Pierre Liénard

Ritual Behavior in Obsessive and Normal Individuals Moderating Anxiety and Reorganizing the Flow of Action

Ritualized behavior is characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it is also observed in other, nonclinical contexts such as childrens routines and cultural ceremonies. Such behaviors are best understood with reference to a set of human vigilance–precaution systems in charge of monitoring potential danger and motivating the organism toward appropriate precautions. Ritualized behavior focuses attention on low-level representations of actions, probably leading to some measure of intrusion suppression. Cultural rituals too may be understood in this framework.

Precaution systems and ritualized behavior

In reply to commentary on our target article, we supply further evidence and hypotheses in the description of ritualized behaviors in humans. Reactions to indirect fitness threats probably activate specialized precaution systems rather than a unified form of danger-avoidance or causal reasoning. Impairment of precaution systems may be present in pathologies other than obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), autism in particular. Ritualized behavior is attention-grabbing enough to be culturally transmitted whether or not it is associated with group identity, cohesion, or with any other social aspect of collective ceremonies.

Life stages and risk-avoidance: Status- and context-sensitivity in precaution systems

Human typical life history involves specific tradeoffs, resulting in the selection of specific cognitive adaptations, among which a suite of age- and gender-specific precaution systems sensitive to variations in the physical and social environment. Precaution systems take into account the individuals status and life-stage, information about specific threats, as well as the fact that the organism can or cannot address those threats unassisted. Systematic variation in individual decision-making and behavior in risky situations provide insights into the operation of those precaution systems. The literature survey is completed by data gathered among the pastoral Turkana of Kenya showing how variations in precautions and risk avoidance correlate with age, sex, and social conditions.

Early Understanding of Merit in Turkana Children

Abstract Fairness has been identified as a psychological adaptation to share the benefits of cooperation: unfair agents disproportionately favoring their own interests indeed decrease their chance of being recruited in future collaborations. Given the potential benefits of cooperation, it has been argued that fairness should become functional early in ontogeny as the child acquires more independence and expands her social network and collaborations. More importantly, fairness should appear universally, independently of the specific cultural settings. We study the distribution of the benefits of a collective action in five-year-old children in a non-western tribal society, the Turkana of Kenya. Our results reveal that Turkana children demonstrate a clear understanding of merit and that they take individuals’ contribution into account when distributing a resource collectively produced.

Cultural Differences in Investing in Others and in the Future: Why Measuring Trust Is Not Enough

Standard measures of generalized trust in others are often taken to provide reliable indicators of economic attitudes in different countries. Here we compared three highly distinct groups, in Kenya, China and the US, in terms of more specific attitudes, [a] people’s willingness to invest in the future, [b] their willingness to invest in others, and [c] their trust in institutions. Results suggest that these measures capture deep differences in economic attitudes that are not detected by standard measures of generalized trust.

Does Goal-Demotion Enhance Cooperation?

Social scientists have long assumed that religion – and more specifically religious rituals – promotes cooperation. It has also been claimed that ritual plays an essential role in enhancing prosociality and cooperation. In this study, using a controlled laboratory experiment, we investigate if a conspicuous and recurrent feature of collective ritualized behaviour, goal-demotion, promotes lasting cooperation. We report that goal-directed collective behaviour is more efficient than goal-demoted behaviour for motivating participants to engage in ulterior cooperation. Plausible interpretations of the data and of the mechanisms involved are discussed.

A Natural History of the Drag Queen Phenomenon

The drag queen cultural phenomenon has been described at length. However, the depiction of outlandish and hyperbolic womanhood and taunting and formidable behavior at the core of drag queens’ public persona has still to be fully accounted for. We argue that these aspects of the drag queen’s public appearance could best be understood in a signaling framework. Publicly donning extravagant woman’s costumes attracts harassment and brings financial, mating, and opportunity costs, generating the conditions for the transmission of honest signals. By successfully withstanding those odds, drag queen impersonators signal strategic qualities to members of the gay community. Data collected among gay and straight participants support a costly signaling reading of the drag queen cultural phenomenon. Participants generally agree that successful drag queens typically incur costs, while gaining specific social benefits.

Natural theology, verification, and growth of knowledge

International Review of Philosophy, 1–12. Lawson, E. T., & McCauley, R. N. (1990). Rethinking religion. Connecting cognition and culture. Cambridge: CUP. McCauley, R. N. (2011). Why religion is natural and science is not. Oxford: OUP. Modell, A. H. (2006). Imagination and the meaningful brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Sørensen, J. (2004). Religion, evolution, and an immunology of cultural systems. Evolution and Cognition, 10, 61–73. Wiebe, D. (1991). The irony of theology and the nature of religious thought. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.