Whence collective rituals? A cultural selection model of ritualized behavior

Ritualized behavior is a specific way of organizing the flow of action, characterized by stereotypy, rigidity in performance, a feei¡ng of compulsion, and specific themes, in particular the potential danger from contamination, prédation, and social hazard. We proposed elsewhere a neurocogn¡tive model of ritualized behavior in human development and pathology, as based on the activation of a specific hazard-precaution system specialized in the detection of and response to potential threats. We show how certain features of collective rituals-by conveying information about potential danger and presenting appropriate reaction as a sequence of rigidly described precautionary measures-probably activate this neurocogn¡tive system. This makes some collective ritual sequences highly attention-demanding and intuitively compelling and contributes to their transmission from place to place or generation to generation. The recurrence of ritualized behavior as a central feature of collective ceremonies may be explained as a consequence of this bias in selective transmission.