Explaining Distributions of Spirit Concepts and Spirit Possession
The Mind Possessed October 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.003.0009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that environmental and social factors can enhance or inhibit cognitive mechanisms underlying spirit concepts and possession, explaining variable distribution including women's higher participation in possession cults. |
Abstract
AbstractChapter 9 tackles questions concerning the apparently variable distribution and relevance of spirit concepts and possession (e.g. the high degree of women's participation relative to men's participation in possession cults). Taking some of the necessary cognitive mechanisms for the emergence and spread of spirit concepts described in chapters 6–8, this chapter considers what environmental and other factors may enhance or inhibit the natural output of these mechanisms.
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- Spirit Possession Revisited: Beyond Instrumentality Annual Review of Anthropology October 1, 1994
- Trance and Possession States The Primitive Mind and Modern Man December 30, 2010
- The Voice of the Winds Versus the Masters of Cure: Contested Notions of Spirit Possession Among the Lauje of Sulawesi Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute September 1, 1996
- blood, oil, honey, and water: symbolism in spirit possession sects in northeastern Brazil American Ethnologist November 1, 1995
- Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations: pathological phenomena? The British Journal of Psychiatry October 1, 1996