Doctoral Dissertation Research: Exploring Somatic Dimensions of Group Solidarity, Cooperation, and Altruism

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project investigates the effects of bodily movement within ritual practice on group identity, solidarity, and cooperation as well as both within group and between group altruism. Coordinating with formal laboratory behavioral studies and cultural evolution modeling efforts at University of California, Davis, and University of British Columbia, it employs a unique fusion of community-based participatory action research (PAR), behavioral experiments with game theory, and cognitive anthropology methods. The project takes place among indigenous groups in the U.S. The communities are in a process of rebuilding community and seeing a strong resurgence in traditional ritual dance practice explicitly motivated by identity and solidarity. This creates a rich context for both socially relevant collaborative research and testing of biocultural evolutionary theories of ritual. Recent findings from the field of human behavioral ecology demonstrate how many fundamental human behaviors are adaptions to biological and economic constraints. While employing the human behavioral ecology model, this research will examine a seemingly complex set of behaviors surrounding ritual which until now have relied on abstract methods in anthropology that employ symbolism as an explanatory variable. By disaggregating ritual into a set of testable premises this research is a potential model for the way human behavioral ecology can address other important cultural phenomena that are typically not testable using controlled experiments. This project investigates several models of ritual function, concentrating on two specific models: 1. Synchrony - physical actions that involve synchronized movement will promote group identification and cooperation and altruism, but only within the group of practitioners. 2. Calming - physical practices which cultivate a state of calm will reduce group identification and promote cooperation and altruism in a broader range of contexts. This research examines ritual practices that exemplify each of these styles for their effects on both parochialism and universal altruism through qualitative interviews, participant observation, and formal experiments. The PAR framework of the project implies that both method and objective of the project will emerge out of collaboration between the local community and the researchers. This research represents a change in approach for cultural anthropology by studying something experimentally that historically was studied using ethnographic methods. The project also contributes to the education of a graduate student in anthropology.