the lack of diagnostic clarity in a comorbid presentation with ambiguous etiology. Method A 9-year-old male presented for neuropsychological testing due to difficulty controlling his anger, becoming physically aggressive, sleep disturbances, and a recent decline in academic performance. The patients biological parents noted recent instances of PICA and ritualistic behavior. No clear onset was disclosed. The examiners noticed hyperactivity, poor self-control, sensory seeking behaviors, vocal tics, and the inability to emotionally regulate in intake. Family history was negative for learning, social, or emotional disorders. Medical history was positive for numerous bouts of streptococcal pharyngitis. Results (included but not limited to): T.O.V.A (Attention Performance Index = −3.23). WISC-V: Working Memory Index = 72; 3rd percentile. Wisconsin Card Sorting Task: Unable to Complete. DKEFS: Trail Making Test: Condition 4 Number-Letter Switching: Profound Deficit. WISC-V: Visual Spatial Index = 67, 1st percentile. RCFT: Copy = &lt; 1st percentile. CVLT-C: Correct Recognition Hits = 1/15, &lt; 0.1 percentile. Symptoms of OCD are frequently hidden or poorly articulated, especially in younger children. Further, according to the OCD literature, fewer diagnostic issues appear to be as controversial as that of PANDAS. This case illustrates the importance of increasing our diagnostic understanding of PANDAS and the need for diagnostic clarity in co-morbid, severe psychopathology pediatric patients.

“How Do I Stop Checking Things?” Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder from Neuropsychological Perspective

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common mental disorder and WHO classifies it as one of the ten most disabling medical conditions. OCD patients have difficulty in controlling the disturbing thoughts accompanied by ritualistic behavior performed by the patient as a way to reduce anxiety or fear that leads to distress and significant dysfunction in their everyday life. Studies using neuroimaging techniques indicated a number of abnormal functions in the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nuclei in OCD patients. Abnormalities in one or more neurotransmitters such as serotonin, glutamate, GABA, and dopamine were also found to be associated with the mechanism of the brain circuitry associated with OCD symptoms. Genetic factors were proven to also contribute considerably to OCD. This article is a literature study on OCD, especially from a neuropsychological perspective highlighting the recent development of various techniques and methods of study.

Visitors’ Place Attachment and Destination Loyalty: Examining the Roles of Emotional Solidarity and Perceived Safety

Hosting ethnically and culturally rich religious festivals provides visitors a glimpse into how a sense of togetherness and faith are not only established but strengthened through shared beliefs and ritualistic behavior. This research examines visitors’ destination loyalty through their emotional bonding with place, the emotional solidarity they experience with residents, and their perceived level of safety. Based on data collected from 813 visitors during the Attur Church Feast in Karkala, India, the results indicated that place attachment directly influences loyalty and two dimensions of emotional solidarity and, in turn, emotional solidarity has a positive effect on loyalty. Additionally, it was found that emotional solidarity partially mediates the effect of place attachment on destination loyalty. Finally, employing a moderated mediation analysis, visitor level of perceived safety at the festival partially moderated the indirect effect of place attachment on destination loyalty through emotional solidarity.

Evolutionary Perspectives on OCD

This chapter explores a number of ideas related to an evolutionary perspective on OCD, including ways in which dimensions of OCD symptomology might be adaptive in a variety of contexts; a discussion of nonadaptationist perspectives; and some ideas about how OCD symptoms may represent behavior that is conserved across generations, including the still-controversial idea of group selection in human evolution. Some beliefs that occur in the context of OCD overlap with beliefs that facilitate potentially adaptive ritualistic behavior. Evolutionary perspectives are largely untestable, and in this regard a source of controversy. Despite these limitations, evolutionary perspectives have significant heuristic value, may mutually inform and be informed by advances in neuroscience, and may have clinical value because they may facilitate empathy with patients whose behaviors may be thought of as adaptive in different developmental and social contexts.

Rituals in gastrointestinal endoscopy at the crossroads of shaman and science

Background and aim Over the last decades, the length of time required for endoscopic procedures has greatly expanded. The aim of the present decision analysis is to study the interactions amongst various factors that have caused such delays and to compare the relative magnitude of their influences. Methods Performance of gastrointestinal endoscopy is influenced by the interaction of five domains, that is, (1) patient discomfort and fear; (2) injury, disorder, and disruption; (3) rituals to reduce fear, prevent disruption, and maintain order; (4) administrators or various health providers carrying out a ritual; (5) information, knowledge, and science, which influence fear, prevent disruption, and curtail unnecessary ritualistic behavior. A Markov chain model is used to describe the interaction among the five domains. Results Overall, science exerts the strongest influence, followed by fear and ritual as distant second and third most relevant influences, respectively. Disruption and administrator exert only a minor influence on the system of mutual interactions. Conclusions Studying patterns of ritualistic behavior during endoscopy and subjecting them to means of scientific research could help eliminate redundancy, cutting unnecessary rituals, and thus making gastrointestinal endoscopy overall more efficient.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Spectrum in Children

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is now recognized as a frequent and disabling disorder among children and adolescents. The phenomenology is similar to adult OCD, but several reports have indicated that compulsions are more prominent in children and that children are more inclined than adults to include their family surroundings in ritualistic behavior. It is also clear that young children engage in a significant amount of repetitive, ritualistic compulsive activity that appears to be a normal part of their behavioral repertoire.Although the cause of childhood-onset OCD is unknown, many factors are likely to contribute to the heterogenous clinical phenotypes, including both genetic and environmental factors. The neurobiological circuitry involved in childhood-onset OCD is likely to involve alterations to the same cortico-striatothalamic circuitry implicated in adult OCD, but the develop-mental differences have yet to be fully delineated. The treatment response patterns of adults and children are generally inconsis-tent with each other, and specific OCD subtypes may also respond differentially.Phenotypic characterization can be undertaken either categorically, as seen with traditional diagnostic categories, or dimensionally. Extended phenotypes can be defined in terms of symptoms and course of the illness, or neuroimaging and neurobiologic study findings, or treatment responses. Phenotypic characterization must also reflect an understanding of the rituals and repetitive behaviors that are associated with normal development. (A proposed categorization of OCD subtypes appears in the “Table library.”)