Trance, Dissociation, and Shamanism: A Cross-Cultural Model
Connor P. Wood, S. Diallo, Ross Gore, Christopher J. Lynch
Journal of Cognition and Culture November 28, 2018 DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12340042 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that an agent-based model can reproduce the cross-cultural pattern in which female-dominated spirit possession cults are common in stratified societies and male-dominated shamanism predominates in structurally flatter cultures, proposing that social stratification, psychosocial trauma, and dissociative experiences canalized through cultural feedback may partially account for it. |
Abstract
Religious practices centered on controlled trance states, such as Siberian shamanism or North African zar, are ubiquitous, yet their characteristics vary. In particular, cross-cultural research finds that female-dominated spirit possession cults are common in stratified societies, whereas male-dominated shamanism predominates in structurally flatter cultures. Here, we present an agent-based model that explores factors, including social stratification and psychological dissociation, that may partially account for this pattern. We posit that, in more stratified societies, female agents suffer from higher levels of psychosocial trauma, whereas male agents are more vulnerable in flatter societies. In societies with fewer levels of formal hierarchy, males come into informal social competition more regularly than in stratified contexts. This instability leads to a cultural feedback effect in which dissociative experiences deriving from chronic psychosocial stress become canalized into a male religious trance role. The model reproduces these patterns under plausible parameter configurations.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- Dissociative symptoms and reported trauma among patients with spirit possession and matched healthy controls in Uganda. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry June 1, 2010
- A Critical Review of Dissociative Trance and Possession Disorders: Etiological, Diagnostic, Therapeutic, and Nosological Issues The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry April 1, 2011
- Altered States of Consciousness within a General Evolutionary Perspective: A Holocultural Analysis Behavior Science Research August 1, 1977
- Wondrous Events: Foundations of Religious Belief Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 1995
- Global mental health and trauma exposure: the current evidence for the relationship between traumatic experiences and spirit possession. European Journal of Psychotraumatology November 19, 2015
and 4 more in the library