Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:38:43.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is religion adaptive?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2005

Richard Sosis  and
Candace Alcorta
Richard Sosis*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT06269-2176http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/
Candace Alcorta*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT06269-2176http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/
*
richard.sosis@uconn.edu
candace.alcorta@uconn.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

We argue that religious ritual's ability to facilitate communication and the pervasiveness of its basic characteristics across societies, as well as its precedence in other social species, suggests that religious behavior is more than a mere by-product. Religious constructs constitute associationally conditioned mnemonics that trigger neuroendocrine responses which motivate religious behaviors. The adaptive value of these constructs resides in their utility as memorable and emotionally evocative primes.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , December 2004 , pp. 749 - 750
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)