TY - JOUR

T1 - Synchronized arousal between performers and related spectators in a fire-walking ritual

AU - Konvalinka, Ivana

AU - Xygalatas, Dimitris

AU - Bulbulia, Joseph

AU - Schjødt, Uffe

AU - Jegindø, Else Marie

AU - Wallot, Sebastian

AU - Van Orden, Guy

AU - Roepstorff, Andreas

PY - 2011/5/17

Y1 - 2011/5/17

N2 - Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field observations suggest that they may enhance social cohesion and that their effects are not limited to those actively performing but affect the audience as well. Here we show physiological effects of synchronized arousal in a Spanish fire-walking ritual, between active participants and related spectators, but not participants and other members of the audience. We assessed arousal by heart rate dynamics and applied nonlinear mathematical analysis to heart rate data obtained from 38 participants. We compared synchronized arousal between fire-walkers and spectators. For this comparison, we used recurrence quantification analysis on individual data and cross-recurrence quantification analysis on pairs of participants' data. These methods identified fine-grained commonalities of arousal during the 30-min ritual between firewalkers and related spectators but not unrelated spectators. This indicates that the mediating mechanism may be informational, because participants and related observers had very different bodily behavior. This study demonstrates that a collective ritual may evoke synchronized arousal over time between active participants and bystanders. It links field observations to a physiological basis and offers a unique approach for the quantification of social effects on human physiology during real-world interactions.

AB - Collective rituals are present in all known societies, but their function is a matter of long-standing debates. Field observations suggest that they may enhance social cohesion and that their effects are not limited to those actively performing but affect the audience as well. Here we show physiological effects of synchronized arousal in a Spanish fire-walking ritual, between active participants and related spectators, but not participants and other members of the audience. We assessed arousal by heart rate dynamics and applied nonlinear mathematical analysis to heart rate data obtained from 38 participants. We compared synchronized arousal between fire-walkers and spectators. For this comparison, we used recurrence quantification analysis on individual data and cross-recurrence quantification analysis on pairs of participants' data. These methods identified fine-grained commonalities of arousal during the 30-min ritual between firewalkers and related spectators but not unrelated spectators. This indicates that the mediating mechanism may be informational, because participants and related observers had very different bodily behavior. This study demonstrates that a collective ritual may evoke synchronized arousal over time between active participants and bystanders. It links field observations to a physiological basis and offers a unique approach for the quantification of social effects on human physiology during real-world interactions.

KW - Psychology

KW - Collective effervescence

KW - Mirroring

KW - Recurrence plots

KW - Social anthropology

KW - Social interaction

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79957703309&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1016955108

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1016955108

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 21536887

AN - SCOPUS:79957703309

VL - 108

SP - 8514

EP - 8519

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)

SN - 0027-8424

IS - 20

ER -